Reading Power: Teaching Students to Think While They Read.

Anne Hutchings is a public-school teacher and librarian in Ajax,
Ontario.

After many years as a classroom teacher and literacy mentor with the Vancouver School District, author Adrienne Gear came to the realization that, for the most part, reading instruction centred around pre-reading and post-reading activities. Missing was the teaching of specific strategies to use during reading, strategies that go beyond decoding, teaching children to think and helping them to comprehend. To address this deficiency, Gear and her staff developed the Reading Power program.

Chapter 2, “The Components of the Reading Power Program,” identifies and describes the five Reading Powers: Connect, Visualize, Question, Infer, and Transform. Gear offers a number of practical suggestions for getting started with the program. First and foremost is amassing a collection of children’s books that illustrate and support each of the powers. Gear provides a basic list of titles appropriate for primary as well as intermediate/secondary. Along with a number of inexpensive sources for these books, she gives tips for organizing and distributing the completed “Book Bins.” Ideas for introducing the Reading Power program to children (mini-posters, Reading Power theme song) are followed by an outline of what Reading Power instruction should look like.

An entire chapter is devoted to each of the Reading Powers. Chapter 3, “Connect,” features a theme song, suggestions for introducing the reading power, and a sequence of 13 lessons, taught over a span of about four weeks, incorporating teacher modelling, guided practice, and independent practice. An extensive bibliography of books on a variety of topics, all of which support the reading power “Connect,” as well as several black line masters which may be reproduced and distributed to students conclude the chapter.

Chapter 4: “Visualize,” Chapter 5: “Question,” Chapter 6: “Infer,” and Chapter 7: “Transform” all follow a similar format. The final chapter contains checklists and rubrics to aid in assessment, ideas for applying the reading powers to novel studies and literature circles, and a handout designed to connect with and involve parents.

One of the strengths of the Reading Power program is the gradual implementation of skills. A possible timeline shows that the powers Connect and Visualize might be introduced in Kindergarten, Question added in grade one, followed by Infer in grade two and finally Transform in grade three. However, in order to be successful, it is imperative that the Reading Power program be implemented on a school-wide basis in order to ensure that all teachers are using the same language to teach and reinforce these reading and thinking strategies. Recommended.