Successful readers set a purpose for reading and draw on prior knowledge, experiences, and a variety of strategies to make meaning from text. They continually monitor their comprehension and, as needed, will stop and revisit their “tool kit” of reading strategies to gain a better understanding of what they are reading. Proficient readers often find themselves questioning or reorganizing text, summarizing, analyzing, and making connections to other subjects and contexts (National Institute for Literacy 2007).
Struggling readers, by contrast, are challenged by expository text because they rely on too few or ineffective strategies, do not monitor their understanding, or cannot transfer strategies used in casual reading to academic texts. When reading is unsuccessful or laborious, it ceases to be motivating. Consequently, struggling readers avoid reading and often have difficulty learning in many subject areas.
Teachers cannot control the knowledge and experiences that students bring to the classroom. But they can help students access or retrieve knowledge about a particular subject to help them make connections to the new knowledge to which they are about to be introduced. Teachers cannot wave a magic wand and double students’ vocabulary overnight but can provide them with tools to unlock the meaning of unfamiliar words. And teachers can provide opportunities for students to use new words in meaningful contexts. Teachers may not be able to alter the syntax or structures of text, but they can provide students with strategies to understand how text is organized.
To accomplish the task of helping students become proficient readers and learners, teachers need to have strategies at hand. A selection of the most useful strategies to assist struggling readers composes the remainder of this guide.
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