The Reading Strategies Book

The Reading Strategies Book by Jennifer Serravallo

I love this book. It's new from Jennifer Serravallo and it's an amazing resource for elementary reading teachers, no matter how long or how little you've been teaching.

The chapters are organized into 13 main reading goals and there are dozens of strategies included within each chapter to support the goals. And there's something for every reader... the emergent ones just starting out at levels A-C all the way to intermediate readers learning how to navigate text at levels P-R (and higher).  

It doesn't really matter which grade you teach because you probably have a wide variety of readers in your room anyway... which is why I think this book supports differentiated instruction so well, too. At first I saw the lessons for whole-group instruction during reading workshop, but as I think about the many different needs of the students in any classroom, it's obvious the lessons can be used during small group guided instruction as well. Take a look at this sample page from the contents... it's so easy to find what you need for the kids you're teaching.  

And then each skill / lesson is contained on one page... so handy. I love when resources are smart and user-friendly. Take a look at these sample pages. She provides:

• the strategy

• teaching tips

• possible lesson language (love this!)

• sample prompts

• pictures of anchor charts

• appropriate reading levels

• the intended genre

• the skills addressed

• "Hat Tips" (related resources that support that particular strategy / skill)

If you're wanting something new to read (either for yourself or your team), check it out. Actually... I know this is lofty... how powerful would this be if your whole school read this book under a common philosophical vision of what good readers do? It would be incredibly consistent and meaningful as you grow the readers in your building and it would give teachers a common instructional thread across grade levels.

Does anyone else already have this book? How has it worked for you?

Happy teaching!