I Read It, But I Don't Get It: Comprehension Strategies for Adolescent Readers

As a high school special education teacher, this books speaks volumes to me!!! It is a revelation to see that special education teachers aren't the only ones facing the problems of kids who "read it, but don't get it." This book was recommended to me by a Title I Reading Specialist and I will be forever grateful. As a special ed teacher, I had received a lot of training in decoding instruction but not much in the way of teaching comprehension. As Cris Tovani said in her book, it is often erroneously expected that if they can at least read the words they'll understand them. I have found that this error perpetuates, and was at a loss for how to teach my downtrodden teenagers to understand. This book has given me so many useful strategies and after changing the way I read just one story, I have seen a difference in the level of comprehension and participation in my class of students with learning disabilities. I'm glad that Cris Tovani doesn't offer any ready-made lessons or materials in this book. If she had, I may not have read the rest of the book and would have missed out on the wisdom contained in its pages. I have recommended this book to several of my colleagues and am hoping that this trend catches on. By all means, if you need help learning to teach kids how to learn from text this is the book for you! Excellent companions to this book are "Nonfiction Matters" by Stephanie Harvey and "Strategies That Work" by Stephanie Harvey and Ann Goudvis (this book gives much of the same information that is in "I Read It, But I Don't Get It" but has an immense book list at the back of the book.

We can finally stop giving up on high school students who just "don't get it." We don't have to surrender to the impulse to say "they will never be readers." In this book, Chris Tovani offers concrete strategies to guide struggling adolescent readers through a process that has become inaccessible to them. It is energizing and exciting to have these tools to take to a classroom or a home with a frustrated teenager who does not believe in his or her ability to ever read well. It is the second chance that most high school students who are not excellent readers never believe can be theirs. Now that "I Get It," I can't wait to take it to the classroom and help some young people learn why it is that people who truly read, love to read.

As a high school English teacher I am always looking for ways to make the invisible process of reading more accessible to my students. Tovani's book is wonderful! She not only provides sound advice for all teachers, but also models good teaching throughout her book. Usually, I am disappointed with educational authors as they offer impractical strategies that would never work with real students in a typical classroom. Tovani's book made me happy that I signed up to teach summer school and I am jazzed to try out her practical suggestions with students. Bravo!

I teach seventh grade English in a district that expects 12-year-olds to read classics--and some really can, but others are stuck at a third or fourth grade reading level. I Read It, But I Don't Get It has some very practical suggestions that I can incorporate easily into my class to enrich the learning for all levels of readers. As I read this book, I became aware of the strategies I use to read difficult texts. Now I can pass those strategies on to my students. Few secondary teachers have the training to teach, or the time to gain the knowledge provided in this little text. Thanks to Cris Tovani, we now have a fine new resouce.

Cris Tovani's book is fabulous! As a reading teacher, it helped me to find ways to help my students understand what they were reading AND to help them understand when they were understanding. It is obvious that the author knows her readers well and is able to help them to read for real purposes and to give them strategies for monitoring their own comprehension. I have read Strategies that Work by Stephanie Harvey and Anne Goodvis as well as Mosaic of Thought by Ellin Keene and Susan Zimmerman. I Read It But I Don't Get It adds to the things I learned about comprehension from these books. Although this book is written about middle school and high school students, I have used many of the ideas in the book with my upper elementary grade students. So many of the issues are the same. Many of my elementary colleagues are also finding this book helpful and have added it to their professional libraries. It also has great insights for content teachers--thoughts for helping students comprehend content reading. I highly recommend it for all teachers.