Mosaic of Thought

I just began reading Mosaic of Thought: Teaching Comprehension in a Reader's Workshop by Ellin Oliver Keene and Susan Zimmermann. I had placed it in my "to read" pile months ago and finally had time to dig into it. I've only finished the first two chapters so far, but I quickly connected to the authors. I love their willingness to learn about changes in reading instruction, grow and change as teachers, and work collaboratively with their colleagues. Several things jumped out at me as I read. First "...meaning from text is constructed socially-...conversing about text deepens our understanding." This confirms for me where the focus should be placed during guided reading. The authors identify seven strategies used by proficient thinkers: activating prior knowledge, determining important ideas or themes, questioning, visualizing, making inferences, retelling or synthesizing, using a variety of fix-up strategies for comprehension. Teachers need to understand these cognitive processes and provide explicit instruction using authentic texts. The goal is for readers to eventually monitor their own comprehension and apply these strategies as needed. This year, I used Reciprocal Teaching with some of my students. It focuses on using four of the seven strategies in an integrated way. I not only saw growth in reading level, but also the ability for students to monitor their own comprehension. I'm interested to see how the writers of Mosaic suggest teaching these strategies.