Taught by a reading and literacy expert, this highly interactive and engaging reading course empowers students to move beyond the act of just reading the words to become active learners who engage what they read. Through direct instruction, modeling, guided practice, class discussion, and shared reading, students learn to go deeper into their reading as an active process. Students develop an understanding of text categories and types, and apply specific comprehension strategies while reading an abundance of realistic fiction, fantasy, fables, folktales, poetry, and nonfiction selections. Ongoing teacher feedback guides students as they learn to reflect upon their own understanding. By generating questions, composing responses, building lap books, completing projects, and participating in meaningful discussion, students build enhanced comprehension. This course’s combination of teaching, text, talk, and tasks elevates students’ abilities to read strategically and think critically. As a result, students connect more deeply to literature and communicate their understanding in new and meaningful ways.