Powerful Readers

Book excerpt: At any age or grade level, powerful readers are those who are aware of their thinking as they read. The assumption is that high school students don't need to be taught how to read; but even if they can decode words and gain literal understanding, they often don't think deeply about what they are reading. Presenting a balance of theory and practical lessons, Powerful Readers demonstrates that instruction in the key strategies of connecting, visualizing, questioning, inferring, determining importance, and transforming can help students develop their reading skills and get more out of their work with fiction and nonfiction. Step-by-step lessons for introducing and using the strategies, connections to literary devices, and reading lists for each strategy are all part of this valuable resource.