Do I Really Have to Teach Reading?: Content Comprehension, Grades 6-12

As content teachers, we are very passionate about the content that we teach. We believe that the content is the number one thing. We have to cover all that material. That mentality forces us to abandon the things that matter most. Every content teacher should be a teacher of reading. Most don’t understand what that means. Tovani makes a very clear case for teaching strategies that help readers become better readers. She is very intentional about emphasizing content area literacy strategies. These strategies open up the minds of her students to believe that they can become good readers. This is a key to college and career readiness. Our teachers become bogged down in the step-by-step content area standards documents, and they often times ignore the accompanying literacy standards. Thinking is reading, and one cannot think without writing. Tovani’s book is well worth the time.

Thoughtful. Practical. Being good readers probably resulted in many of us becoming teachers. The downside of that is that we have practiced the habits of good readers automatically since we were little. Cris Tovani breaks things down so that we can reflect on what we do when we read and make that explicit for our students. Everyone talks about the need to teach critical thinking. Teaching reading -not just scanning the words, but really reading: making connections, reflecting on causes, making predictions- is, if not THE answer to the question "Yes, I need to teach critical thinking, but how?", certainly a real and practical step in the right direction. I don't do everything the way she does and that is not the author's intent. I am not yet the expert teacher that I want to be, but after ten years in front of the classroom, I can honestly say that I am better able to serve my students thanks to the ideas presented in and generated by reading this book.

This book addresses the question posed in its title: do teachers of content other than language arts really need to teach their students how to read in their content areas? Not surprisingly, the author's answer to that question is a resounding "yes". Somewhat surprisingly, she makes a good enough case for that answer that many if not most readers of the book will be persuaded. Reading a math textbook (or other math instructional material) or science, or history, or even industrial arts, all require different skills than reading a novel, and for the most part, different from each other. Each content area has its own jargon, its own standard methods of expressing its concepts, and its own priorities in terms of what students need to be looking for when they read. A student who is a good reader of literature may or may not be able to figure out, on their own, how to transfer those skills to the reading of other content areas. Some will manage it, others will need explicit instruction. It is the job of the teachers of those content areas to make sure that their students are given that explicit instruction. Some strategies and skills will have value for several areas; some may even apply across the board. But it's important for teachers to help students see how reading in their particular content areas differs from reading elsewhere, and what strategies will NOT apply. It seems obvious to say that looking for plot, characterization, and symbolism, while helpful in the reading of literature, will not be of any use in reading a math or science text, and students probably would not consciously do so. But if that's how they're used to approaching a reading assignment, they may find that they have no skills to replace those with in order to make sense of their assignment; they may not be aware that that lack is what is making the reading difficult. That's where explicit instruction comes in: point out to them how they are used to reading and the obvious ineffectiveness of those skills to the job at hand, and then give them some suggestions of approaches to replace those with. This is the gist of this book, and it's a very good point that needs to be made. What's more, the book is written in a very accessible, conversational style, with a minimum of ed-psych jargon. It contains many helpful suggestions of ways to help struggling readers, both in general and in regard to specific content areas. Highly recommended.

Bought this book for a content literacy teaching class. Of course my assumption was that it was yet another useless book A lot of the methods recommended could be adapted for my subject. The author did use a lot of science (my subject) as well as a variety of subject examples throughout the book. I was surprised that this book was really helpful in pointing out easy ways to help students become more literate even when the course is unrelated to literature.

I could not put this down. I was expecting another boring text for my literacy class. I found this more helpful than any I have read on literacy to date. Chris Tovani has a way of making you part of her writing, you experience the classroom and students as she is walking you through her strategies. She doesn't explicitly say "this is a strategy - use it". Instead you get a true authentic practical understanding of it. I had stickey notes through out this book!

This text was required for an online class I took. I loved the convenience of being able to order it from Amazon and have it instantly on my Kindle! Also, having the choice to rent or buy on many textbooks is an awesome option to save some money. Once the rental period is up, you usually have the option to purchase the text and get credit for the amount you paid to rent it. So if you decide you want to keep it you don't end up paying both the rental and purchase prices!

Designed for teachers. All teachers have to teach some reading in their discipline. In math, the teacher has to teach the students how to read a math book. This is different than a history book. Well done. Insightful. Useful for anyon who teaches.

Chris Tovani is a teacher and writer who reaches students and teachers at all levels. She makes teaching look easy by her methods which are not complicated. Chris gets to know her students/staff and does a wonderful job of communicating how to teach reading. She asks a lot of questions which helps guide her efforts.

Not an activity (worksheets) book but an excellent set of strategies to improve classroom instruction regardless of the course.

Such am amazing book for teachers. So many tips and tricks that will really up your game.