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categories Main Ideas, Key Details, Vocabularies and Text Features.
Tell us about the resources you are providing with this book.
There are a number of resources, over 150 pages are online. There are Text Complexity Charts that look at a book in depth. There are record keeping forms for conferring. Every goal has a progression. Also included are note taking forms and questions you can ask children. Here is the link:
https://www.heinemann.com/products/e10892.aspx (the Companion Resources dropdown on this link states “To access the online resources for this book, click Login or Create Account above. Once you’ve logged in, select “Click here to register an Online Resource, Video, or eBook »“ enter the keycode and click register. The keycode for this book is the first word in purple on page 198).
How does this book relate to new and experienced teachers?
Some TIPS for Beginning teacher: Use the book to get a sense of how to be assessing and what to look for. Find out what comprehension looks like. Don’t misuse levels. Guide students to right books, but do not shackle readers
Some TIPS for experienced teachers: Use the book to understand and study in more depth. One teacher recently characterized this book as a Graduate Degree in Reading in a book. You can go deep in it. New teachers can get the gist of things first and then return to it later to get more depth.
I hope the book helps both new and experienced teachers
Commentary:
We predict this book will be added to the list of books that Jennifer has on the New York Times best seller list. The most intriguing thing about this book is how it help teachers make better use of all of Jennifer’s books. She has a large collection of other useful resources on her heinemann page : https://www.heinemann.com jenniferserravallo/.
One of the ideas being forwarded by many reading experts today is that teachers can and should help students learn to deal with complex texts. This book gives a “nuts and bolts” in depth look at how both fiction and nonfiction books are put together. It does so by specific levels. Our advice would be for teachers to start with the section of the book that deals with the text level they use most frequently. Get to really know that level. Then look at other levels as well. Make use of the online charts to help in this process. we think this book is destined to become the go to resource for teachers who want to help their students deal with complex texts, both fiction and non-fiction.
In sum, Jennifer has written a book that helps teachers make sense out of comprehension. She gives valuable resources and advice that will help teachers understand how to determine what skills to focus instruction on as they learn to handle complex text.
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