Comprehension First helps educators design instruction in ways that make comprehension the priority in reading and content area study. The comprehension model described here responds to calls from literacy experts and professional organizations for inquiry-based instruction that prepares readers to be active meaning makers who are adept at both critical and creative thinking. It introduces a before, during, after Comprehension Problem Solving (CPS) process that helps readers ask key questions so they arrive at a substantial comprehension product-"big ideas" based on themes and conclusions drawn from literary works and expository texts. The book also describes how to use research-based best practices to build lessons and units around big ideas and important questions.

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This book offers practical discussions and activities that teachers can use to promote fluency, as they motivate students to want to read and write more. It includes step-by-step instructions to help teachers implement fluency activities such as sing-alongs, poetry reconstruction, and readers theatre; effective ideas for engaging students; and activities that can be easily modified for English learners and for grade and skill level. Chapters on technology and assessment provide additional fluency practice and allow teachers to monitor their students' progress.

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This book is included in the "5-Foot Bookshelf" list of 11 must-read books for 2009 compiled by the Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA) journal. The review describes this terrific resource for teachers and other professionals: “Packed with suggestions and resources for every teacher, this curriculum treasure chest illustrates how to integrate young adult literature so that students learn content, improve literacy, and enjoy reading—for life.” And “a young adult program planner or group leader will find it a fantastic and fascinating resource.”

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Used in the Florida Literacy and Reading Excellence (FLaRE) statewide professional development program
This book's unique and successful approach to teaching content area literacy in middle and high school classrooms will actively engage readers in the very activities they will use to teach literacy to their own students. It demonstrates how relevant reading, writing, speaking, listening, and multiliteracy learning activities can improve learning in content area subjects and help students meet national content knowledge standards and benchmarks. The book's valuable resources and practical examples and guidelines provide teachers with the knowledge, motivation, tools, and confidence needed to integrate literacy into content area classrooms.

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This must-have resource helps teachers assess reading and writing problems and use the information to plan effective interventions to help every student succeed. It focuses on the major areas of literacy-phonemic awareness, phonics, word identification, comprehension of both narrative and expository text, vocabulary, fluency, spelling, and writing. It provides information on English learners, technology, motivation, and assessment of emergent reading and writing. Valuable appendices include more than 50 assessment tools; hands-on materials to accompany the book's intervention strategies, such as picture cards and game boards; and other useful resources such as book lists, pronunciation guides, common word families, and frequently used suffixes and prefixes.

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This book's 50-plus lessons—each based on a different picture book—provide classroom teachers with a foundation for teaching math, science, and social studies concepts to their students. Each lesson uses children's literature to make challenging, abstract concepts relevant to students' lives, inviting them to learn these concepts while responding to a story's illustrations, theme, characters, and plot. Ideas and strategies help teachers create a problem-solving environment, use models and hands-on materials, promote class interaction and discussion, and use cooperative learning groups. The lessons provide opportunities to develop vocabulary and increase comprehension, and they demonstrate how to use literature to meet national standards in the content areas. They also show teachers how to create an environment that ensures that, when children and books come together, the experience will be enjoyable and thought provoking.

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