Tovani, Cris. (2000).
I Read It, But I Don't Get It: Comprehension Strategies for Adolescent Readers.
Portland, Maine: Stenhouse
Publishers.
One of the teaching strategies Cris Tovani encourages is "modeling." She encourages teachers to let struggling students see what good readers do by sharing their own thought processes as they read. In I Read It, But I Don't Get It, Tovani invites others into her own classroom and allows them to model the practices of a master teacher. By the end of the book, readers will feel that they know both Cris Tovani and the many students that she mentions by name. There is no doubt that Tovani is a practicing teacher. When reading the first chapter, "Fake Reading," Torvani's teenagers, slumped in their chairs, discussing how they manage to fake out their teachers, unfortunately ring all too true.
A "What Works" section included in each of the last seven chapters offers suggestions that can be used in the classroom, and there is an appendix with reproducible materials. But this is not just a book of teaching activities; Tovani explains current theories of comprehension instruction, and she offers no quick fixes. A great deal is demanded of both teacher and student. Teachers must help students recognize when they are "stuck" and help them develop strategies for getting "unstuck." Nor does the teacher's job end with helping students simply understand the text. Students must also be guided in making inferences and relating what they read to other subjects and to their lives. Tovani's suggestions can be used in a variety of content areas and grade levels (6-12). Since finding reading strategies for the content area teacher is difficult, this book will be particularly valuable.
Perhaps most importantly, however; it is obvious that Tovani loves
teaching and cares greatly about her students. Her sense of pupose
and her belief in the importance of what she is doing shine through and
will inspire other teachers. This highly readable book
has a wealth of information and is a good choice for all types of libraries
and teacher resouce centers.
Pages: 140
Price: $18.50
ISBN: 1-57110-089-X
Reviewed by Sharon Naylor, Illinois State University
