Chapter 5

Tovani, C. (2004). Do I really have to teach reading?: Content comprehension, grades       6-12. Portland, ME: Stenhouse.

Summary: The fifth chapter brought up the question, “Why am I reading this?” because without a purpose, reading can be uninteresting and can cause you to read without understanding. Tovani had teachers really think about what the purpose of reading material was in each area and figure out what is most important and what could be taken out.

            While reading this chapter I reread parts, made connections and visualized what was going on. This helped me stay interested in the book and be able to comprehend what I was reading.  I liked the idea that Tovani presents about figuring out what your instructional purpose is and building from there. As teachers we need to sit down and think, what is it that I want my students to know and learn. Some teachers have the problem of having too many areas that they want to cover. They feel rushed and the students really aren’t learning as much as they could be if the teacher were to slow down and go more in depth with the material. Tovani also presented the idea of telling the students what they are required to know before giving them something to read. I completely agree with this idea because as a student it is hard to remember all the details of what you have read. It is even harder to try and pick out what you think your teacher might find important. By telling your students what you are expecting, they have something to go off of and can look for those aspects as they read.