One common question we are asked is, "How do I choose a book to use for instruction?" This question is so common because we know how important it is to find a book that students will enjoy and also learn from. But, there are no magic books or right or wrong books for teaching a reading strategy. Think of it this way, when you are teaching students a strategy for understanding characters, you must have a book with characters, but the rest is up to you knowing your students wel

We have all sat next to students in a conference and asked them what they think the main idea is in the nonfiction text they are reading only to be met by blank stares, wild guesses, or rereading of a fact directly from the page. So many students struggle to figure out main ideas even though we teachers have been teaching it year after year since at least the first grade. After many frustrating moments I finally figured out why many students are so confused about main ideas a