Reading Reconsidered: A Practical Guide to Rigorous Literacy Instruction by Doug Lemov

Reading Reconsidered: A Practical Guide to Rigorous Literacy Instruction Reviews

• 
  Donalyn

  Doug Lemov has no significant classroom teaching experience. He has no formal training as a reading researcher or reading specialist. This book has no research bibliography or list of sources providing a pedagogical foundation for his claims. I question the validity of his action "research" (conducted at his own charter schools) and his credibility as a reading instruction expert.
  
  Richard Allington, John Guthrie, Peter Johnston, Arthur Applebee and a staggering list of credible researchers have conducted studies investigating and naming what effective reading teachers do. Doug Lemov dismisses or ignores (or is perhaps ignorant of?) a body of reading research stretching back decades in favor of his "tactical" curriculum recommendations, which are slavishly in line with 1950's New Criticism, Ed Hirsch's Core Knowledge, and CCSS (none of which has a peer-reviewed, replicable research foundation). This book is junk science and self-promotion at its worst.
• 
  Susan

  Although I am not a teacher, I am a reading mentor and so I was interested to read this. It is aimed at teaching, probably at secondary school age, but there is much to interest anyone who has any input into the reading lives of children, or students; whether teachers, librarians or parents. Or, indeed, if you are a student yourself and struggle with interpreting texts, want to improve your vocabulary or need some ideas on how to get the most from the texts you need to read for your studies. This is an American book, but the ideas are relevant no matter which country you are in and there is also a useful DVD included.
  
  The book begins with text selection, looks at close reading (something I often employ when trying to improve reading comprehension), nonfiction and the challenge of background knowledge and writing for reading. The second part of the book looks at approaches to reading, breadth and depth, reading systems and toward intellectual autonomy. If you do teach, there are lots of practical ideas about how to use this book in a classroom setting and has lots of really interesting points to make about what can make children struggle, how you can help make things clearer and how you can support children to apply these ideas independently. A good resource and an interesting read.
  
• 
  Sarah

  Thank you to Net Galley for providing me with a copy of Reading Reconsidered in exchange for an honest review!
  
  In recent years, largely due to the implementation of the Common Core Standards, educational rigor has increased across the K-12 curriculum. As a result, the key to academic success lies squarely in the development of strong literacy skills in our students. In Reading Reconsidered, Lemov, Driggs, & Woolway address the "Core of the Core" - strategies that help educators hone their instructional skills and increase the rigor in their literacy programs. These strategies, discussed in Part 1 of the book, include choosing appropriate texts, teaching close reading skills, integrating more nonfiction text into the curriculum to build background knowledge, and teaching students how to write in response to reading. In Part 2, the authors provide learning modules that address the fundamentals of rigorous literacy instruction. Throughout the text, the authors include video links that provide real-world examples of how teachers use these strategies in their classrooms to improve their students' literacy skills.
  As a 4th grade teacher, and a graduate student currently pursuing my Master's of Education in Literacy, this book was of particular interest to me. The information and ideas presented Reading Reconsidered were well-researched and provided authentic and practical applications to the K12 classroom. The video links were particularly helpful because they allowed me to see how real teachers have implemented these strategies in their classrooms. I am anxious to incorporate what I've learned from this book into my instructional practices to increase the rigor in my classroom and improve my students' literacy skills.
• 
  Sarah

  I read most of this book and skimmed some parts. That isn’t to say that parts of it weren’t good, though. This is a great text for anyone teaching KS2 or higher, especially anyone for whine English is not a specialism. However, as I teach Y1 currently, and I have an English background, this wasn’t as relevant to me as I would have liked.
  The only real problem I had with this book was that it was difficult to locate those parts that were pertinent, and so it was difficult to ‘dip into’. Busy teachers need something a bit more immediate that can immediately be implemented in the classroom.
• 
  Katie

  Although I approached this book with a lot of bias and a bad taste in my mouth from being force-fed too much Doug Lemov, I was pleasantly surprised to find it so useful, practical, logical, and fairly thorough. Despite not containing anything new or particularly well-researched, the practices recommended in this book--when combined with others--will significantly improve my instruction.
  
  I tend to find myself not fully aligned with the teaching philosophies of UnCommon Schools (or maybe just Lemov), but most of the ideas recommended by the authors of this book were sound and extremely important. It is a book I highly recommend to any thinking teacher; my one caveat is the authors' failure to mention any potential alternatives to their approaches--namely, any alternatives to New Criticism as perpetuated by the adoption of the CCSS.
• 
  Adam Di Filippe

  I received an advance copy through NetGalley.
  
  As a former English major I've come across many textbook/handbooks like "Reading Reconsidered." Most of the concepts and modules presented are pretty standard. There is nothing all to groundbreaking to be found here. But I think the simplicity in its format and straightforwardness in text make it more accessible than most texts on the subject matter.
  
  This is definitely a text for professional levels individuals. I would recommend this to teachers, advisors, homeschool instructors, etc...
  
  
• 
  GONZA

  This book was really hard to understand, mostly because I'm not a literature teacher at any level, and I'm not even English mother tongue. Anyway what I understood was really interesting and this book really shows how to improve your teaching skills using books, as it says: "...we’ve looked at the different ways teachers can implement four “Core of the Core” ideas in the classroom. By having students read harder texts, close read rigorously to establish and analyze meaning, read lots of nonfiction, and write in direct response to written works, teachers can go a long way toward ensuring their students’ preparation for and success in college. Still, in and of themselves, those four ideas do not a competent and successful reader make. There are other important and often foundational skills necessary to success in reading.
  In this second part of the book, we’ll look at those pieces essential to rigorous and thorough reading instruction. We’ll focus on a combination of fundamentals—things like increasing vocabulary or sharpening expressive reading skills—and the process of developing positive habits and systems to make classrooms more effective and efficient in supporting student success. Fortunately, these essentials also offer deep synergies with the ideas in the first part of the book. " cit.
  
  THANKS TO SMITH PUBLICITY FOR THE PREVIEW!
• 
  Laura

  I don't plan to shelve this one, so I guess in some ways I'll be "currently reading" it for the rest of the school year. I love the rigor and the integrated practices in this book and consider it a guiding light for my practice for the year. (I loved it so much I bought my own copy after borrowing from the library because I just didn't want to let go of it!)
• 
  Rob

  A cogent, convincing argument and resource for engaging students in more challenging texts, fiction and non, and close reading with an emphasis on written responses. Video links, 20+, allow us to see these strategies in real classrooms. Relevant to all classrooms, Montessori and traditional, public or private.
• 
  Daniel Buck

  "Cultural Literacy" taught me how to think about education.
  
  "Reading Reconsidered" taught me how to teach.
  
  Easily the best book on education that I've ever read.
• 
  Eric Kalenze

  Hey teachers: if you've read lots of research on reading but always felt a little empty on the 'how-to' for your classroom, you should look at this book with real intent. It approaches all reading instruction from a most 'right-side-up' view (per my own book), keeping students' post-k-12 preparation--not a love of reading or decolonizing classrooms or whatever else--at the center, and has loads of thoughtful strategies, techniques, and rationales for every facet of reading instruction.
  
  Sure wish it would've been around 15 years or so ago, back when I was in the classroom and figuring out how to apply research insights to instruction pretty much alone. Since reading it I have recommended it left and right to staffs I've worked with, and will continue doing so.
• 
  Nikki Baker

  Lemov's book his has some useful suggestions and supports for teachers. However, it is missing appropriate and necessary citations and references. I had a hard time getting past that!
• 
  Jen

  In a summer where I am looking to refill my "toolbox" of teaching tricks and rethink some of my teaching practices, I've been bulldozing through several teaching books, and Reading Reconsidered has been a good one in terms of different ways of thinking about reading instruction and strategies to implement. However, the author gets on his soapbox quite a bit in the beginning, which I could have done without, and as he and I are philosophically are in disagreement about many things reading related, I almost put the book down entirely, before skipping that part altogether. I'm glad I did, because it has many helpful ideas overall, but I recommend taking some of his instructional philosophical ideas with some strong skepticism.
• 
  Emily

  I skimmed this text, and found a few helpful pieces of information. I was very disappointed that the book makes no acknowledgment that students in a classroom may have a wide variety of reading levels. Donalyn Miller makes a better argument than I can about the pitfalls (and damage) a whole class novel read can have on students who do not read "on grade level." The book also suggests that teachers should be selecting all the reading material for their students. How will students learn to self-select books and reading that interest them in the future if they are not allowed to do so at school? Putting autonomy into the students' hands is how they become readers for life. Learning technical reading skills is important, but it doesn't promote reading as a lifelong pursuit.
• 
  Kevin Fulton

  This book was recommended to me by another teacher. It is excellent. I am going to be teaching a novel for the first time this school year and I am certain to reference the strategies modeled in this book.
  If you are looking into how to utilize teaching with novels, this book is a great place to start. It is detailed and encourages you to implement various strategies or techniques by explicitly explaining and modeling them to students. This is key, and is backed by cognitive science research going back at least to the 1970s.
  The book also explains that this structure is designed to help your students learn to be independent readers. So, over time, as your students gain experience you can provide more flexibility.
• 
  Miss Frisbie

  This is one of the stronger books about ELA pedagogy that I have read. Lemov's books are good about giving practical advice for classroom teachers. I am excited to use his strategies as I begin whole class novels this school year. Though this book is not revolutionary, it gives a solid foundation for teaching background information and close reading that can change how you look at instruction. Students generally seem bored when we reread passages, but Lemov's strategies should help me get students involved and understanding the importance of close reading and finding new information in chapters we have already read.
• 
  Jen Pedrozo

  Chapter 2 (about how to actually DO close reading) was incredibly helpful. It developed my understanding of how to ask effective questions when reading a text, and I implemented it immediately last year with great success. Unfortunately, in light of the chaos in education from COVID and my personal decision to focus on antiracist education, I have to abandon this temporarily as I research strategies for blended/online learning and racial equity training. I hope to return to this in the future, though!
• 
  Heather Stringham

  I was taught how to teach readers strong books. I was not taught how to teach reading. This book does an excellent job of helping me realize how to help my students become better readers. It has helpful ideas and evidence on what needs to be done.
• 
  Jasmine - The Librarian's Bookcase

  Very useful for pointers on designing a literacy course (I am planning Reading, Research and Nonfiction classes) It has helped me a great deal with different methods and pathways to deliver the classes. Would highly recommend this for any English/literacy development/librarian to read as CPD
• 
  Janette

  A really interesting read with lots to think about. It has certainly made me rethink how I approach the teaching of reading with Year 6.
• 
  Dayna Smith

  A great look at techniques to teach reading with relevance and rigor.
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  Melinda

  This book should be required reading for college students in education programs and for professional development within districts.
• 
  Shivang Sheokand

  Good book. Though their is some self-promotion here and there but overall stays on the topic of its title.
• 
  Barbara Willliams

  This book breaks down reading comprehension with many examples teachers can use and apply to any work of fiction that they teach.
• 
  Andréa

  Note: I received a digital review copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.
• 
  Jill

  A MUST read for English teachers - period!
• 
  Ashley

  Useful. Impressively specific descriptions and recommendations for classroom teaching strategies. Most can also be easily adapted for teaching one-on-one.
• 
  James (JD) Dittes

  Doug Lemov, Colleen Driggs, and Erica Woolway's new book, Reading Reconsidered: A Guide to Rigorous Literacy Instruction in the Common Core Era, address this reading gap, and they provide concrete practices that ELA teachers (as well as teachers in other disciplines like science, social studies, and art swept up in the Common Core's effect on their own standards) can take straight from the book into the classroom.
  
  While the title addresses reading--and it is indeed the primary focus of the book. Reading Reconsidered covers each of the main areas in the Common Core standards: Reading Literature, Reading Informational Text, Writing, Language, and Speaking & Listening.
  
  I really enjoyed the specificity of the strategies offered by Lemov, Driggs and Woolway (and the descriptions of sample lessons in text and video that accompany the book). For example, I appreciated the emphasis on revision in Chapter 4, but even more important was a table that listed specific revision prompts that teachers can give their students--a list that I plan to copy and develop further in my own practice. This combination of knowing and practicing can be found in each chapter.
  
  The final chapters of the book look toward independent practice of reading skills addressed in the book, an acknowledgement that even the best teaching strategies are ineffective if students can't take learning beyond the classroom--and into college/career-style challenges.Appendices at the end of the book have sample unit plans, further online resources for sections of interests, and useful templates.
  
  While I teach 11th-grade ELA, and I plan to use many of the ideas I found in this book, I think it best serves teachers in grades 6-10. The examples found in the book are mostly from 7th or 9th-grade classrooms.
  
  One warning: Reading Reconsidered works more as a manual than as literature. As with Lemov's earlier book, Teach Like a Champion, there are many, many strategies here, which take repeated practice and adaptation in the classroom. While teachers may read it alone and try out some of the ideas, this is best read and practiced in a PLC or other format of professional development. It is best read over the course of a semester than over the course of a weekend.
  
  A special thank-you to Net Galley for providing a preview copy of this text.