By: Shantell Berrett, Reading Horizons Reading Specialist

Finding the right fit for a struggling reader can feel like a daunting task. Resources, like assessing to find a reading grade or Lexile level, can be complicated and while usually accurate, may still not lead to a good fit. There are three simple tips that can help on this quest of creating a successful match between reader and book.

Tip 1: 

If the reader struggles with more than 3-5 words a paragraph, the text is too difficult. It is that simple. Minus names, students should not have to struggle with more words than that per paragraph or they will become frustrated and quickly give up. 

Tip 2: 

When possible, students should pick books that interest them.  Teachers and parents need to allow lots of options for students.  The options shouldn’t necessarily be compiled because they are what the teacher or parent likes.  Be open minded that your student may want to read, may be something you would never pick up.  If they are interested in it, they are more willing to make the effort to read it.

Tip 3: 

Because the amount of effort expended in the task of reading for a struggling reader is roughly three times of what a non-struggling reader expends, reading should be done in short chunks of time. Reading should be done in no longer that 10-15 minute segments with a max of about 30-40 minutes a day. Simply reading more--for those who struggle because they are stuck at the word level--WILL NOT improve their reading. It will only increase frustration. They need proper intervention before more reading becomes a useful practice. 

In short, keep it simple. If a reader can choose a story that interests them and one that they do not have to struggle extensively with, they will be more likely to actually read it. Keep the time short and the reading simple.

P.S.

Share tips and questions about teaching struggling readers in the comment section of this post!

If you enjoyed this post you might also enjoy:

5 Warning Signs That a Student is Struggling With Reading

Reading Strategies That Work for Struggling Readers: KWL Charts

Reading Strategies That Work for Struggling Readers: Annotating Text

By: Shantell Berrett, Reading Horizons Reading Specialist

Along with hours of preparation and work, a new school year bears anticipation and excitement of a new beginning. It is a new chance for creating opportunities for success for both students and teachers. There are three tips that can help ensure success with Reading Horizons reading program this year.

Tip 1

Summer often leaves students in need of a refresher at the first of the new school year to remember skills learned before the break. Taking the first four to six weeks to review the phonics skills learned in Reading Horizons will help students recall and reinforce strategies that they can use throughout the school year to handle unfamiliar words and build new vocabulary. (Click here to find a scheduled outline of how to review these skills in four to six weeks.) 

Tip 2

When students learn phonetic or comprehension strategies they still may have a difficult time applying them in context reading. Be very clear and give explicit, visual instruction as to how to do that. For example, when students get to a word they don’t know they should sound it out at least twice from the beginning to the end without stopping or guessing. This creates a new habit of processing phonologically and breaks the bad habit of skipping or guessing at unfamiliar words. If the student still does not get the word after sounding it out, walk them through steps to apply decoding strategies they have learned to figure out the word.

Tip 3

Give students numerous resources and accommodations for success. Some students have better success in reading by simply allowing them to use a paper or card to cover the page so that they can focus on one line at a time. Some need to learn to ask questions and connect with a paragraph or even sentence at a time instead of a page at a time. Taking 5 minutes with each student to ask them how they feel about reading, what the page looks like, and what helps them can make a huge difference. 

Results

Creating a safe environment that allows for learning styles and struggles supports students to find ways that really help them. Giving them the right type of instruction for decoding and helping them transfer those skills is a surefire way to set them up for success.

P.S.

Don't have Reading Horizons program? Check out our Online Workshop for teaching reading and see if any of our tips could help the effectiveness of your reading program:

By: Shantell Berrett, Reading Horizons Reading Specialist

When a student is struggling with reading there are certain signs or symptoms that show up consistently.  Everyone can struggle over unfamiliar words at times, so we are looking for repeating patterns that show up every time a student encounters text.
 
Sign 1: Reading for those that struggle is a slow, belabored process. It will take them much longer to read a passage than a student who isn’t struggling.  Because it takes more effort, they will often look away and take breaks.  Reading will be choppy and lack fluency and flow. 

Sign 2:  Those who struggle will handle the page very differently.  Because they tend to lack sufficient decoding skills to use with unfamiliar words, they look at the page overall and find words that they recognize as ones they have previously memorized.  They will ‘read’ those words while often skipping over sight words and stumbling through unfamiliar words.  Guessing and skipping will be common compensation strategies they apply when reading.

Sign 3:  It is not uncommon to have them appear to ‘read’ (automatically recognize) a word one line and when the same word appears a few lines later, act like they have never seen that word.  Struggling readers need to encounter a word 30 more times than an automatic reader before it is stored in their memory.  It takes a lot longer to build a sight vocabulary base.  (This is why decoding strategies are so important for these readers; there are only so many words they can memorize in this fashion.)

Sign 4:  When students are assessed for fluency, their scores will only improve within a particular reading passage and then drop back down when a new passage is presented to them.  True fluency is only accomplished when the student is phonologically processing the words from part-to-whole (left-to-right) and storing them in their memories phonetically, not as a memorized whole word.  What happens with repeated fluency practice on the same passage is that students will increase their speed and decrease error rate because they encounter the passage enough time to memorize the words.  This is why when given a new passage with unfamiliar words, their fluency score drops back down. 

Sign 5:  Those who struggle with reading will avoid reading like the plague. None of us like to do things that we are uncomfortable with or that take extreme effort.  We all avoid things we are not good at.  Struggling readers are the same way.

Struggling readers hurt.  Their self-esteem is damaged and they lack hope in themselves and in ever being successful in reading.  Whatever we do to offer them hope and positive results will be more than worth our efforts.

To improve your teaching strategies for struggling readers, sign up for FREE access to Reading Horizons Online Workshop:

Today we started a new short video series for our Facebook page titled: “Literacy in the Limelight.” The series will highlight a different Reading Horizons employee each week. During the videos the featured employee will discuss what they have learned about literacy from working for Reading Horizons, as well as their thoughts on reading & literacy in general.

Here is the first video of the series featuring our Marketing Manager, Erika Huff:

Join Reading Horizons Facebook Page to get updates with new videos each Friday!

By: Shantell Berrett, Reading Horizons Reading Specialist

*This blog post has to do with Response to Intervention (RTI). To find out more about RTI go here> RTI

Ask students placed in Tiers II and III if the instruction given there is helpful, many will say yes.  However, ask those same students how that instruction helps in their regular classroom, Tier I, and they seem baffled. Their eyes tend to glaze over with confusion. There is complete disconnect.

While many receive intensive intervention for their reading struggles in Tiers II and III, their experience in Tier I appears unchanged.  They are still always a step behind and usually struggling to get the first concept given by their classroom teacher as their peers and teacher move on to additional concepts.  They are frustrated and often feel like giving up.

In our effort to help we pull them out for a ‘special’ class, their Tier III.  No matter how we position that or what inspiring name we give it, they know they are there because they are behind their other classmates. Even with sugar added, it still leaves a bitter taste in their mouths.

But what if their experience could be different?  What if they weren’t always behind?  Here’s how to make that happen: Use Tiers II and III not as a place for students to catch up, but as a place for them to get ahead. 

When students are pre-taught, the dynamics shift.  Those students who are usually behind are pre-taught a concept and given sufficient time to practice.  Then, when they are given the same instruction in the class, for the first time in their lives they are ahead, or at the very least on par, with their fellow classmates.  Can you imagine what this is like for them?  It is truly life-changing. 

This is RTI at its best.

If tier teachers and classroom teachers spend the time working out schedules to ensure that all concepts taught in the classroom will be pre-taught in pull out, the results are amazing. 

Not only does this benefit the students, but the teachers as well.  This approach helps the classroom teachers on so many levels. Those students who are usually behind often end up being discipline problems because it is easier to be the problem student than the dumb student who is always lost.  When they are keeping up with their peers they tend to stop acting out.  Discipline problems are often eliminated. 

Making RTI successful has as much to do with how things are implemented as it does with what is implemented.  Pre-teaching is the key.  It ensures that the time spent in Tier I and/or Tier II for those in Tier III is useful and successful.  It is no longer time spent staring out the window, causing trouble, or frantically trying to compensate to hide their struggles from their peers.  It unlocks a whole new world for these students--a world where they are equals and where they find hope and success.

P.S.

If you enjoyed this post you may also want to read:

"RTI & Remedial Reading Resources and Information"

"How Reading Horizons Intervention Program Meets the Needs of All 3 RTI Tiers"

To improve your teaching strategies for struggling readers, sign up for FREE access to Reading Horizons Online Workshop: