Can Struggling Readers Be Avid Readers?
Image by Freepik
By Mark W.F. Condon, Unite for Literacy vice president
Struggling readers are simply readers who are able to read some things, but struggle to read others. They struggle when they are assigned to read books that are too hard for them or that are not interesting to them. They do not struggle, however, when they are reading carefully self-selected books at their own pace and reading for their own purposes.
Anyone can be a happy avid reader, someone who is always looking for another enjoyable book.
When people—children or adults—are pushed into books that are too difficult for them, they struggle. When they are bored or disinterested in the material, they struggle. When they encounter too many unfamiliar words or sentence structures, they struggle. When they are required to read for too long, or to read instead of doing something they would find more engaging, they struggle.
Effectively, struggling readers tend to be victims of well-intentioned though ill-advised efforts to make them read books they are not ready for.
If a child is “behind” it means she is being compared with others. So long as reading is treated as a kind of race, a competition, we will have an abundance of struggling readers. So long as we have “lockstep” curricula (about 180 days, where all kids are required to read the same books chosen by others), a considerable number of the children will struggle. And without knowing or intending, we all—parents and teachers—could be the source of their struggle.
But when disaffected readers find themselves with a pile of interesting and engaging books that include topics that they find fascinating, they tend to feel, “It’s a whole new beginning!,” as one 1st grader exclaimed.
Of course, those who typically struggle will need a little guidance to relax and find something they can enjoy. So, more experienced, avid readers can join them in perusing titles, demonstrating how to get a sense of the books they are drawn to—sharing their thinking as they do. They can show less-experienced readers how to study the titles, the covers, the images.
“Hey, look at this book! It’s called “Snakes Rule” and look what it says right here: ‘Meet the most extreme snake of all times.’ Gosh, I wonder what that is… (pointing to a particularly ferocious looking snake). Does it live around here? I am going to flip through and see if the author talks about that…”
When offered to choose from a variety of books about topics that they find appealing, kids will show more interest in reading them than when being assigned a book. So, encourage kids to read what they love and abandon titles that they do not, and provide relaxed time every day to read. Pretty soon you will have children who fuss—not about reading, but about being asked to stop reading.
If we—teachers and parents—ease off on our eagerness to have children keep up with their peers on the road to reading and allow them to progress at their own speeds, they will be well on their way to becoming avid, lifelong readers.