Comprehension Process Instruction: Creating Reading Success in Grades K-3(Solving Problems in the Teaching of Literacy)

Filling a crucial gap in the literature, this immensely practical volume presents innovative tools for helping K-3 students significantly increase their ability to make meaning from texts. The focus is on teaching the comprehension processes employed by expert readers, using a carefully sequenced combination of whole-class activities, specially designed kinesthetic movements, metacognitive strategies, and independent reading. Teachers are taken step by step through implementing the authors' research-based approach with diverse students, including English-language learners and children with special needs. Designed in a convenient, large-size format, the book features clear lesson plans and reproducible activities and visual aids, together with fiction and nonfiction book lists. An invaluable resource for helping teachers meet the mandates of No Child Left Behind, the volume is also ideal for use in preservice and inservice training. Every chapter concludes with thought-provoking exercises, activities, and discussion topics.

Table of Contents:
1. Daily Comprehension Instruction in a New Era for Our Changing Students 2. Strand l of CPI in Grades K-3: Student-Initiated Comprehension Process Motions, Thinking Guides, and Direct Instruction 3. Strand 2 of CPI in Grades K-3: Instruction at the Point of Need 4. Strand 3 of CPI in Grades K-3: Increasing Students' Voices and Choices Builds Comprehension Abilities 5. CPI Lessons That Increase Literal Comprehension of Fiction 6. CPI Lessons That Increase Literal Comprehension of Nonfiction 7. Teaching Students to Infer, Predict, and Interpret Fiction and Non-Fiction 8. Teaching Imagery: Looking Up and Away without Moving Too Far from the Text 9. Teaching Metacognition 10. Assessment of Comprehension Appendix: Reproducible Forms

About the Author :
Cathy Collins Block, PhD, is Professor of Education at Texas Christian University. She has directed eight nationally funded research projects related to comprehension instruction, teaching comprehension, teacher education, and professional development. Lori L. Rodgers, MS, has taught kindergarten for nine years. She has conducted a national study to validate the effectiveness of the materials contained in this book, and is the director of a national network of educators working to advance the comprehension instruction of young children. Rebecca B. Johnson, MS, has taught primary-age children for several years. She was involved in the creation of the comprehension process approach and participated in the research underlying the lessons in this book.

Review :
"Block et al. unravel the mystery of comprehension by making the comprehension process visible and teachable. Their book moves teachers beyond the use of isolated comprehension strategies, providing a conceptually based model of instruction complete with carefully crafted lessons. Comprehension process instruction has an immense potential for meeting the needs of beginning readers, struggling readers, and students with diverse learning styles and cultural and linguistic backgrounds. A timely resource for novice and experienced teachers alike, this book will also be a suitable text for graduate-level courses and school-based literacy study groups."--Doris Walker-Dalhouse, PhD, Department of Elementary and Early Childhood Education, Minnesota State University Moorhead "The message of this book is clear--comprehension instruction must be explicit and must occur during the reading process for all readers. The authors present an effective, manageable instructional model that strengthens students' literal and higher-order skills for comprehending both fiction and nonfiction texts. It is easy to use the volume in planning and implementing instruction. Graphic organizers can be photocopied and used in lessons, or can serve as a springboard for teachers to design and customize strategies for their own students. All K-3 classroom teachers would benefit from using this book, and so, in turn, would their students! It would also be a suitable text for undergraduate- and graduate-level reading methods courses."--Marie Donnantuono, MEd, College of Education, William Paterson University "All too often, comprehension instruction is still based on the teaching of isolated strategies. This book offers a much-needed corrective by providing a three-strand framework for actively engaging students, at their point of need, in the internalization of comprehension processes. Teachers in the field will find it a great resource in helping them make the transition from isolated instruction to process instruction. It is also an excellent text for introducing comprehension instruction to teachers in training."--Carrice Cummins, PhD, Louisiana Tech University -