- We need to fill our classrooms with text of every shape, size and topic
- Literacy holds power when it relates to their lives and concerns, when it is authentic, and when it raises issues that matter to them
- When students read and respond to text that provokes thinking, they are much more likely to become active, engaged readers
- How to choose the best possible text for instruction
- How teachers can teach kids to select books they can and want to read
- More short text should in school, since that is what they are going to read in the future (maps, brochures, street signs, cookbooks, etc.).
- Trade books?
- When we create instruction around a short text, we need to be clear about what we want our students to learn
- Consider: purpose, audience, genre, topic, writing quality, text structure and features
- We are constantly on the lookout for well-crafted, interesting short text for the purpose of teaching comprehension
- Picture books help with comprehension versus all other forms of literature
- Long texts are good for getting important information
The overall message in this chapter was to provide a variety of texts in the classroom. For example, short texts, long texts, fiction, fantasy, non-fiction, magazines, etc. When students' interests are displayed in books, they are more likely to become those engaged readers we would like them to be. Which in turn, helps comprehension.