Early literacy instruction typically emphasizes foundational skills--often at the expense of engaging young children in reading and supporting their comprehension of different types of texts. This book explains the essential elements of comprehension and shares a wealth of classroom-tested instructional practices. It presents developmentally informed strategies for scaffolding comprehension skills, using content to promote engagement, and implementing high-level discussions and writing tasks. Ways to teach and assess English learners and other diverse students are highlighted throughout. The book features explicit links to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) as well as helpful reproducible forms. Purchasers get access to a Web page where they can download and print the reproducible materials in a convenient 8 1/2" x 11" size.
See also the authors' related book on the intermediate grades: Expanding Reading Comprehension in Grades 3-6.
Table of Contents:
1. Unifying Theory, Research, and Practice
2. Comprehension Considerations for Students from Diverse Linguistic and Cultural Backgrounds
3. It's All About Scaffolding
4. Using Content to Create Engagement
5. Comprehension Strategy Instruction and Self-Regulation
6. Let's Talk About It: High-Level Discussions
7. Written Responses to Texts and Writing Projects
8. Assessing Reading Comprehension in the Early Grades
9. Beyond the Classroom: Intervening to Provide Additional Comprehension Support
About the Author :
Katherine A. Dougherty Stahl, EdD, is Clinical Associate Professor of Reading at New York University (NYU), where she serves as Director of the Literacy Program and teaches graduate courses. In addition to teaching in public elementary school classrooms for over 25 years, she has extensive experience working with struggling readers in clinical settings. Her research focuses on reading acquisition, struggling readers, and comprehension. Dr. Stahl is the author or editor of several books, and her articles have appeared in leading journals of research and practice. She is a recipient of the Jeanne S. Chall Visiting Researcher Award from Harvard University and the Teaching Excellence Award from the NYU Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development.
Georgia Earnest García, PhD, is Professor Emerita in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. She has held appointments at the Center for the Study of Reading, the RAND Reading Study Group on Skillful Reading, and the National Literacy Panel on Language Minority Children and Youth. Prior to obtaining her doctorate, she was a Peace Corps Volunteer, bilingual education teacher, English teacher, and ESL/EFL teacher. Dr. García has authored or coauthored several books as well as numerous book chapters and journal articles. After retiring, she served on the Educational Testing Service’s Dual Language Assessment Team and the WestED Reading Content Team, which updated the Reading Assessment Framework for the 2026 National Assessment of Educational Progress. Dr. García was inducted into the Reading Hall of Fame in 2019. She continues to collaborate with bilingual teachers and schools and to conduct and publish research on the literacy development, instruction, and assessment of bilingual students.
Review :
"Be prepared to experience a compelling journey! In this readable and engaging book, Stahl and García have achieved the ambitious objective of describing the instruction that children need to help them transition from learning from their own experiences to learning from text, and from listening comprehension to reading comprehension. This is a book that will find a welcome home on every classroom teacher's and teacher educator's bookshelf."--Patricia A. Edwards, PhD, University Distinguished Professor of Language and Literacy, Michigan State University
"Developing Reading Comprehension is a very valuable resource that will improve your reading instruction. Every classroom teacher, reading specialist, and literacy coach should read this book. The authors explain effective reading instruction in basic terms that will increase the literacy achievement of all students, including English learners and students who struggle with the reading process. Stahl and García's work is a gift to the education field."--Lea Danon, MA, reading specialist, Mount Vernon (New York) City School District
"I wanted to jump out of my chair and exclaim 'Finally!' as I read this book. I'd like to give a copy to every elementary teacher I know! For too long, conventional wisdom held that teachers of young children must first focus instruction on foundational skills before working to develop reading comprehension and vocabulary. This book provides unequivocal evidence that young children--including English learners and children who speak a different dialect--are absolutely capable of critical thinking and thoughtful exploration and discussion of text. The authors explore a range of highly relevant issues, from comprehension strategy instruction to talk in the classroom and comprehension assessment, all critical topics in the CCSS context. Stahl and García provide dozens of practical teaching tactics to engage young children in new worlds and ideas."--Ellin O. Keene, MA, education consultant and author, Denver, Colorado
"This book is on the top of my list of 'must reads.' It is clear, comprehensible, highly readable, and a go-to source for all issues related to reading comprehension. The authors have on-the-ground experience in classrooms which, they weave together brilliantly with research."--Susan B. Neuman, EdD, Teaching and Learning Department, Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, New York University
"Stahl and García present practical, developmentally appropriate, research-validated strategies for PreK-2 classrooms. The book provides effective strategies and tools for successfully implementing critical components of a balanced literacy program, including read-alouds, shared reading, guided reading, and independent reading."--Lisa Krueger, EdD, Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum, Instruction, and Pupil Services, Orchard Park (New York) Central School District
"Stahl and García offer ways to bring young children into deeper meaning, stronger connections with, and wider understanding of stories and text. Teachers will benefit from this book in many ways. The anchoring message is that 'difficulties' in today's classrooms do not reside in the students, but in teachers' unexamined assumptions about them, alongside limited knowledge of strategies for those children in multiple-discourse communities. I can't put this book down--I will use it and use it and use it!"--Karen Hale Hankins, PhD, Department of Education Theory and Practice, University of Georgia, and veteran primary classroom teacher of 30 years -
