Chapter 11 Synthesis Blog

Reading is a fundamental concept that should be learned before the middle grades, however this is not always the case. In order to combat this, chapter 11 focuses on strategies for helping struggling readers. One of these strategies that stuck out to me was “use materials students can successfully read, but also give them extensive support for more challenging texts.” When using a text in the classroom, it is so important that we choose one that students can read. If they can’t read it, then there won’t be any understanding. This is not to say that we only need to choose below grade level or very easy text. It is important that we choose texts that still challenge our students, all of our students. In order to successfully do this, we must know our students and their reading levels. As a teacher, we must be intentional about making decisions in our classrooms based on our students' needs. Reading across the curriculum is important, and many times needed for student achievement and growth. However, so often we hear teachers say “I’m a physics teacher, not a reading teacher” (278). Although this may be the case. You may be a physics teacher, or you may be a math teacher. However, if we assign a texts to our students that requires reading, we then become a reading teacher as well. It is our job to foster student growth and understanding, so we must integrate these strategies into our classrooms if we want to see growth with struggling readers.

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