Understanding as you're reading helps you to engage with the text, read accurately, read with fluency, understand what the author is saying, and think beyond the text. In essence, comprehension is everything. –Jennifer Serravallo
Comprehension and leveled texts are topics that are heavily researched and can become deep and complex. The aim of Understanding Texts & Readers is to honor the extensive research on these topics but make the understandings about texts and readers that are essential for reading teachers more accessible and doable.
Vanessa's story can teach as a number of important lessons about reading instruction:
- Comprehension is not fixed; it's fluid, based on a number of factors.
- Text leveling isn't a perfect science.
- One single assessment often doesn't give us the entire picture.
- Responsive instruction is crucial to the development of readers.
Let's all learn from Vanessa's story –you can listen to her full story here– and approach our readers with a deeper knowledge about them and the texts they read to match them with books they can read with independence and engagement, goals they can work toward that are meaningful and matched to their needs, and strategies that will help them work on those goals so they become strong, confident, engaged lifelong readers.
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Learn more about Understanding Texts & Readers at Heinemann.com
Jennifer Serravallo is the author of the New York Times bestseller The Reading Strategies Book and The Writing Strategies Book, which have been translated into Spanish, French, and Chinese. These and her other popular books and resources help teachers make goal-directed responsive strategy instruction, conferring, and small group work doable in every classroom. Her newest titles are Teaching Writing in Small Groups, A Teacher’s Guide to Reading Conferences, Understanding Texts and Readers, and the assessment and teaching resource Complete Comprehension for Fiction and Nonfiction.
Jen is a frequently invited speaker at national and regional conferences and travels throughout the US and Canada to provide full-day workshops and to work with teachers and students in classrooms. She is also an experienced online educator who regularly offers live webinar series and full-day online workshops, and is the creator of two self-paced asynchronous online courses, most recently Strategies in Action: Reading and Writing Methods and Content.
Jen began her career in education as an NYC public school teacher. Now as a consultant, she has spent the last fifteen+ years helping teachers across the country create literacy classrooms where students are joyfully engaged, and the instruction is meaningfully individualized to students' goals. Jen is also a member of Parents Magazine Board of Advisors for education and literacy.
Jen holds a BA from Vassar College and an MA from Teachers College, where she has also taught graduate and undergraduate classes.
Learn more about Jen and her work at Hein.pub/serravallo, on Twitter @jserravallo, on Instagram @jenniferserravallo, or by joining The Reading and Writing Strategies Facebook Community.
