Explaining Reading, 3ed: A Resource for Explicit Teaching of the Common Core Standards

This trusted teacher resource and widely adopted text presents effective ways to demystify essential reading skills and strategies for K-8 students who are struggling. It has been fully revised to focus on the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for English language arts. Following a concise introduction to the CCSS and explicit teaching, 30 engaging examples show how to be explicit when teaching each Literature, Informational Text, and Foundational Skills standard. Grounded in authentic reading tasks that teachers can adapt for their classrooms, the examples guide teachers to differentiate instruction, model and scaffold learning, assess student skills, and align reading instruction with Common Core writing standards.

New to This Edition

• Significantly revised and restructured with a CCSS focus.
• The teaching examples are all new or revised.
• Provides practical ways to develop "close reading" of text.
• Incorporates recent research on authentic tasks and adaptive teaching.

Table of Contents

I. Introduction

1. Five Foundational Principles
2. How Comprehension and Foundational Skills Work
3. Emphasizing Large Ideas as Well as the Nitty-Gritty
4. How to Use Part II of This Book
5. Professional Judgment and Teaching to Standards

II. The Teaching Examples

Examples for Explaining Literature:

1. Reading for Key Details (Key Ideas and DetailsRL Standard 1)
2. Drawing Inferences (Key Ideas and DetailsRL Standard 1)
3. Theme (Key Ideas and DetailsRL Standard 2)
4. Character Traits and Motivations (Key Ideas and DetailsRL Standard 3)
5. Descriptive Words and Phrases (Craft and StructureRL Standard 4)
6. Text Types (Craft and StructureRL Standard 5)
7. Story Structure (Craft and StructureRL Standard 5)
8. Point of View (Craft and StructureRL Standard 6)
9. Illustrations and Text Meaning (Integration of Knowledge and IdeasRL Standard 7)
10. CompareContrast (Integration of Knowledge and IdeasRL Standard 9)
11. Main Idea (Key Ideas and DetailsRI Standard 2)
12. Making Connections and Establishing Relationships (Key Ideas and DetailsRI Standard 3)
13. Word Meaning (Craft and StructureRI Standard 4)
14. Using Context Clues to Determine Word Meaning (Craft and StructureRI Standard 4)
15. Text Features (Craft and StructureRI Standard 5)
16. Text Structure (Craft and StructureRI Standard 5)
17. Analyzing Positions and Views (Craft and StructureRI Standard 6)
18. Using Graphic Information (Integrating Knowledge and IdeasRI Standard 7)
19. Evaluating Supportive Evidence (Integrating Knowledge and IdeasRI Standard 8)
20. Synthesizing (Integrating Knowledge and IdeasRI Standard 9)
21. FrontBack/LeftRight/TopBottom (Print ConceptsRF Standard 1)
22. Print Detail (Print ConceptsRF Standard 1)
23. Discriminating among Sounds (Phonological AwarenessRF Standard 2)
24. LetterSound Association (Phonics and Word RecognitionRF Standard 3)
25. Vowel Patterns (Phonics and Word RecognitionRF Standard 3)
26. Syllabication (Phonics and Word RecognitionRF Standard 3)
27. Sight-Word Recognition (Phonics and Word RecognitionRF Standard 3)
28. Structural Analysis (Phonics and Word RecognitionRF Standard 3)
29. Reading with Expression (FluencyRF Standard 4)

Appendix. Research Foundations for This Book

"After using the second edition in my graduate-level reading courses for years, I didn't think it could be improved, but Duffy has outdone himself with this third edition! The book has been reorganized with a timely, relevant focus on applying the Common Core standards. It provides explicit instructional strategies for different text types (literature and informational texts) and text features. This is an invaluable resource for practicing and preservice teachers seeking clarity on how to teach the new standards effectively."
- Kelly B. Cartwright, PhD, Professor of Psychology, Neuroscience, and Teacher Preparation, Christopher Newport University

"Duffy is one of the leading figures in reading research, whose groundbreaking work on teaching comprehension was featured in the report of the National Reading Panel. Explaining Reading translates volumes of research into practices that make sense to teacher educators and teachers. The book delivers what the title promises—an explanation of reading that supports both developing readers and teachers in achieving their shared goals. The book is concise (something we all appreciate) and yet embodies the breadth of understanding we have acquired about learning to become an effective reader."
- James V. Hoffman, PhD, Department of Curriculum and Instruction, University of Texas at Austin