
Discipline: Professional Resources
Copyright: 2019
Imprint: Heinemann
Author(s): Jennifer Serravallo
Complete Comprehension
Why Complete Comprehension?
Complete Comprehension helps answer three questions:
- How do I know if a reader’s whole-book comprehension matches what a short-text assessment tells me?
- How do I evaluate a reader’s whole-book comprehension?
- How do I turn an evaluation into strategy-based, goal-directed instruction?
Who is Complete Comprehension for?
- Students reading chapter books, especially those whose predicted instructional level doesn’t match their whole-book comprehension
- Teachers who want to provide progress-oriented instruction driven by a more comprehensive understanding of children’s comprehension
- Schools that use any approach to curriculum and instruction
How does it work?
Jennifer Serravallo provides a simple, accessible, and effective framework for instruction:
- Assess readers in authentic trade books with prompts placed at key moments across the text.
- Evaluate students with Jen’s rubrics and determine what reading goal to teach toward.
- Teach with more of the strategies that made The Reading Strategies Book a bestseller.

Will Complete Comprehension save time or require more of it?
- No instructional time is required for the assessment: Readers answer prompts on their own during independent reading time.
- The evaluation takes just moments.
- The strategies Jen shares are easily incorporated into existing instruction—especially if you’re already using The Reading Strategies Book.