Description: "Understanding Texts & Readers makes comprehension make sense. In it, Jennifer Serravallo narrows the distance between assessment and instruction. She maps the four fiction and four nonfiction comprehension goals she presented in The Reading Strategies Book to fourteen text levels and shares sample responses that show what to expect from readers at each. Jen begins by untangling the many threads of comprehension: Levels, engagement, stamina, the relevance of texts, and much more. Then level by level she: - calls out with precision how plot and setting, character, vocabulary and figurative language, and themes and ideas change as fiction across levels - specifies how the complexity of main idea, key details, vocabulary, and text features increases in nonfiction texts - points out what to expect from a reader as text characteristics change - provides samples of student responses to texts at each level - shares progressions across levels to support instructional planning"--
Brief description:
Jennifer Serravallo is the author of The Reading Strategies Book 2.0 (the first edition was a New York Times' bestseller) and The Writing Strategies Book. These and some of her other titles have been translated into Spanish, French, Italian, and Chinese. Her popular books and resources help teachers make goal-directed, responsive, explicit strategy instruction doable in every classroom. Her newest titles are The Reading Strategies Book 2.0, The Reading Strategies Book 2.0 Companion Charts, The Writing Strategies Book Companion Charts, Teaching Writing in Small Groups, A Teacher's Guide to Reading Conferences, and the assessment and teaching resource Complete Comprehension for Fiction and Nonfiction.
Jen is a frequently invited speaker at national and regional conferences. She and her team of literacy specialists travel throughout the US and Canada to provide full-day workshops and to work with teachers and students in classrooms. She and her team are also experienced online educators who regularly offer live webinar series and full-day online workshops.
Jen began her career in education as an NYC public school teacher. Now as a consultant, she has spent the last twenty+ years helping teachers across the country create literacy classrooms where students are joyfully engaged, and the instruction is meaningfully individualized to students' goals. Jen served as a member of Parents Magazine Board of Advisors for education and literacy, and is on the NYC Reads Advisory Council as the city works to bring Science of Reading, Writing, and Learning-based practices to every classroom.
Jen holds a BA from Vassar College and an MA from Teachers College, where she has also taught graduate and undergraduate classes.
Learn more about Jen and her work at Hein.pub/serravallo, on Twitter @jserravallo, or Instagram @jenniferserravallo.