FEATURED TEACHER'S REVIEW

DO I REALLY HAVE TO TEACH READING?:
CONTENT COMPREHENSION, GRADES 6-12
By Cris Tovani
Stenhouse Publishers 2004
ISBN: 1-57110-376-7
$19.95

Through humor and honest talk about the struggles she has faced as a teacher of reading, Ms. Tovani provides a useful resource for content area teachers of 6th – 12th graders. She persuasively states that to teach students new concepts in the various disciplines, every teacher must help their students become better readers. Sharing a colorful repertoire of experience, Ms. Tovani teaches the reader how to apply reading comprehension strategies in any content area.

This is an enlightening and empowering book that is easy to read and very difficult to put down. Upon completion, the reader has re-evaluated her own instructional approach and is ready to ‘tweak’ her teaching to help her students strengthen their reading skills through sharing their thinking and by writing.

Reading assessment is redefined in this book as the way to test what the learner has learned about himself as a reader, not as always giving credit for the correct answer. It is this kind of assessment that guides instruction at any level.

This book is for the teacher who is looking for new ways to learn and grow as an educator, and searching for better ways to teach her students.

Reviewed by: Dana M. Griggs
Henry County School System
Alabama