From Striving to Thriving

by Stephanie Harvey, Annie Ward

When it comes to readers who need the most support, teachers can’t afford to waste time using fragmented, skill-and-drill interventions that don’t work. Literacy specialists Stephanie Harvey and Annie Ward demonstrate how to “table the labels” and use detailed formative assessments to craft targeted, personalized instruction that enable striving readers to do what they need above all - to find books they love and engage in voluminous reading. Loaded with ready-to-go lessons, routines, and “actions,” as well as the latest research, this book is a must for any teacher who strives to make every reader a thriving reader.

Genres: Education, Teaching, Professional Development, Nonfiction

320 pages, Paperback

Published October 10, 2017

Reviews

[Ashleigh Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent teacher winter break read! Saw this on a recent Nerdy Bookclub #titletalk Twitter Chat and put it in my Amazon cart right away. In the vein of Donalyn Miller's "Reading in the Wild" this book zooms in on what matters: creating a space where students build authentic identities as readers. In particular, it highlights practices that support striving readers in building independence and moving to agency (as defined by Peter Johnston: "the perception that the environment is responsive to our actions.") to join their "thriving" reader peers. Harvey and Ward debunk myths & common practices and harp on things that allow a classroom and school to be a space where readers can thrive. I particularly loved the chapter on classroom libraries related to book access, choice, and volume. It so eloquently summed up so many things I think we are missing in many libraries which I truly believe are the most surefire tools for building readers we so desperately need in today's world. The book ends with 1-2 page strategies they refer to in the chapters. So many nuggets of awesome, both small and large, I'll be stealing from this book ASAP.

[Marlene Scholfield · Rating 4 out of 5]

So it took a worldwide pandemic and a co-worker that joined a book study with me to complete this text... this book is so filled with important things we as educators should know about our students who struggle as readers. Great resource... thanks Ciera Harris for putting on a phenomenal book study... using your model to set up for an XPD for other staff members at school. I hope they are as changed as I was.

[Chelsee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book as a reading teacher. So many easy to implement ideas, resources, and book recommendations.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy read that supplies book recommendations, resources, and easy ideas to implement in your classroom.

[Pamela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good info about supporting striving (renamed from struggling) readers in a classroom. Some insights useful for me in my work in the library, some not so much. Love the emphasis on getting all kids into books. More practice w books they like create better readers.

[Gwen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic professional read. This is one that I will keep on my "shelf of favorites" for quick, easy access and to refer to often.

[Kris Patrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Teachers & Librarians: move this to the top of your professional reading list.

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book to kick off the year! Full of lesson ideas, research, reasoning, and motivation. I'd recommend it for any elementary teacher.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can’t wait to go back to school on Monday and tell my “striving” readers that after the turkey I spent most of Thanksgiving day curled up reading this gem cover to cover and furiously marking it up with underlines and post-its. Harvey and Ward do a great job pulling together a ton of research and personal experience on best practices for the reading classroom in an extremely concise and easy to read form. Their love for students and teachers shines throughout.

But I think the real genius here is whoever designed the structure and layout. Like the best expository texts our students read, this includes sidebars with lists of key research, photos of classrooms, images of student work, references to other professional texts, lists of activities, book bloggers to follow, sample lessons and worksheets, and many examples of books for students. They make it so easy to figure out where to learn more about particular things without bogging down the prose.

One quibble - This book argues that pull out reading intervention programs, particularly those that focus on phonics instruction are unsuccessful, but they also barely acknowledge that some people need explicit instruction in phonemic awareness and phonics. There is no discussion here for how to support the unique needs of this group of striving readers within the reading classrooms they describe.

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are a reader of literacy instruction books, you will recognize many of these ideas from Richard Allington, Donalyn Miller, Penny Kittle, and online communities like TCRWP and Nerdy Book Club. However, the format of this book is beautiful - you can easily dip in and find a particular strategy quickly, and it includes copious amounts of resources for follow-up. Even though I have read many of the works this book references, I still came away with a sticky-note filled version of things I want to try - for the first time, or again - with my own students. A worthy addition to school professional libraries, and even for literacy consultants who will be familiar with a lot of the content. If you know Steph Harvey's previous work, you can look forward to a similar empathetic, conversational tone about what works for learners.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an amazing book! This was just the spark I needed to get excited about the potential of literacy education again. I have been so very discouraged about what I am seeing instructionally in our local schools. Harvey and Ward work has made me consider possibly volunteering my "consulting" or mentoring services to any school / teacher who may be willing to collaborate with me. I miss working with teachers. Is it too late for me to re-embark on such an adventure? The fact that Winograd was not interested in my willingness to volunteer was a bit discouraging. Perhaps I simply did not try enough. Maybe the Fred Tjardes School of Innovation would be an option. Maybe I will reconnect with Rev. Ben at First Congregational.

[Kristen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is like an anthology of ideas to help striving (aka struggling) readers. Almost every page points to another book or research paper written about how to help students develop as readers. As for new information, this book called into question the reliance we place on packaged reading interventions and advocates that students need time with books and a teacher who knows them as a learner, not a pullout, to improve in reading. This book offers a unique formative assessment they call assessing readers in the round. I look forward to trying it out.
I would recommend this book to new teachers as a great place to learn about other PD books on reading instruction.

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every teacher and parent should read this book. The authors show, with specific examples books that will entice every type of reader. They show ways to set up and monitor your classroom library. More ideas on how to coach parents. (They suggest keeping up with parents and coaching which would be hard to do knowing how much time goes into being a teacher.) Samples of book talks are given and stressed. Great book. So glad that I read it.

[Carrie G · Rating 3 out of 5]

I fully acknowledge that my rating may not be fair, but I was disappointed to discover as I read that this book is really K-5(6) focused. I teach HS, but I still have striving readers. I was able to take some ideas from this book (and I used lots of Post It tabs), but I wish more books addressed older striving readers specifically.

However, if you’ve read “The Book Whisperer” and are looking for your next inspiring reading instruction read, this book would be a good choice.

[Meredith · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book along with No More Reading for Junk, The Book Whisperer, and Reading in the Wild for a presentation I am giving on creating a reading community. A great deal of the ideas in this book reinforce what I have already read and it is time to put these ideas into action to create more thriving readers!

[Marisa Pierucci · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a special education teacher and reading specialist, this book has reinvigorated my passion for teaching and ignites me to shake up the way I teach and engage my students with books. Filled with tons of ideas and current research, it’s a must have reference of teachers of any age and length of teaching experience.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Using this as a book study while participating in LETRS training was a bit like hitting your head against a brick wall. So often opposing information was given & sources sited were equally divisive. Overall, it had some helpful information for older readers. It helped me think of ways to apply the information to widen the choices our young readers might have available to them.

[Amy Talbert · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book changed how I think about the students I work work with in regards to the importance of their independent reading lives, access to books of interest and higher quality, and classroom libraries.

I highly recommend this book for all educators for the sake of improving the lives of our striving readers.

[Mrs. Cubby Culbertson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another wonderful addition to my Professional Favorites shelf!
Although focusing on classroom teachers, I found so much to feed my efforts as a middle school librarian. So many great ideas and affirmations of current practices!

[Lyndsay Kirkham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simply the best resource I’ve seen in years. This will serve me in countless ways. I’ve already asked my principal to put this into the hands of all teachers at our school. Brilliantly written and loaded with contemporary research that speaks to my holistic and child centred approach to teaching.

[Lydia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Relationships, growth mindset, access, choice, engagement, time to read...A solid approach backed by research and TRUTH. Will be book talking and recommending this gem to all my MG ELA teachers. #thebestinterventionisagoodbook

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

I will definitely keep this book handy. So many refreshing ways to look at things differently. It’s easy to think we have all the answers all the time. This gave me new insight, and I picked up some great ideas. We all strive in our everyday lives!

[Katlyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is full of helpful strategies for encouraging striving readers in classrooms anywhere from grades 4-10. It contains helpful guides for reading conferences, kidwatching and reading assessment, book matching, and encouraging students to talk about their reading.

[Susan Morris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got a lot of good ideas from this book, though part of it was more for reading teachers than librarians. I want to share my “textual lineage” with kids - keystone books from my childhood, including Bobbsey Twins and comic books. (School)

[Sandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was quite repetitive so it felt much longer than it needed to be. However, there is tons of great reseach cited and many easy to implement tricks, tips, and strategies to help our striving readers. I loved all the quotes the authors selected.

[Ashley Kohls · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic read for teachers, parents, and librarians. It reiterated many of the things that I strongly believe in. My 2 favorite:
1. Student choice, let them choose!!
2. Graphic novels are REAL books!
No more struggling readers, only readers that are striving!

[Bev · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of the best professional books I have ever read!! It was interesting with many good and practical suggestions on how to help our striving readers become thriving readers!! LOVED this book!!

[Anne Meester · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is fantastic as both a summary of the principles of independent choice reading and as a tool for practical implementation to help teachers "ensure that striving readers have abundant daily access, choice, and time to read" (34).

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have not finished the book so this is an interim comment. I found it slow going because it caused so much soul searching. I did have to beware of getting sucked into thinking that my childhood was all bad because it wasn't.

[Kerrin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Inspirational. Packed with research on reading & well-organized, with tons of practical ideas.