Why are some students more successful than others in learning to read and write? Researchers report that young children with strong oral language skills and in families where parents read aloud to them and provide other early literacy experiences are more likely to be successful in school. They’ve also found that children who aren’t fluent English speakers, children whose parents had difficulty learning to read and write, and children from low-SES communities are more likely to have difficulty reaching grade-level proficiency in reading and writing (Strickland, 2002).
Struggling Readers
It’s crucial to identify students at risk for reading problems early so these problems can be addressed quickly, before they’re compounded. Fink (2006) identified these factors that predict early reading difficulty in kindergarten or first grade:
Difficulty developing concepts about written language, phonemic awareness, letter names, and phoneme–grapheme correspondences
Slower to respond than classmates when asked to identify words
Behavior that deviates from school norms
In addition, children with a family history of reading problems are more likely to experience difficulty in learning to read.
Although many struggling readers are identified in the primary grades, other students who have been successful begin to exhibit reading problems in fourth or fifth grade; this phenomenon is known as the “fourth grade slump” (Chall & Jacobs, 2003). Many teachers attribute this problem to the increased use of nonfiction books and content area textbooks that may be poorly written, that lack reader-friendly features, or that present unfamiliar topics using new vocabulary words.
Struggling readers exhibit a variety of difficulties. Some have ineffective decoding skills or don’t read fluently, and others have insufficient vocabulary knowledge or difficulty understanding and remembering the author’s message. Still others struggle because they’re unfamiliar with English language structures. Figure 11–3 identifies some of the problems that struggling readers face and suggests ways to solve each one. When teachers suspect that a student is struggling, they take action and assess him or her to diagnose any problems, and they intervene if problems are present because expert instruction helps overcome reading difficulties (Snow, Burns, & Griffin, 1998).
Struggling Writers
Many students struggle with writing. It’s easy to notice some of their problems when you examine their compositions: Some students have difficulty developing and organizing ideas, some struggle with word choice and writing complete sentences and effective transitions, and others have problems with spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and grammar skills. Other students struggle with the writing process and using writing strategies effectively; they may be unsure about what writers do as they develop and refine their compositions or the thinking that goes on during writing (Christenson, 2002). There are some students, too, who complain that their hands and arms hurt when they write, some who show little interest and do the bare minimum, and others who are so frustrated with writing that they refuse to write at all. Figure 11–4 lists some problems that struggling writers face and suggests ways to address them.
To build their confidence and become more successful, struggling students need to learn more about writing and have more opportunities to practice writing. Teachers address students’ specific problem areas through a combination of instruction and authentic practice activities.
High-Quality Instruction
Struggling students have significant difficulty learning to read and write. Some students are at risk for reading and writing problems in kindergarten and first grade, but others develop difficulties in fourth or fifth grade or even later. The best way to help these students is to prevent their difficulties in the first place by providing high-quality classroom instruction and adding an intervention, if it’s needed (Cooper, Chard, & Kiger, 2006). Unfortunately, there’s no quick fix for low-achieving students. Helping struggling students requires both high-quality classroom instruction and sustained, personalized intervention (Allington, 2012).
Teachers use a balanced approach that combines explicit instruction in decoding, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension, and writing along with daily opportunities for students to apply what they’re learning in authentic literacy activities (Allington, 2012). It’s standards driven and incorporates research-based procedures and activities. Teachers address these four components to enhance the literacy development of struggling readers and writers:
Personalizing Instruction
Teachers adjust their instructional programs to match students’ needs using flexible grouping, tiered activities, and respectful tasks (Opitz & Ford, 2008). Results of ongoing assessment are used to vary instructional content, process, and assignments according to students’ developmental levels, interests, and learning styles.
PROBLEMS SOLUTIONS
Written Language Concepts
Student doesn’t understand print concepts.
Use the Language Experience Approach to record the student’s language and demonstrate print concepts.
Use shared reading and have the student point out examples of print concepts in big books.
Have the student dictate and write messages.
Alphabet Knowledge
Student can’t name letters or match upper-and lowercase letters.
Identify letters in the student’s name and in environmental print.
Teach the student to use the ABC song to identify specific letters.
Teach the student to use an alphabet chart to identify matching letters.
Play matching games with the student.
Have the student sort upper- and lowercase letters.
Phonemic Awareness
Student can’t manipulate speech sounds.
Sing songs, read poems, and have the student identify rhyming words.
Ask the student to match rhyming picture cards
Pronounce individual sounds in a word and have the student orally blend them into words.
Have the student orally segment words into individual sounds using Elkonin boxes.
Have the student substitute beginning, medial, and ending sounds in words.
Decoding
Student can’t identify high-frequency words.
Make a personal word wall with words the student recognizes.
Use a routine to teach and practice high-frequency words.
Ask the student to look for high-frequency words in familiar books.
Have the student write words on a whiteboard or using magnetic letters.
Student can’t identify consonant and vowel sounds.
Have the student sort objects or picture cards according to sounds.
Play phonics games, including those online, with the student.
Have the student substitute initial consonants to create a list of words using a phonogram.
Do interactive writing.
Student can’t decode one-syllable words.
Involve the student in making words activities.
Have the student spell words using magnetic letters.
Teach the student about vowel patterns.
Have the student sort word cards according to vowel patterns.
Teach the student to decode by analogy.
Have the student read and write lists of words created from one phonogram.
Student can’t identify multisyllabic words.
Teach the procedure for decoding multisyllabic words.
Have the student remove prefixes and suffixes to identify the root word.
Brainstorm lists of words from a single root word.
Have the student write words with affixes on a whiteboard.
Fluency
Student omits, substitutes, or repeats words when reading.
Teach high-frequency words that the student doesn’t know.
Ensure that the level of reading materials is appropriate for the student.
Have the student read the text quietly before reading it aloud.
Have the student reread familiar texts, including big books and classroom charts.
Use choral reading in small groups.
Student reads word by word, without expression.
Have the student practice rereading easier texts to develop fluency.
Ask the student to echo read, imitating the teacher’s expression.
Have the student do repeated readings.
Break the text into phrases for the student to read aloud.
Do choral reading in small groups.
Vocabulary
Student doesn’t understand the meanings of words.
Create a KWL chart or do an anticipation guide before reading.
Teach key vocabulary before reading.
Have the student sort words from a featured book or a thematic unit.
Have the student make diagrams and posters about key words.
Read books aloud every day to build the student’s vocabulary.
Teach idioms, synonyms and antonyms, and word-learning strategies.
Comprehension
Student can’t retell or answer questions after reading.
Build the student’s background knowledge before reading.
Ensure that the book is appropriate for the student.
Read the book aloud instead of having the student read it.
Have the student sequence story boards and use them to retell the story.
Set a purpose for reading by having the student read a brief text to find the answer to one literal-level question.
Student can’t draw infer-ences or do higher level thinking.
Read the book aloud instead of having the student read it.
Do think-alouds to model drawing inferences and higher level thinking.
Teach comprehension strategies.
Teach the student about text structure.
Use QARs to teach the student about types of questions.
Involve the student in small-group grand conversations and literature circles.
Student is a passive reader.
Use the interactive read-aloud procedure.
Teach the student to self-select books using the Goldilocks Strategy.
Have the student read a book with a partner or in a literature circle.
To stimulate interest, have the student view the movie version before reading a novel.
Involve the student in hot seat, grand conversations, and other participatory activities.
Study Skills
Student can’t locate information in reference materials.
Teach the student to use an index to locate information.
Have the student practice locating information in almanacs and print and online reference materials.
Teach the student to skim and scan to find information in a text.
Teach the student to navigate the Web to locate information online.
Student can’t take notes.
Demonstrate how to take notes using a graphic organizer or small self-stick notes.
Make a copy of a text and have the student mark the big ideas with a highlighter pen.
Have the student identify big ideas and create a graphic organizer to represent them.
Have the student work with a partner to take notes on small self-stick notes.
Based on McKenna, 2002; Cockrum & Shanker, 2013.
Figure 11–3 How to Address Struggling Readers’ Problems
Using Appropriate Instructional Materials
Most of the time, students read interesting books written at their reading levels in small groups or individually. Teachers usually have plenty of books available for on-grade-level readers, but finding appropriate books for struggling readers can be difficult. Booklist: Easy-to-Read Chapter Book Series presents a list of suitable paperback series for older struggling students. Teachers also choose award-winning books for literature focus units, but even though these “teaching-texts” are important, Allington (2012) recommends using a single text with the whole class only 25% of the time because students need more opportunities to read books at their reading levels.
Expanding Teachers’ Expertise
Teachers continue to grow professionally during their careers (Allington, 2012): They join professional organizations,
PROBLEMS SOLUTIONS
Ideas
Student complains, “I don’t know what to write.”
Have the student brainstorm a list of ideas and pick the most promising one.
Invite the student to talk with classmates to get ideas.
Composition lacks focus.
After writing a draft, have the student highlight sentences that pertain to the focus, cut the other parts, and elaborate the highlighted ideas.
Give the student a very focused assignment.
Share samples of unfocused writing for the student to revise.
Composition lacks interest-ing details and vocabulary.
Have the student brainstorm words related to each of the five senses and then add some of the words to the composition.
Have the student refer to word walls posted in the classroom for vocabulary.
Teach vivid verbs and adjectives.
Demonstrate the visualization strategy.