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.

What are the components?

• Three resource guides: Assess, Evaluate, and Teach
• 28 trade books, two per levels J–W
• Labels to place in the trade books that cue the reader to answer a comprehension prompt
• Custom response forms for each trade book
• Evaluation rubrics for analyzing student responses
• Stickers to place on the outside of the trade books to indicate they are not part of the classroom library
• Additional online resources, including classroom video

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.