Cris Tovani

This is finally one inspirational book for teachers. I expected a bunch of theory that doesn't apply because most people who write don't take into consideration high stakes testing. However, Tovani's writing puts you in the moment while she is in the classroom. I don't believe she has forgotten what it is like to have mounds of work. As I read this book I really began to feel like I was a terrible teacher but in a good way - I began reconsidering how I teach. I am no longer concentrating on show more doing all the work myself by forcing information students have to memorize down their throats but instead I am having them do the work and learn the information in class through discovery, reading and discussion. Students hate it at first (of course they have to work!) but as they got into the routine each individual student began to figure out what the tasks were and now they anticipate how our classroom works. show less

Cris Tovani, herself once a struggling reader, provides some excellent advice. While not as good as Notice and Note: Strategies for Close Reading (but how many books are?), Tovani still provides plenty of good strategies for reluctant readers or those who read fluently but cannot decipher meaning.

It's comforting to know that there are so many great ideas out there for teaching reading comprehension. I really think that teachers (especially English teachers) tend to flail around when they assign reading and their kids don't absorb much of the text. The underlying argument is that reading for speed or completion is like not reading at all - good readers take their time with texts, mark them up, write responses, etc.

I am teaching an undergrad course online and picked this up to see if there would be useful ideas for content teachers. It's going to be a little to apply, but yes, I think so. Most important is the idea of modeling. Specific examples and questions are provided. What I felt I could have used more of was 1. information on detecting reading problems in my students and 2. application examples over a wider range of disciplines and ages.