""Why do I have to read this?""What teacher doesn't dread this question? It usually comes from our most disengaged students like the class clown or the student who struggles to read and write at grade-level. Sometimes we hear it from a student who cries of boredom or one who is angry or apathetic. When we don't know what else to try, it's easy to become frustrated and give up on these challenging learners. But take heart! Author Cris Tovani has spent her career figuring out how to entice challenging students back into the process of learning. In Why Do I Have to Read This? Cris Tovani shares her best secrets, lessons learned from big fails, and her most effective literacy and planning strategies that hook these hard to get learners. You will meet many of Cris's students inside this book. As she describes some of her favorites, you may even recognize a few of your own. You will laugh at her stories and take comfort in her easily adaptable strategies that help students remove their masks of disengagement. Cris shows teachers how to plan by anticipating students' needs. Her Curriculum You Anticipate structures of Topic, Task, Targets, Text, Tend to me, and Time will literally help you anticipate your curriculum. Inside Why Do I Have to Read This? readers will find: literacy strategies for all content areas that support and engage a wide range of learners so they can read and write a variety of complex text reference charts packed with small bites of instructional shifts that coaches and teachers can use to quickly adjust instruction to re-engage students planning strategies that show teachers how to connect day-to-day instruction so that no day lives in isolation versatile thinksheets that are reproducible and adaptable to different grade levels, content areas, and disciplines Above all, Cris gives teachers energy to get back into the classroom and face students who wear masks of disengagement. She reminds us of the importance of connecting students to compelling topics, rich text, useful targets, and worthy tasks. She reminds us of the importance of tending to students' basic needs and helps us consider how to best structure instructional time. After reading this book, teachers will have new ways to connect with students in a deep, authentic way. Written in a humorous, compassionate, and wise voice, Why Do I Have to Read This? will provide answers to the pressing questions we have when we try to teach and reach all of our students.

In So What Do They Really Know? Cris Tovani explores the complex issue of monitoring, assessing, and grading students' thinking and performance with fairness and fidelity. Like all teachers, Cris struggles to balance her student-centered instruction with school system mandates. Her recommendations are realistic and practical; she understands that what isn't manageable isn't sustainable. Cris describes the systems and structure she uses in her own classroom and shows teachers how to use assessments to monitor student growth and provide targeted feedback that enables students to master content goals. She also shares ways to bring students into the assessment cycle so they can monitor their own learning, maximizing motivation and engagement. So What Do They Really Know? includes a wealth of information: Lessons from Cris's classroom Templates showing how teachers can use the workshop model to assess and differentiate instruction Student work, including samples from linguistically diverse learners, struggling readers, and college-bound seniors Anchor charts of student thinking Ideas on how to give feedback Guidelines that explain how conferring is different from monitoring Suggestions for assessing learning and differentiating instruction during conferences Advice for managing ongoing assessment Cris's willingness to share her own struggles continues to be a hallmark of her work. Teachers will recognise their own students and the challenges they face as they join Cris on the journey to figure out how to raise student achievement.

"Do I really have to teach reading?" This is the question many teachers of adolescents are asking, wondering how they can possibly add a new element to an already overloaded curriculum. And most are finding that the answer is "yes." If they want their students to learn complex new concepts in different disciplines, they often have to help their students become better readers.

Building on the experiences gained in her own language arts classroom as well as those of colleagues in different disciplines, Cris Tovani, author of "I Read It, but I Don't Get It," takes on the challenge of helping students apply reading comprehension strategies in any subject. In "Do I Really Have to Teach Reading?," Cris shows how teachers can expand on their content expertise to provide instruction students need to understand specific technical and narrative texts. The book includes: examples of how teachers can model their reading process for students;ideas for supplementing and enhancing the use of required textbooks;detailed descriptions of specific strategies taught in context;stories from different high school classrooms to show how reading instruction varies according to content;samples of student work, including both struggling readers and college-bound seniors;a variety of "comprehension constructors": guides designed to help students recognize and capture their thinking in writing while reading; guidance on assessing students;tips for balancing content and reading instruction.Cris's humor, honesty, and willingness to share her own struggles as a teacher make this a unique take on content reading instruction that will be valuable to reading teachers as well as content specialists.

"I Read It, but I Don't Get It" is a practical, engaging account of how teachers can help adolescents develop new reading comprehension skills. Cris Tovani is an accomplished teacher and staff developer who writes with verve and humor about the challenges of working with students at all levels of achievement--from those who have mastered the art of "fake reading" to college-bound juniors and seniors who struggle with the different demands of content-area textbooks and novels.

Enter Cris' classroom, a place where students are continually learning new strategies for tackling difficult text. You will be taken step-by-step through practical, theory-based reading instruction that can be adapted for use in any subject area. The book features:

• anecdotes in each chapter about real kids with real universal problems. You will identify with these adolescents and will see how these problems can be solved;
• a thoughtful explanation of current theories of comprehension instruction and how they might be adapted for use with adolescents;
• a What Works section in each of the last seven chapters that offers simple ideas you can immediately employ in your classroom. The suggestions can be used in a variety of content areas and grade levels(6-12);
• teaching tips and ideas that benefit struggling readers as well as proficient and advanced readers;
• appendixes with reproducible materials that you can use in your classroom, including coding sheets, double entry diaries, and comprehension constructors.

In a time when students need increasingly sophisticated reading skills, this book will provide support for teachers who want to incorporate comprehensioninstruction into their daily lesson plans without sacrificing content knowledge.