What do you think?
Rate this book
What Readers Really Do: Teaching the Process of Meaning Making
Drawing on their own lives as readers and writers and years of experience working in classrooms as coaches, staff developers, and consultants, Dorothy Barnhouse and Vicki Vinton offer practical tips for meeting today's rigorous standards while reminding us of the deeper, enduring purposes and process of reading.
In What Readers Really Do, you'll peer into the minds and hearts of readers to notice the often invisible thinking work that goes into making meaning of texts-from comprehending where a scene is taking place to constructing thematic interpretations. And you'll look into the authors' own teaching minds and hearts as they unpack the moves and decisions they make to design and implement instruction that allows every student to make significant and personally relevant meaning of texts. Along the way, you'll learn how to: notice and name what students are doing as readers to build their identity and agency move beyond simple strategy instruction to step students into more complex texts show students how readers draft and revise as they read to promote engagement, self-monitoring, and deeper comprehension.
Filled with student voices and classroom examples including read-alouds, small groups, and conferences, What Readers Really Do will challenge, inspire, and empower you to become the insightful, independent teacher your students need you to be. And it will remind both you and your students why and how we really read.
In What Readers Really Do, you'll peer into the minds and hearts of readers to notice the often invisible thinking work that goes into making meaning of texts-from comprehending where a scene is taking place to constructing thematic interpretations. And you'll look into the authors' own teaching minds and hearts as they unpack the moves and decisions they make to design and implement instruction that allows every student to make significant and personally relevant meaning of texts. Along the way, you'll learn how to: notice and name what students are doing as readers to build their identity and agency move beyond simple strategy instruction to step students into more complex texts show students how readers draft and revise as they read to promote engagement, self-monitoring, and deeper comprehension.
Filled with student voices and classroom examples including read-alouds, small groups, and conferences, What Readers Really Do will challenge, inspire, and empower you to become the insightful, independent teacher your students need you to be. And it will remind both you and your students why and how we really read.
224 pages, Paperback
First published January 10, 2012
11 people are currently reading
438 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
June 24, 2013
Rarely do I include a professional book in Goodreads, but this was such a smart book that I'd love to share it with my teacher buddies. Barnhouse and Vinton take what we know about reading as meaning making and deepens that understanding. In the process, they challenge some typical beliefs and practices: is inferring really a strategy ("inferring is really a sophisticated skill masquerading as a strategy")? Is modeling what students really need or can it limit their agency?
At the same time, this book reinforces beliefs that I hold about literacy and, in the process, honors the teacher as a thinker. For instance, the authors stress the importance of reflecting on who we are as readers/thinkers/writers. As they explain the best way to create a vision about the meaning making process for students, they argue that attending to our own intellectual work is more important than any research or program: "...read attending to what we do as readers, noticing and naming and making visible the work we routinely and invisibly do. Doing so, we’re convinced, can deepen and strengthen our instruction more than any compendium of tips or even research-based theories, because it authentically grounds our teaching in our life as readers."
Even though the writers use examples from elementary and middle school classrooms, I'm convinced that their ideas apply directly to the high school setting. A high school English teacher could use their ideas to teach students how the detail leads to understanding theme ("details are the building blocks and lifeblood of texts"), how literary elements are tools for making meaning and not "ends in and of themselves," and how to critique or evaluate a book. Consider this ending quote and it's clear how the book speaks to everyone: "This is the vital work we have to do as teachers, for each student who crosses our path is in the process of forging an identity, not only as a reader of books but as a reader of their world. Showing them what agency looks and sounds like while making meaning in a text -- to notice what's to be noticed and make something of it -- is a microcosm for what that can look and sound like while making meaning in their lives."
At the same time, this book reinforces beliefs that I hold about literacy and, in the process, honors the teacher as a thinker. For instance, the authors stress the importance of reflecting on who we are as readers/thinkers/writers. As they explain the best way to create a vision about the meaning making process for students, they argue that attending to our own intellectual work is more important than any research or program: "...read attending to what we do as readers, noticing and naming and making visible the work we routinely and invisibly do. Doing so, we’re convinced, can deepen and strengthen our instruction more than any compendium of tips or even research-based theories, because it authentically grounds our teaching in our life as readers."
Even though the writers use examples from elementary and middle school classrooms, I'm convinced that their ideas apply directly to the high school setting. A high school English teacher could use their ideas to teach students how the detail leads to understanding theme ("details are the building blocks and lifeblood of texts"), how literary elements are tools for making meaning and not "ends in and of themselves," and how to critique or evaluate a book. Consider this ending quote and it's clear how the book speaks to everyone: "This is the vital work we have to do as teachers, for each student who crosses our path is in the process of forging an identity, not only as a reader of books but as a reader of their world. Showing them what agency looks and sounds like while making meaning in a text -- to notice what's to be noticed and make something of it -- is a microcosm for what that can look and sound like while making meaning in their lives."
October 2, 2014
I'm not sure I'll ever be finished with this book. As I implement the ideas in this book with my 7th and 8th grade readers, I find I need to go back and revise my thinking often. This book is just the place to do that! I love that there are classroom examples that help me to see what I might do in my own classroom, and that the best model of these strategies is . . . me! Reflecting on what I do as an adult reader is a powerful way to think about what I ask my students to do.
May 9, 2012
"Readers do not read words and then wait for someone else to tell us what they mean, nor do they read words and then identify literary elements. We read words and build living and breathing ideas from them--ideas that matter to us and continue to develop as we talk with each other, keep reading, and talk some more."
Enough said.
Enough said.
June 29, 2016
Trying the strategies while reading a fiction book for book club made all the difference as I read this text over the summer, without the benefit of having students in front of me to try things out with.
July 25, 2013
This book is the perfect companion to Opening Minds and Talk About Understanding. The three together have made me a better teacher.
January 12, 2019
This book will give you a great deal to think about concerning the process of reading. It is a book all teachers should read to understand what it means to truly read. It will help you explain the process to parents so that they can better support their children reading.
September 20, 2020
This is a good approach but I could have used more in the way of specific examples and practical applications. The abstract portions somehow had me glazing over. The examples it does give are certainly good, though few of them were for the specific age range I’m interested in. There just could have been more.
December 28, 2016
Overview: Barnhouse and Vinton situate this text in classrooms, using core texts and real students to illustrate their key concept, “Meaning is a construct, something to be made out of what they (students) notice” (p. 195). Constructivist teaching is exemplified both in theory and practice throughout the book.
I appreciate the way Barnhouse and Vinton build from and extend traditional comprehension strategies, using them as tools to get to meaning rather than as ends in and of themselves. The authors suggest that we use literary elements to read, as opposed to reading in order to find literary elements.
Each chapter presents a core text being read with a group of students, beliefs about reading and meaning-making behind instructional decisions, and closes with a vignette from the classroom. Charts used to guide meaning-making are included in the appendix.
This is a trustworthy text that practicing teachers could follow easily, making connections to their own practice through the thoughts and examples contained in the text. Each chapter builds on and expands the ideas presented from the very beginning, that reading teaches us to make meaning of our world.
Key ideas:
Allow students to make their own meaning
Notice and name what students are already doing
Listen to the reader
Notice and connect patterns
Revise thinking by remaining open and questioning
Drawbacks:
The authors acknowledge the constraints of contemporary classrooms, such as testing culture and right answers only thinking, however, teaching from the stance described in What Readers Really Do would be quite difficult in many school cultures. A suggestion from the authors about finding like-minded teachers or examples of how to talk with parents or administration would be helpful. Also, this type of thinking may be an identity stretch for many teachers.
The last chapter gets a bit preachy. I’m not sure if all students want to always find deep meaning in a book.
Ideas are applicable for upper elementary students. Primary students would require a different text using vignettes and examples from primary classrooms. Although the underlying concept of reading as meaning-making would remain the same, instruction would include more decoding/encoding and shorter texts.
I appreciate the way Barnhouse and Vinton build from and extend traditional comprehension strategies, using them as tools to get to meaning rather than as ends in and of themselves. The authors suggest that we use literary elements to read, as opposed to reading in order to find literary elements.
Each chapter presents a core text being read with a group of students, beliefs about reading and meaning-making behind instructional decisions, and closes with a vignette from the classroom. Charts used to guide meaning-making are included in the appendix.
This is a trustworthy text that practicing teachers could follow easily, making connections to their own practice through the thoughts and examples contained in the text. Each chapter builds on and expands the ideas presented from the very beginning, that reading teaches us to make meaning of our world.
Key ideas:
Allow students to make their own meaning
Notice and name what students are already doing
Listen to the reader
Notice and connect patterns
Revise thinking by remaining open and questioning
Drawbacks:
The authors acknowledge the constraints of contemporary classrooms, such as testing culture and right answers only thinking, however, teaching from the stance described in What Readers Really Do would be quite difficult in many school cultures. A suggestion from the authors about finding like-minded teachers or examples of how to talk with parents or administration would be helpful. Also, this type of thinking may be an identity stretch for many teachers.
The last chapter gets a bit preachy. I’m not sure if all students want to always find deep meaning in a book.
Ideas are applicable for upper elementary students. Primary students would require a different text using vignettes and examples from primary classrooms. Although the underlying concept of reading as meaning-making would remain the same, instruction would include more decoding/encoding and shorter texts.
October 5, 2014
Update: More stars, because this book has deeply influenced the way I am thinking about teaching reading.
Also,
New blog post by V. Vinton that describes some open-mindedness necessary for a strong reader.
http://tomakeaprairie.wordpress.com/2...
"It seems unadvisable to me, as well, for a reader to know where he or she’s going (at least the first time through a text); for if we did know, there wouldn’t really be any need to keep turning the pages. Not knowing is what keeps us engaged; it’s what propels us forward. And it’s what helps us keep our minds open and receptive to whatever surprises the text holds. If you think, after all, that you know where you’re going, there’s little incentive to attend to the words, especially to those subtle shifts and hints that herald change—until, perhaps, you find yourself lost, which happens to students all the time.
"Unfortunately, however, many of the strategies we teach children to use, such as predicting and picture walks—and even connecting and accessing schema—work against this open mindset by encouraging students to form ideas before they even start reading. And as Murray says in yet another line that has implications for readers: “Beginning writers make the mistake of looking for ideas before beginning to write.”
. . .
As readers, however, we can’t revise the clues or patterns the writer has laid down; what we have to keep revising instead is what we think those patterns and clues reveal and what insights they might be leading us to. And to do this, once again, we have to apply Murray’s writing words to readers: “You discover what [the text has] to say by letting go of preconceptions.”"
April 20, 2014
This book really made me think about the way I teach reading! This pairs well with the book Making Thinking Visible. Reading is letting the students make their own meaning by asking questions. Do I over-teach and over-model? Should I introduce a book or not, should I front load vocabulary, encourage students to make predictions...things are some things I'm grappling with...change is never easy but always necessary lest we become over confident or lackadaisical. This book is much needed to free teachers to teach in the moment and free students to think and to think deeply which is much more positive that getting lost in A, B, C, Ds of the test prep arena.
August 10, 2015
I strongly recommend this book to English teachers, especially junior-level. I felt like my "English methods" courses were missing exactly the kind of insight this book offers into the kind of work we ultimately want students to be able to do when they read and the kind of approach that can help them get there. I intended to use these ideas this school year.
January 3, 2016
LOVED IT. Such interesting thinking about reading and teaching. Really liked how the authors presented scenarios in which they modeled discussing books with the kids - helped me see step by step how you might do that. Made it clear I ran the reading groups a couple of years ago without opening them up for genuine inquiry by the kids. Lots of post its in this.
July 28, 2014
This is a well-written book with some excellent strategies (e.g., Know/Wonder charts), but unfortunately it wasn't quite what I had expected. I highly recommend it to middle grades and secondary teachers, but it's not as helpful for the primary grades.
July 22, 2014
Absolutely wonderful. A must read for all teachers wanting to help their students read more authentically and more deeply. If you cherish your professional texts from Lucy Calkins, Donalyn Miller, or Peter Johnston - then this gem from Dorothy Barnhouse & Vicki Vinton is definitely for you.
February 11, 2016
I really like the authentic approach to wondering about what you're reading and having the author release information through the plot. The portion about front loading before reading makes me question how that coincides with giving ESL kids the vocabulary support they need.
Read
June 25, 2013Great strategies
June 4, 2013
This book really challenges the way I viewed reading. It offers great Ideas for the classroom. However, they only offer scenarios in which the student is willing to read.
August 9, 2013
Excellent book. Gets away from some of the rigidity teachers impose upon themselves to get it right like the experts say. A new look at mini-lessons and comprehension strategies.
January 17, 2016
A seriously new twist on teaching reading that I found really inspiring and not at all dry. This text had plenty of anecdotes to keep it interesting.
January 16, 2013
So practical advice! Can't wait to try it out.
June 22, 2015
The Know/Wonder chart will be a staple in my classroom from here on out.
April 23, 2017
Mind blown. Every literacy teacher needs to read this. Heck, anyone who loves reading should read this. Taught me so much about what I do (and should be doing) when I'm reading. I read A Little Life simultaneously and as it turns out, that was a great decision. It helped me think about the work I was doing as I read a challenging book.
This text turned what I knew about teaching reading upside down. I will be coming back to his book over and over.
This text turned what I knew about teaching reading upside down. I will be coming back to his book over and over.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews