I Read It, but I Don’t Get It: Comprehension Strategies for Adolescent Readers

I Read It, but I Don’t Get It is a practical, engaging account of how teachers can help adolescents renovate new reading comprehension skills. Cris Tovani is an accomplished teacher and staff developer who writes with verve and humor about the challenges of effective with students at all levels of achievement—from persons who have mastered the art of “fake reading” to college-bound juniors and seniors who struggle with the different demands of content-area textbooks and novels.

Enter Cris’ classroom, a place where students are continually learning new strategies for tackling hard text. You will be taken step-by-step through practical, theory-based reading instruction that can be adapted for use in any theme area. The book features:

• anecdotes in each chapter about real kids with real universal problems. You will identify with these adolescents and will see how these problems can be solved;
• a thoughtful explanation of current theories of comprehension instruction and how they might be adapted for use with adolescents;
• a What Works section in each of the last seven chapters that offers simple thoughts you can immediately use in your classroom. The suggestions can be used in a variety of content areas and grade levels(6-12);
• teaching tips and thoughts that benefit struggling readers as well as proficient and advanced readers;
• appendixes with reproducible materials that you can use in your classroom, including coding sheets, double entry diaries, and comprehension constructors.

In a time when students need increasingly sophisticated reading skills, this book will provide support for teachers who want to incorporate comprehension instruction into their daily lesson plans lacking sacrificing content knowledge.