Strategies That Work: Teaching Comprehension to Enhance Understanding

by Anne Goudvis and Stephanie Harvey

Book Overview

"We wrote this book to grapple with that jungle gym of thoughts, words,m and ideas that make up reading. We are insatiably inter ested in kids' thinking." This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1571103104
• ISBN13: 9781571103109
• Release Date: January 2000
• Publisher: Stenhouse Publishers
• Length: 314 Pages
• Weight: 1.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 7.4" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

"Yes, this one is worth the time!"

Elemenatary teachers: READ THIS BOOK! I know, I know! ANOTHER book about teaching strategies! Haven't we (as teachers) read enough? The answer is no if you want to improve/create your reading program! I have taught 6th grade for 7 years and I was always unhappy with my reading programs. To add to my frustration, I began to support new teachers in the BTSA program who desperatly needed my help in creating an effective reading program for their classroom. Fortunately, my school decided to reorganize our instruction to focus on Guided Reading. That is when I found this book! Strategies that work is not just another list of strategies that need to be taught. It SHOWS you how to plan and implement lessons that will engage children and teach reading comprehension strategies. My favorite chapter was 8 beacuse it specifically dealt with inferring and this is an important piece for 6th graders in reading and writing. Don't worry - it's an easy read that IS worth your time. Don't let the title lull you into thinking it is just another "teacher text". Side Bar: Try to read it with another teacher, the discussions you will have will be invaluable!!!

These Strategies DO Work!

This book tells how to teach your students to think while reading (through think-alouds) and gives many minilessons for teaching comprehension. This book is divided into three parts: Part 1, THE FOUNDATIONS OF MEANING, explains how research based comprehension strategies support and enhance student learning; Part 2, STRATEGY LESSONS AND MORE, focuses on strategy lessons, response options, and assessment practices; Part 3, RESOURCES THAT SUPPORT STRATEGY INSTRUCTION, numerous resources listing picture books to use for teaching each of the seven comprehension strategies. Throughout the book, the author's talk about "anchor lessons" and the importance of using the first lessons as a way for students to remember a specific strategy and apply it. The idea of anchor lessons really assist the student in learning and applying the strategies taught! This book teaches us that we want our students to come to realize how important their thinking is when they read. A must have for reading teachers!

Teaching reading comprehension---must have this book

After 20+ years in regular classroom and special education teaching, this is a book that brings new strategies to expand the thinking of the teacher and the students. I love to read and want to have my students both comprehend and think at a deep level and love to read. My current teaching assignment is a 4th/5th grade classroom. This book has 40 strategy lessons for understanding texts that can be adapted to hundreds of books and expand your teaching. There is an extensive, user friendly, list of favorite books for introducing and guiding practice in a given strategy. This is especially helpful to teachers from 2nd to 8th grade including Science, Social Studies or Language Arts teachers at middle school level.There are ways to use short text to better comprehend text in social studies, science and other content areas. There are examples of student work, illustrations, scripts of conversations, selection of response options for students to demonstrate their use of strategies, and mini lessons that are adaptable to many books and resources that you currenly use but could teach in a more proficient way. This book joins a short collection of my favorites-Brian Cambourne's book on retelling, Lucy Calkin's Art of Teaching Writing, Mosaic of Thought, and a book on classroom community.

A Must-Read for All Reading Teachers

If you really would like to know HOW to teach reading comprehension, this book is for you! Steph and Anne pick up where Ellin Keene's Mosaic of Thought left off. This book tells how to teach kids to think while reading (through think-alouds) and gives many minilessons for teaching comprehension. Besides the great lessons and tips, there are numerous resources listing picture books to use for teaching each of the seven comprehension strategies discussed first in Mosaic and now in this great book. I've already tried many ideas in Strategies That Work and have had tremendous success with them. I highly recommend this book!