Where has this book been all my life? Understanding Texts and Readers feels like it pulls together
everything Serravallo has been working on for the past several years into one
clear, very understandable book. It’s definitely worth a book study with a team
of teachers or even an entire school.
The information on how texts gradually become more complex
in both fiction and nonfiction is ground-breaking. Fountas and Pinnell have
done some of this work already in their Literacy Continuum, but Serravallo
writes in a much clearer way so the readers doesn’t get overwhelmed, which is often
the case when we try to digest F&P’s Continuum. She narrows the focus in
Fiction to four areas: Plot/setting, Character, Vocabulary/Figurative Language,
and Theme. She does the same for Nonfiction: Main idea, Key details, Vocabulary,
and Text Features. She outlines how each gradually increases in difficulty,
discussing the major jumps at particular levels. She then follows that up with
examples of students’ written responses for each area, showing how readers of
increasing level texts should respond in more sophisticated ways. The work she’s
done here is eye-opening and will jump-start some great conversations about the types
of instruction students need to effectively tackle each increase in levels
within these four areas.
Finally, her last section is very powerful in arguing
against leveling kids, but instead using levels as just one way of helping
match texts to readers. “Be sure to emphasize with kids that there is no such
thing as a reader being leveled, and that the level on books are just one of
the many things to consider when choosing them. Never refer to children by a
reading level. Correct and redirect children if you ever hear them referring to
themselves as a level” (p. 214).
This book is a WONDERFUL addition to the professional book
canon and is destined to be a classic. If you don’t have it yet, RUN to the
book store to get it.
