Comprehension Across the Curriculum

“A comprehensive look at comprehension! Ganske and Fisher cover all the bases in this coherent work. From basic research findings to multimodal literacies, from mashups to remix, the contributors offer timely, lively, and forward-looking ways that teachers can support kids' strengths and meet their needs. This is the just-right, big-picture text for college comprehension courses and for school-based staff development that gets everyone on the same page.”

—Harvey Daniels, PhD, Department of Language, Literacy, and Sociocultural Studies, University of New Mexico


“This wonderful book will provide insight for educators as we look at all K-12 learners to determine how, when, and what to teach in order to promote comprehension. The contributors remind us that comprehension is not only a developed understanding of what is read, but also is part of how students engage with text at each learning stage and in every content area. The book will help teachers and staff developers think about comprehension development on a continuum while maintaining high expectations for every student.”

—Susan Dalton, MA, Curriculum Coordinator, Littleton (Colorado) Public Schools


“This book lives up to its title. Inservice teachers will find food for thought and classroom-ready strategies for enhancing students’ understanding of text, whether it be print or digital, fiction or nonfiction, and whether their students are native English speakers or English language learners. Preservice teachers will gain insight into what comprehension instruction might look like from a range of perspectives, including cognitive strategy instruction, promoting talk about text, building background knowledge, dealing with text structure, and fostering motivation and engagement. There is something here for everyone.”

—Ian A. G. Wilkinson, PhD, School of Teaching and Learning, The Ohio State University


“This book includes a broad range of resources: research, advice, and specific activities. The chapters are of uniformly high quality. The book offers something for a wide variety of audiences, including teacher educators, researchers, and teachers. I jumped for joy at the chapters on libraries and trade books—I would urge administrators to look at this material as a complement to the focus on scripted basals and pacing charts.”

—Robert Calfee, PhD, Graduate School of Education, Stanford University


“Ganske and Fisher are to be commended for presenting such compelling research and recommendations related to comprehension strategy instruction. This book should be in the hands of any preserviceor practicing teacher who is working to enhance students' abilities to read all genres strategically and with deeper understanding.”

—Michelle L. Huntress, MA, reading strategist, Storm Lake (Iowa) Community Schools