The Thinking Reader
Cultivating Critical Thinkers in the Classroom
1. Auflage März 2025
464 Seiten, Softcover
Wiley & Sons Ltd
Concepts, lesson plans, and strategies for making reading lessons work
The Thinking Reader: Cultivating Critical Thinkers in the Classroom is the frazzled teacher's guide to setting up any grade 2-4 classroom for reading success. You won't find any busywork, condescending lectures, or boring worksheets in this book. Instead, you'll learn flexible reading strategies to blend into your lessons at the start of the school year that will support your students for years to come. This book also debunks old-school ideas about reading instruction and explains the concepts that you'll need to know as you help students build a foundation for their future as readers.
Former elementary teacher and instructional coach Ciera Harris has achieved remarkable, replicable results with young readers, not with a rigid system or program, but with a new approach to thinking about reading. In this book, you'll learn why it makes sense to go beyond all the lessons of phonics, fluency, and vocabulary by making reading personal to each student. This easy-to-use approach has helped teachers across the country create a culture of reading within their classrooms, so students--even those that struggle the most with reading--can start view themselves as readers. Help students learn based on what interests them, as individuals, and watch budding readers bloom.
* Discover why reading is not a series of decoding skills, but a personal, powerful act of thinking
* Learn the steps to setting up your classroom for reading success at the beginning of the year
* Get engaging lesson plans and techniques for implementing primary reading strategies like schema, asking questions, metacognition, and so much more
* Overcome common roadblocks, including student resistance to reading
With The Thinking Reader, elementary school teachers in grades 2-4 can build the ultimate framework for reading success.
About the Author xi
Introduction xiii
Chapter 1 What Reading Really Is 1
Chapter 2 Setting Up for Success 39
Chapter 3 The Reader's Blueprint 67
Chapter 4 Reading and the Brain 95
Chapter 5 Schema: The Power of Perspective 131
Chapter 6 Curiosity: The Motivation Maximizer 165
Chapter 7 Metacognition: Inquiry and Independence 193
Chapter 8 Metacognitive Strategies for Success 227
Chapter 9 Talking (Meaningfully) About Texts 277
Chapter 10 Fostering Critical Thinking in the Classroom 327
Chapter 11 Building Persistence and Cultivating the Reader's
Mindset 373
Closing 409
Index 419
"I highly recommend The Thinking Reader for any educator looking to inspire critical thinking and deep engagement in their students' reading. With a focus on building relationships and understanding each student's unique reading needs, it's an invaluable resource for creating a classroom culture that values both reading and reflective thinking."
--Lance Schnaus, Principal, Arthur C. Newby Elementary
"This is a teacherly book, and I mean that in the most positive way! It is by a skilled teacher, designed to build teacher knowledge of the brain and metacognition and why they matter in daily literacy instruction. This book is practical and handy. You'll want it on your desk all the time!"
--Meredith Liben, Reading Done Right, author of Know Better Do Better: Comprehension and Know Better Do Better: Foundational Skills
"Practicing educators seeking to support and understand their students' development as engaged, metacognitive readers will benefit from the accessible explanations, insights, and pedagogical guidance shared in The Thinking Reader."
--Jessica Hernandez Fletcher, PhD
