Hands-on, Practical Guidance for Educators

From math, literacy, equity, multilingual learners, and SEL, to assessment, counseling, and education leadership, our books are research-based and authored by experts on topics most relevant to what educators are facing today.

Comprehension [Grades K-12] - Book Cover

Look Inside

Share:

Bestseller!

Comprehension [Grades K-12]

The Skill, Will, and Thrill of Reading

By: Douglas Fisher, Nancy Frey, Nicole V. Law

Comprehension is the structured, comprehensive, three-pronged approach—skill, will, and thrill—you need to empower students to comprehend text and take action in the world.

Product Details

Grade Level: PreK-12
ISBN: 9781071812839
Published By: Corwin
Series: Corwin Literacy
Year: 2020
Page Count: 208
Publication date: September 15, 2020

Price: $40.95

Select Format:

BUY FROM HERE

For Instructors

This book is not available as an inspection copy. For more information contact your local sales representative.

Tools

Companion Website

Description

Radically change the way students learn from texts, extending beyond comprehension to critical reasoning and problem solving.

Is your reading comprehension instruction just a pile of strategies? There is no evidence that teaching one strategy at a time, especially with pieces of text that require that readers use a variety of strategies to successfully negotiate meaning, is effective. And how can we extend comprehension beyond simple meaning?

Bestselling authors Douglas Fisher, Nancy Frey, and Nicole Law propose a new, comprehensive model of reading instruction that goes beyond teaching skills to fostering engagement and motivation. Using a structured, three-pronged approach—skill, will, and thrill—students learn to experience reading as a purposeful act and embrace struggle as a natural part of the reading process. Instruction occurs in three phases:

Skill. Holistically developing skills and strategies necessary for students to comprehend text, such as monitoring, predicting, summarizing, questioning, and inferring.
Will. Creating the mindsets, motivations, and habits, including goal setting and choice, necessary for students to engage fully with texts.
Thrill. Fostering the thrill of comprehension, so that students share their thinking with others or use their knowledge for something else.

Comprehension is the structured framework you need to empower students to comprehend text and take action in the world.

Author(s)

Douglas Fisher

Douglas Fisher, Ph.D., is professor and chair of educational leadership at San Diego State University and a leader at Health Sciences High and Middle College. Previously, Doug was an early intervention teacher and elementary school educator. He is the recipient of an International Reading Association William S. Grey citation of merit and an Exemplary Leader award from the Conference on English Leadership of NCTE. He has published numerous articles on teaching and learning as well as books such as The Teacher Clarity Playbook, PLC+, Visible Learning for Literacy, Comprehension: The Skill, Will, and Thrill of Reading, How Tutoring Works, and How Learning Works. Doug loves being an educator and hopes to share that passion with others.

Nancy Frey

Nancy Frey, Ph.D., is a Professor in Educational Leadership at San Diego State and a teacher leader at Health Sciences High and Middle College. She is a member of the International Literacy Association’s Literacy Research Panel. Her published titles include Visible Learning in Literacy, This Is Balanced Literacy, Removing Labels, and Rebound. Nancy is a credentialed special educator, reading specialist, and administrator in California and learns from teachers and students every day.

Nicole V. Law

Dr. Nicole Law is a dynamic and passionate educator who provides relevant professional development to schools and districts across the country. Nicole focuses her experience to present instruction on Professional Teacher Teams, Leadership Improvement Practices and Structures, Data Analysis Models, School Improvement Practices and Structures, Standards-based Instruction and Design, Metacognitive Teaching and Learning Practices, Strategies for Success in Cognitively Rigorous Instruction and Levels of Depth of Knowledge (DOK), Effective Teaching Strategies for English Learners and Special Education Students, as well as Culturally Responsive and Equitable Teaching Practices.

Before joining the Leadership and Learning Center, Dr. Law served as a Curriculum Coordinator for English Language Learners, Cultural Responsivity, AVID (Advancement via Individual Determination), District Equity, and Mathematics and Science Instruction in the Metropolitan School District of Wayne Township in Indianapolis, Indiana. In this position, Dr. Law created multi-layered and faceted professional development for teachers and administrators covering all aspects of directed programs and curricular areas. She has written curriculum in the areas of science, mathematics, and English Language Development. Nicole trained and supported administrators, teacher leaders, site coordinators, and school improvement teams in Decision Making for Results, The Data Teams Process, Sub-group Data Dives, and Gap Reduction Practices.

Nicole is accused of not living in a world of limitations, but rather living in a world of conquering, leading, learning, and achieving in all areas of her life. She thrives on gaining new knowledge and pouring an abundance of her energy and passion in her work of coaching, empowering, and developing others. As an elementary principal, she guided her teachers through the implementation of rigorous instructional and assessment practices to create a culture of learning and achievement for all. Nicole’s leadership allowed her to lead her school through a transformation in both school culture and academic instruction.

Dr. Law completed her doctorate in Educational Leadership and Policy. Her dissertation concentrated on the principal’s role in increasing teacher implementation of effective instructional practices. She also had the pleasure of co-authoring “The Reflective Leader: Implementing a Multidimensional Leadership Performance System.” Leadership is Dr. Law’s passion; she has worked with numerous principals and district leaders on the implementation of best-practices in education.

Nicole has received various recognitions throughout her career. One of many, was the 2008 National Milken Award from the state of Indiana.

Table of Contents

List of Videos

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Chapter 1: The Point of Comprehension Is Not Comprehension

But What Is Reading?

Teaching Students to Comprehend

Skilled Readers or Strategic Readers

Constrained and Unconstrained Skills

Is Comprehension Enough?

Chapter 2: Skill in Reading Comprehension

Skill in Reading Comprehension

Background Knowledge in Reading

The Sounds of Language

Phonics: Sound and Print

Fluency in Reading

Vocabulary in Reading

Comprehension Strategy Instruction

Conclusion

Chapter 3: Will in Reading Comprehension

Will in Reading Comprehension

Dispositions That Underpin Learning

Creating the Classroom Conditions for Will to Flourish

Conclusion

Chapter 4: Thrill in Reading Comprehension

Thrill in Reading Comprehension

The Right and the Responsibility of Criticism

Reading Through a Critical Literacy Lens

Goal Setting Through Student-Generated Questions

Taking Action

Chapter 5: Tools for Reading Comprehension Instruction

Texts as Tools for Fostering Comprehension

Text Readability and Text Complexity

The Special Cast of Digital Texts

Texts in Primary Grades

Tasks as Tools for Fostering Comprehension

An Instructional Framework That Works

Conclusion

References

Index

Reviews

"Fisher, Frey, and Law take components of effective reading instruction—skills, engagement, relevance—and show teachers how to focus their work in a meaningful way. Plenty of rich, classroom examples from all grade levels illustrate that this work is for everyone!"

Lynn Angus Ramos
DeKalb County School District

"Comprehension inspires me to take action! I want to be deliberate in my selection of texts for students, in my conversations with them, in my questioning, and in my listening to them. We all need to better understand what can make or break a student’s motivation: whether it’s the skill, will, or thrill! I want to make book lovers out of my students, and not just create answerers of uninspiring questions with me expecting the same verbiage year after year. Thank you for fueling the fire to go out and do better by students, especially in this era where often we speed through things for task completion."

Hilda Martinez
NBCT

"Comprehension challenges the view of teachers as facilitators of literacy activities and begins to demonstrate how teachers can be knowledge builders who break the vicious cycle where students most in need of high-quality reading and writing opportunities end up getting the least. It is particularly relevant for teachers who are working with students that are reading to learn. It illuminates (psychological) variables that can promote a love of reading or contribute to reading avoidance and signals actions that teachers can take to foster a culture of deep reading.
This text contributes to the important debate about knowledge-rich curricula and the role that comprehension plays in an era dominated by smart devices and search engines. The authors elucidate the enduring importance of deep reading as an apprenticeship into ways of thinking and knowing that cultivates what Professor Maryanne Wolf calls cognitive patience: the gateway to contemplative thought, critical analysis, analogic reasoning, and empathy."

Peter Nielsen
Department of Education, South Australia

"In their new book, Comprehension: The Skill, Will and Thrill of Reading, Douglas Fisher, Nancy Frey, and Nicole Law challenge teachers to rethink the meaning of comprehension with its emphasis on “what and how” instead of offering students opportunities to think about the “when and why.” The authors explain the thrill of comprehension, showing how reading can shape our identities, how we think about ourselves and others, how we view the world, and ultimately why we take social action. Carefully, this groundbreaking book guides readers into rethinking and re-imagining strategy application, with an emphasis on quantitative measures of readability over the nuances that qualitative measures reveal. Our re-imagining journey continues as the authors discuss the skills young readers practice to develop fluency and automaticity and those such as vocabulary and background knowledge that continue to grow over a lifetime. Using examples from primary grades through high school, they discuss the teaching of comprehension and students’ reactions to the practice that emerges from instruction. They explain the importance of will—student agency—and its relationship to developing literate minds through thinking, questioning, discussing, and problem solving. This is a seminal book that you will read again and again no matter what grade you teach."

Laura Robb