Struggling readers can feel like one of the most disheartening parts of your job if you are a reading teacher. I feel like a failure anytime my students struggle. It is hard for us to admit but we need strategies for struggling readers! We need proven and effective strategies that will help them get to grade level and close the gap.
Everyone tells us that we need to have systematic explicit reading instruction but no one tells us what that is exactly. We need to “meet students where they are” but no one tells us how. We need to a ba-jillion things but have no resources. Teachers are basically expected to be miracle workers.
If you are like me, then you have spent hours researching activities and ideas to help your struggling readers. Here’s the cold hard truth. It is going to be frustrating for all parties involved but YOU CAN DO IT. 95% percent of all students have the ABILITY to read so we must make it happen.
How To Help Struggling Readers
1. Find the Gaps through Assessment
Use you district data to determine the gaps that you student has. Do they know all their letters and letter sounds? Most reading issues begin here. Students lack the automaticity with sounds to quickly blend and read. If you don’t have a district assessment piece then I highly recommend ESGI. If you prefer a free way to assess with pencil and paper. You can use one like below.
Check for phonological awareness also. Can the student rhyme? Do they identify beginning sounds? Can they segment or blend words? These are all auditory skills. Most of the time, you will see that your struggling readers cannot rhyme or perhaps hear and blend sounds.
2. Make a Plan
You should have a routine that you stick with daily. This will help your struggling readers. Children thrive in routines. We have no idea what goes on at home but for school to be a safe place, students crave routine. They will remind you that it is their day at the small group table. Stick to your routine and pull these students daily. You will see growth when you stick to the plan.
3. Stay the Course
Once you have decided on a plan of action. Stick with it. Do not change what you are doing if it doesn’t work right away. Sometimes, students need this information over and over to internalize it. That is where explicit systematic instruction comes into play.
4. Multi-sensory Strategies for Struggling Readers
Use different tools to form the letters such as legos, pom poms, play-doh, glitter glue, sand, shaving cream, etc. Feeling the letters and making them in a memorable way can be a useful strategy for struggling readers.
5. Daily Small Groups
You may already have your small groups set up and on their way. Here is where it gets tricky. You must see your struggling readers 4-5 times per week. These are the students that are not getting it during whole group instruction. There is NO WHOLE GROUP answer in these strategies for struggling readers. That is because there is no whole group answer to teach students to read.
6. Opportunities To Read
If you don’t have anything below a level A book in your room, please consider adding some. There are tons of freebies out there. Your students should have the opportunity to read daily. Even if they just read one sight word and a rebus (picture); they will feel successful and like a true reader!
7.Targeted Lessons
It takes more than just sitting in a small group and going over flashcards. Students need lessons to their specific deficits. If a student can recognize letters but not sound things out, he doesn’t need alphabet flashcards. He needs phonemic awareness skills. We need to teach the students deficits.
8. Celebrate Success
Your students need to feel successful. This is hard for them. They cannot remember from the day before. Stay patient. Even students with dyslexia CAN learn to read. What takes a typical reader 100 times may take a struggling reading 500 times. That doesn’t mean they can’t learn. You just have to celebrate each small success and keep moving.
9. School To Home Connection
Most parents want their students to be successful. I have met some that say they care but won’t put in the work, however, try to solicit that support at home. If you let parents know that this is a team effort, it can help.
10. Grow a love for Reading
I put this last because it is most important. Students cannot develop a love for reading when they are being timed and drilled constantly. Let them choose their leveled readers on occasion, have them choose topics for your reading in class. If you can build a love for reading, your students will want to fight through the struggle and learn to read.
Strategies for Struggling Readers
Essentially, these strategies to help struggling readers can be implemented right away. It is definitely not going to be easy, but it will be worth it.
What about a program?
If you are looking for something to use in small groups with struggling readers in kindergarten and first grade, I’ve got you covered. This highly engaging packet allows students to learn in a variety of ways and provides authentic learning opportunities with a school-to-home connection piece. If you want a free sample… you can get it here.
