Struggling and Striving Learners
It's hard work, it matters . . . and nothing brings more joy than reaching a child who is struggling. The problem is each of these students presents a unique array of challenges and needs that don't allow for a uniform approach. Here are the stories from our contributors of their breakthrough moments, one child at a time.
Latest Content
Using Shared Writing to Build Argument Skills
Shari Frost explains the power of shared writing in intermediate classrooms, especially for struggling learners.
Shared Reading in the Intermediate Grades
Shari Frost explains why shared reading is valuable for older students, with examples of the practice in the intermediate grades.
Embracing the Growth Mindset with Audiobooks
Jennifer Vincent explains how recorded texts were a potent tool for reaching a struggling fourth-grade reader.
Just-Right Poetry and Individualizing Instruction
Shari Frost describes how a sixth-grade teacher provides a range of poetry options to meet the needs of all students.
Supporting the Transition to Middle School: An Elementary Teacher’s Perspective
Maria Caplin shares how and why she began to collaborate with Gretchen Taylor, a sixth-grade teacher who would soon be the middle school teacher for some of her students.
Reading as Reward
Principal Jennifer Schwanke finds herself on a mad dash to buy a baked potato for a struggling reader, and this is the moment that crystallizes for her everything that is wrong with most reading rewards (especially those involving food).
The Joys and Challenges of Co-Teaching
Katherine Sokolowski explores the challenges and joys of co-teaching with special education colleagues.
Interactive Read Alouds to Support Struggling Readers
Shari Frost explains how interactive read alouds are the “kickboards” of reading instruction, especially for struggling readers. She explains how one teacher used them to support a struggling reader in 3rd grade.
Reaching Evan with Read Alouds in the Intermediate Grades
Karen Terlecky reflects on the power of read alouds in the intermediate grades for welcoming older students who struggle with reading into the “club” of kids who love books.
Never Say Never: Motivation to Read from an Unlikely Source
Knock knock. Who’s there? A boy who loves sports and has no motivation for reading. Barclay Marcell discovers an unlikely source of engaging text for a child who just doesn’t enjoy books.
Book Matchmaker: “Cool” Books for a Struggling Second Grader
Franki Sibberson selects some “cool” books for a struggling reader who wants to fit in with his 2nd grade peers.
Helping Young Readers Become Independent
Teachers speak often about the importance of helping students become independent, but what does that look like in practical terms? Katie DiCesare considers her interactions with Evan, an emergent reader, on the road to independence.
Guiding a Struggling Middle School Book Club
What do you do about those book clubs that just don’t jell in your middle school classroom? Katie Doherty demonstrates how she guides a struggling group of sixth graders, helping them reflect and converse together.
Spelling Rules — Or Does It?
Heather Rader introduces a new spelling series and maps out the topics she’ll be tackling.
Classroom Gifts from Carlos: Helping Young Students Learn Academic Language and Routines
It can be especially difficult for young children from impoverished homes to understand academic language and the demands of school. Andie Cunningham observes the sophisticated ways a preschool teacher helps her students adapt with invitational language.
New Fiction for Boys (BOOKLIST)
It takes a kid at heart to share what young boy readers would take to heart, and Tony Keefer is just the guy for the job. Tony loves whonunits, blood ‘n’ guts, and cliffhangers, and he shares that passion with his tween students in this fiction booklist for boys.
Catching Struggling Readers Before They Fall with Pat Johnson and Katie Keier (PODCAST)
Pat Johnson and Katie Keier share their thoughts on how a comprehensive literacy approach best meets the needs of all learners, especially those students who struggle.
Motive, Means, and Opportunity
When educators have literacy-rich environments at home, it is important to consider students' daily access to reading materials. Ellie Gilbert uses motive, means and opportunity to think about our literacy landscapes.
Books Struggling Readers Can and Will Want to Read: Building the Classroom Library
Sammy is an avid reader in the classroom, but his teacher Cathy Mere notices he “accidentally” is always leaving the backpack with his intervention books behind. The challenge for classroom teachers is stocking books with titles that will interest Sammy, but still provide enough challenge and support to move him forward as a reader.
How to Look at Student Work
With summaries as an example, Heather Rader uses trends from learners to help make smart instructional decisions about what is presented during whole group, small group and individual time.
The Power of Linking Words and Perceptions
Melanie Quinn relays a powerful practice for staff members to reframe language and perceptions while putting common labels for students in a whole new light.
No More Excuses: Reading Workshops in Nontraditional Middle and High School Settings
Think you don’t have enough time for reader’s workshop in your classroom? Worried that you don’t have enough books to go around? Feel like you just don’t have the space for it? What if you had students, but no classroom, no books, and no set class times? Ellie Gilbert faced down all these challenges in her nontraditional high school reading workshop.
Coaching Reluctant Writers
Heather Rader describes how to use "wows and wonders" to reach students who say they hate to write.
Spring Slump
Audrey Alexander takes a close look at a couple of the students in her self-contained resource room, and finds the observations renew her flagging energy.
Book Matchmaker: Helping a Struggling Reader in 5th Grade
In this installment of Book Matchmaker, Franki Sibberson shares books and genres a struggling 5th grader might enjoy.
Book Matchmaker: Short Vowel Practice with Older Students
In this installment of Book Matchmaker, Franki Sibberson tackles the tough question of how to find texts for students who need help with short vowels, but are too old to enjoy many primary texts.
Reorganizing Books in the Reading Support Classroom
Katie DiCesare helps her mom, a reading support teacher, reorganize her materials to better serve students.
Coaching Beyond the Curriculum: Reframing Our Talk and Attitude Toward Difficult Students
What role should literacy coaches have in helping teachers manage unruly students? Melanie Quinn settles into a morning of poring over assessment data, only to have it interrupted by a child who has been disrupting his class. Her interactions with Darren and his teacher lead to strategies for helping colleagues take an inquiry stance with challenging children.
Helping Students Deal with Distractions
Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan offer lesson suggestions for helping students self-monitor and deal with distractions during literacy workshops.
Teaching Revision to Struggling Writers
Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan offer three strategies to use during writing conferences with struggling students.
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