Teaching Skills for Complex Text

Book excerpt: Tired of hearing about “complex text”? Bothered by the pushy messages about “challenge”? This book is for you! Unlike the many other materials on text complexity, this one focuses on specific comprehension skills that students need in order to really engage with text. This book will help elementary school teachers equip their students with practical tools and understandings of the structures and conventions that allow them to excel, including concrete tools, passages, games, lessons, and examples to teach anaphora, connectives, paragraph structure, gathering evidence (fiction and nonfiction), and text challenge. A final chapter specifies how to stretch students in texts while attending to their stamina, executive skills, and interests. Book Features: Text-based lessons for grades 3–5.Opening vignettes which provide classroom context for each skill.Key objectives and Common Core Standards. Think-aloud language to guide strategy development.Research-based strategies and games. “Real-life scenarios of comprehension breakdowns all teachers will recognize are followed by detailed guidelines for best practice and step-by-step directions for activities to combat and remedy these pitfalls. This book is a valuable resource for all teachers supporting intermediate graders’ reading comprehension.” —Tisha Hayes, University of Virginia “I highly recommend this book for classroom teachers, reading specialists, and interventionists who are looking for ways to deepen students’ comprehension. Additionally, this book provides a rich toolkit for supporting professional development in schools.” —Kelly B. Cartwright, Christopher Newport University “This book is a must-have for any teacher who strives to meet the standards in meaningful, engaging ways.” —Jennifer Powell, Radford University