Lessons in Comprehension: Explicit Instruction in the Reading Workshop

By Serafini and Frank Serafini

Plumbing his file drawers for 64 of the most effective comprehension minilessons from his distinguished teaching career, Serafini has created a teaching treasure trove that contains nearly a year's worth of comprehension instruction plus an extensive list of children's literature that he has successfully woven into his own reading workshop. Lessons in Comprehension introduces and reinforces meaning-making concepts through eight broad thematic strands that scaffold understanding and responsibility for novice readers:

Inviting Children into the World of Reading and Literature Exploring the Structures and Components of Literature Navigating Text Promoting Invested Literature Discussions Developing Comprehension Practices Investigating Informational Texts Extending Response to Literature Examining Critical Perspectives.

Within each strand, eight lessons take students deep into key comprehension strategies like visualization, journaling, and previewing texts. Tried, proven, and grounded in the latest scientific-based research, each substantial lesson offers a complete framework to take you and your students from theory through guided practice and beyond. And, unique among books on the reading workshop, each lesson also features Serafini's own classroom-honed language-the perfect model to adapt for explicit instruction in any reading classroom. These lessons fit seamlessly together and provide the instructional backbone for learners of every level and ability.

"Effective teachers teach," writes Serafini, and in effective reading workshops explicit instruction provides an important link between the written word and an emerging reader's ability to both interact with texts and understand them. Read Lessons in Comprehension, trust Serafini, and help your students learn the strategies they need to comprehend a variety of texts.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0325006253
• ISBN13: 9780325006253
• Release Date: July 2004
• Publisher: Heinemann Educational Books
• Length: 176 Pages
• Weight: 0.98 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 8.4" x 10.8"
• Grade Range: Grades 3 to 8

Customer Reviews

Invaluable Information

Just what I needed to help me through my first year of Readers Workshop....and I've been teaching 14 years!!!

Great

Recieved item on time, right when we were told it would arrive. Book in very good condition.

Great beginning to a successful program

This is a great book but may not be useful alone. If you are making the investment- you need to buy "Around the Reading Workshop in 180 Days" because they refer to each other and work together. Serafini describes in the two books what to work with every month and ways that he does it in ...180 days. All of the lesson plans he refers to are in "Lessons in Comprehension" so they make a great pair. Although additional resources are necessary (in my opinion) this is a great starting point to setting up a successful reading workshop. He even mentions how to correlate reading workshop and writing workshop-- very helpful!

Great for Reading Lessons!

This book is great for helping plan literacy lessons. It is also a resource for learning about excellent intermediate read alouds. While I had heard of many of the books Serafini writes about, there were also many excellent ones I had not read before. Another plus of Serafini's book is that you do not need to use the books he recommends for the lessons, you can use books you already own that meet the same qualifications. Excellent resource!