FOREWORD by Margaret G. McKeown
I n this book, David and Meredith Liben gather the full force of their experience and knowledge to tackle the complex topic of reading comprehension. And they do it with aplomb, bringing wisdom and clarity to explanations of the reading brain’s workings and recommendations for instruction. David and Meredith are amazing educational professionals, not only because they have years of deep experience in teaching, school administration, and curriculum development, but also because they stay close to the research. They have investigative minds, realizing that knowing and understanding are ongoing processes. That spirit of investigation—that openness to not knowing, but working to find out—runs through what they have done in classrooms and what they recommend for teachers, including the approaches in this book. A strong motivation for writing this book came from the Libens’ deep concern that conversations about the science of reading (SOR) are dominated by foundational skills, and broader processes are being neglected. This book aims to change that by showing what else is crucial to reading success. Using clear, accessible language, the authors explain how processes work in the brain during reading, and how to use that understanding to create optimal instruction. In the Introduction, they share an anecdote that illustrates how language comprehension processes are a natural part of how we make sense of the world. They make the point that reading instruction needs to be grounded in how comprehension actually occurs, rather than in isolated routines to apply to texts. In Part I, the Libens lay the groundwork for comprehension with a discussion of the essential roles of knowledge and vocabulary. One notable knowledge-building recommendation is having all students at every reading level engage together in learning about the world. The authors explain how to build text sets that capture a range of complexities and allow even struggling readers to have access to the same core text as everyone else. In their discussion of vocabulary, the authors explain why building depth, not just breadth, is essential and how both operate to ensure comprehension. A compelling
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KNOW BETTER, DO BETTER: COMPREHENSION
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