Know Better, Do Better: Comprehension: Fueling the Reading Brain With Knowledge, Vocabulary, and Rich Language

by David Liben, Meredith Liben

In this companion to their bestselling first book, David and Meredith Liben move beyond foundational skills to explore how the mind comprehends texts. They translate research in clear terms to help teachers understand what students truly need to read deeply for pleasure and with purpose.  Focusing on vocabulary, knowledge building, and language structures, they provide cutting-edge instructional ideas and ready-to-use tools to help teachers put their understanding into action immediately.

Genres: Education, Teaching, Nonfiction, Professional Development

160 pages, Paperback

Published April 23, 2024

Reviews

[Lindsay Bembenek · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quick read packed with great information and resources. Great thoughts on knowledge, vocabulary, morphology and etymology. Many other studies, texts and sites are also referenced as places to go to in order to dig deeper.

[Malinda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mostly anecdotal, assumes all teachers were ineffective prior to CCSS, light on research.

[Jean Schram · Rating 5 out of 5]

Accessible and practical!

my notes:
21: E.D. Hirsch’s books are better now than they were in the 1990s. I personally DO recommend the Core Knowledge books.
80: “To form a successful sense of the textbase, a reader needs to connect the propositions, or idea units, in the text.”
80-81: local and global cohesion: “The difference between global and local cohesion has to do largely with how far apart the references are from each other. To fully comprehend what they’re reading, students need to be able to make connections between ideas the author intended for them to understand, whether they’re in close proximity or far away.”
83-89 Constructing a Situation Model by Bridging Inferences to Knowledge
84: “A proficient reader can still make bridging inferences to develop a textbase and situation model, even if he or she lacks all of the knowledge on display in these examples. Propositions can be bridged to other propositions…Reading remains the most efficient way by far to acquire and grow knowledge. Read a lot, learn a lot!”
88: importance of balancing mirrors, windows, and sliding glass door texts
89: Developing a Strong Standard of Coherence!!
90: good information in chapter summary
96: Each Text is a Frozen Kaleidoscope of Unique Features
97: 11! (Eleven Factorial)—“[W]e focus on the text in planning, not…any…standalone list of strategies to be ‘covered’. Let the text reveal the features it contains in unique combinations that make it rich and worthwhile…It’s also why, if you only have time to do one thing to prepare for teaching comprehension, hands down, read the text you’re going to be working with. Carefully. Every text—every passage—provides its own unique set of challenges. Ask your questions around these challenges.”
107: Don’t make students hunt in their own texts for isolated text elements. This is what poor readers do. Proficient readers read “for meaning because that’s what proficient readers do all the time.” –109: “It’s awfully hard to comprehend a text when you’re assigned tasks that distract you from it.”
108-109: the role of strategies and the benefit of “questioning the author”
110: Have students address text-dependent questions individually first and then use oral language in pair or group work
Chapter 7=their system for close reading
115-116: textbase prep, vocabulary prep, syntax prep, knowledge-building prep
117-123: 1st read=teacher reads “unencumbered”; “stopping only to explain words…”; then students write a gist statement or you have a discussion about it; 2nd read=helps with standard of coherence; is where much of the crucial work of close reading happens for students”;119: “It’s all about the questions. The idea here is to pose several mighty questions that guide students to the thinking necessary to overcome what makes the passage challenging. Students explain their thinking, first addressing questions independently and then in pairs or small groups.” 120=tips for preparing mighty questions; in second read, figured out what is blocking their understanding and help them overcome those obstacles”; 3rd read=various, perhaps juicy sentences, high-value vocabulary words, unpacking morphemes; other relevant standards; then culminating assignment, probably writing
129: “Text-dependent questions in close reading should focus on: the parts of the test tht are likely to present the most difficulty, the parts of the text that can grow student’s knowledge, the parts of the text connected to the goals of a unit or lesson, relevant reading standards.”
129: “Engaging students in close reading and encouraging them to explain their answers to text-dependent questions regularly are effective ways to develop a high Standard of Coherence.”
132: “When students write about what they read, it cements and deepens their understanding…Writing and reading need to coexist. We cringe whenever we hear froma teacher still working in a setting that has a period for writing and a separate period for reading.”
137: How to teach text annotation
141: Juicy sentence protocol
143: “Putting students in the driver’s seat and affording them the capacity to build and take apart [complex] sentences is empowering. It will fuel their reading and propel their writing ability in ways that will please them and amaze you.”
144: overwhelming the problem by making reading, writing, speaking, and listening central to nearly aspect of students days
149: VOCABULARY and KNOWLEDGE important and most increased by READING VOLUME

“Ultimately, we want students to become independent readers...And self-explaining is how you know you understood something or you only partially did. It is a powerful metacognitive move that successful readers make.” (Merideth Liben in accompanying video for chapter 9)
“Ultimately, if you don’t understand how comprehension works in the mind, there’s going to be limits on how you can grow as a teacher of comprehension.” (David Liben in accompanying video for chapter 5)
90; 108-109

[Dr. Julie Wasmund Hoffman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book for a work book study. I was leery, given the declaration of "Science of Reading" on the front, as I tend to promote liberated literacy rather than limited literacy. That being said, I only found a few instances that promoted the SoR doctrine.

The book had nice anecdotes that helped the reader picture/imagine/visualize how to implement some of the practices in the classroom. There were great tips for teaching vocabulary and toward knowledge-building. Some of the in-text citations were messy or absent. For example, early in the book there was allusion to Dr. Rudine Sims-Bishop's mirror and windows metaphor, but the authors left out the citation. Later on, they gave Dr. Sims-Bishop the proper citation. There were a few instances like this.

Overall, the book can be a great resource for a new teacher, and for someone who wants to know how to continue reading instruction and learning after a student has learned the foundational skills of reading.

[Natalie Shear · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed it! I think pushing comprehension is super important. I got some good ideas from the book too. For example, they suggested several ways of leading group discussions and creating that discourse about the stories to improve understanding. They gave a lot of suggestions on closed reading and adding writing into the content. The only downside is some school districts buy curriculum and expect you to not add any other resources to it or expand it in anyway. They just want teachers to follow a scripted lesson. I wish that the book had more ideas on what to do if your required curriculum is super boring.

[Molly Joyce · Rating 5 out of 5]

Must read for every ELA teacher! As a teacher moving away from balanced literacy toward science-based reading instruction, this book was the bridge that helped everything click. Instead of focusing on isolated strategies or leveled texts, they guide you toward what truly matters: building knowledge, vocabulary, and a deep understanding of complex texts. The title delivers. After reading this, I feel more equipped and inspired to truly do better!

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book for a professional book club.The complex brain uses a combination of skills to comprehend text. There are many citations and references to follow through with so that more information can be researched.

[Marina Shankle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this was a great read. I recommend it to all teachers in general. While the focus is primarily on elementary education, I, a high school English teacher, was able to glean some great ideas. I also felt validated in the way that I teach.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great resources and suggestions for teaching vocabulary, etymology, and morphology effectively. I wish it were not so short.

[Kate ☆♪ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book for my methods and teaching comprehension and vocabulary class over the semester. It has many great resources and strategies I can use in the classroom!

[Tara · Rating 5 out of 5]

A helpful resource with ideas and techniques ready to implement in classrooms.

[Kayla · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was inspiring. It discussed numerous ways I could immediately improve my instruction in the classroom.

[Nicole J · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book with lots of information on foundational skills leading to explicit comprehension skills.

[Jenny Hellbusch · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a clear, practical resource for improving comprehension instruction. The strategies are easy to understand and feel immediately usable in the classroom.

I especially appreciated the QR codes with videos and sample lessons—they helped bring the ideas to life and made implementation feel more approachable. Overall, it’s a helpful, teacher-friendly book that bridges theory and practice well.