Answers to Your Biggest Questions About Teaching Elementary Reading

Five to Thrive [series]

With over 20 years of teaching experience, Christina Nosek wholeheartedly embraces the joys and challenges of nurturing a classroom full of agentive readers. From the first chapter to the last, she offers practical, easy-to-implement strategies, honoring teachers at various entry points in their journey as workshop practitioners. From simple “language swaps” to shifting paradigms in literacy assessment, this professional book is sure to propel leaders, teachers, and learners across the country forward.

Christina Nosek’s wealth of experience shines through on every page of this mustread text that offers a fresh perspective on teaching reading. This one-stop resource synthesizes current research and translates it into practical advice and actionable guidance for teachers of all experience levels. The framework Christina outlines and explains not only promotes greater academic success but also ensures that students develop and maintain strong reading identities. With this book in hand, there’s no doubt teachers will feel prepared to share the power and joy of reading!

Wow! Literacy educators are so fortunate to have this newest book by Christina Nosek out in the world! It is an incredible addition to the resources we have, and one that is unique in what it offers readers. I love that it can be read cover to cover or used when thinking about a specific piece of your literacy teaching. Christina responds to each question with depth and intentionality. Embedded throughout are messages about the language we use as teachers and how we can be more thoughtful with our language in order to support student agency. There is something for every literacy teacher to grow his or her practice, no matter the experience level.

For educators who are not blessed with a professional mentor leading them down a “path of continual learning and growth,” Christina Nosek becomes our mentor in a no-nonsense guide about what matters most. With each chapter wisely positioned around essential questions, Nosek’s reflections offer a gift of words and wisdom between two covers. I wish I’d had this book as a new teacher; but as a veteran teacher, I am again inspired to stay on course.

Wherever you are on your journey to becoming the most effective reading teacher for the students in your care, Christina is a mentor you can count on. With the clarity and authenticity that comes from spending her days with learners, she has thoughtfully condensed a vast topic into six manageable chapters. Filled with her research-guided wisdom and resources for further study, she answers questions, big and small, about creating a thriving, equitable reading community. I wish I had Christina’s book my first year of teaching, and I know that I will be turning to it often as I continue to learn about our most important work—nurturing joyful, passionate, critical readers.

Finally! This book fills the needs of all reading teachers no matter what level they are at: preservice, early in their career, switching to a different grade, or those with decades of experience. It’s ideal for a book study where teachers plan to review their practices with a “guide on the side,” as Christina uses snippets from the classroom, research, and practical applications to answer your reading questions that cover the “why this matters” as well. Teaching reading today requires knowledge and skill; this text will give you the confidence and competence to increase your own expertise and knowledge. Ask a question, search the table of contents, and get started reading! You decide whether you read the book from cover to cover or seek out specific questions or chapters for starting points!

Ten years ago we had Donalyn Miller’s The Book Whisperer to guide us on how to awaken the reader in every child. Now, we have Christina Nosek’s Answers to Your Biggest Questions About Teaching Elementary Reading, which reminds us of the important concepts that help to create a reading community that will support every student to see themselves as readers! As a building administrator, I want every teacher to have this book as we begin each school year to cultivate those reader leaders in our building! This will be a must-have resource for all teachers!

Teaching reading is not a simple task; it’s more like keeping the plates spinning in unison in an acrobatic performance. It requires that educators understand reading theory and models that support growing readers, have time to practice and hone their skills, and receive guidance on how to keep all the parts going. In Answers to Your Biggest Questions About Teaching Elementary Reading, Christina Nosek has provided up-to-date best practices that we should see in all classrooms. This comprehensive volume delivers on content while simultaneously coaching teachers to make effective decisions throughout the reading block. What I especially appreciate about this text is the focus on young (K–5) readers, placing them at the center of planning and teaching.

This extraordinary and teacher-friendly book is filled with rich, relevant, and practical guidance for anyone who teaches reading! Whether you are a new teacher or have been teaching for many years, the questions (and answers) that Christina poses in this book will help you create a reading classroom where all students can become joyfully literate humans.

From those percolating questions that keep you up at night to the curriculum presentations that require a justification of why the teaching of reading matters, this book is the compass that will steer you north. Validating, and centered on foundational understanding—in particular to the most vulnerable of children—this book holds social justice, agency, and lifelong learning at its core. A must-read for all teachers, time and time again! Christina Nosek makes the information digestible, relevant, and accessible to teachers and everyone who understands that the teaching and learning of reading goes way beyond the words on a page.