Struggling Readers: Why Band-Aids Don’t Stick and Worksheets Don’t Work

It is a troubling statistic that a quarter of the students in any grade are reading below grade level. The good news is that it’s not too late, even in middle school, to provide the extra instruction that will get the majority of these students back on track.

The practical, classroom-tested reading instruction strategies in Struggling Readers are carefully chosen to be effective with students in Grades 3-9. More than band-aid solutions that focus on discrete skills that don’t transfer to real reading, this insightful book shows teachers how to give struggling readers what they really need: the opportunity to read texts they can and want to read; explicit instruction in long-term strategies they can use on their own; confidence in themselves as readers, writers, and thinkers.

This comprehensive resource is organised around the instructional needs of struggling readers:

teaching and texts targeted to their needs the opportunity to read more explicit instruction and guided practice in comprehension strategies building vocabulary and fluency the ability to read informational and functional texts using writing to make sense of reading

The lesson routines in this remarkable book are specifically designed for small-group work, but are adaptable to whole-class or individualized learning.

Struggling Readers is a valuable resource that will help teachers use guided reading strategies from the early grades to reach those students still struggling with reading basics.