Literacy in Australia Pedagogies For Engagement - (CHAPTER 12 Working With Struggling Readers and Writers)

Chapter
12 Working with struggling

readers and writers
Mrs Laughlin
supports Ray as a
reader and writer
Ray can be described in one word, eager — eager to be involved, eager to please, eager
to learn. It is easy to be overlooked in a classroom of 27 students, especially when 30 per
cent of the students have English as a second language (ESL) backgrounds and the teacher
is kept busy crafting her instruction to meet the needs of the majority of the students
who find literacy learning challenging. The school is located in a low socioeconomic area.
Ray is anything but overlooked, partially because of his enthusiasm for being involved
Copyright © 2013. Wiley. All rights reserved.
and partially because the ‘failing’ label assigned to this school does little to describe the
authentic learning taking place within its walls.
In this classroom, Mrs Laughlin finds Ray enthusiastic to participate. He often is the
first with his hand up to ask and answer questions, regardless of whether he is seated in
the front row, back corner, or working with a small group on the floor. You will also see
his teacher learning right along with her students. She is genuinely interested in knowing
her students and what interests them.
Here, literacy learning is interwoven into activities and across disciplines — whether
it’s science, mathematics, English or history. Charts filled with sticky notes display stu-
dent thinking and cover the walls. Students have independent reading boxes on their
Flint, Amy Seely, et al. Literacy in Australia : Pedagogies for Engagement, Wiley, 2013. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/unda/detail.action?docID=3059054.
462 Literacy in Australia
Created from unda on 2020-04-24 05:14:14.
desks, which contain books they have chosen to read, and their reader’s and writer’s
notebooks to record thoughts they may have while reading these books. Books in clearly
labelled baskets can be found to meet readers’ needs. There are charts listing ‘hot’ books
and ‘books we love to read’. Students are invited to explore nonfiction books, books on
e-readers, magazines and favourite Year 4 classics. As well, there is a display of books in
languages other than English for the students to select. These teaching tools are used
often. The books in the reading boxes have sticky notes overflowing from between the
pages and the charts are layered five or six deep in places where a new topic is added
right over the previous, as the wall space has been exhausted.
Mrs Laughlin conferences with each student on a regular basis. She schedules five
conferences per day. The names appear in sequence on the whiteboard and are erased
once the conference occurs. These conferences benefit both the student and teacher.
The teacher gains in-depth knowledge about her students and the students understand
that the teacher is aware and supportive of their reading, irrespective of their reading
level. Ray is one student who benefits greatly from such conference time. Occasion
ally, during a conference, Mrs Laughlin completes a running record using the text
Ray is reading to monitor his mastery of the reading cues. While his oral reading is
confident and with much expression, Ray rarely self-corrects, and often substitutes
words that are visually similar to those in the text — for example, ‘house’ for ‘horse’,
‘aware’ for ‘away’ — and keeps on reading. When asked to retell what he has read, he
has very little recall and lacks understanding. He has difficulty responding to implicit
and explicit questions about the text. Through conferring with Ray, his strong desire
to please becomes apparent. One of the drawbacks of his motivation to please is that
he places all of his focus on reading perfectly. He thinks reading is about getting the
words right. Very little of his effort goes towards understanding what he is reading.
Ray’s need to please goes further — he is reluctant to admit that he does not know
an answer to a question. Ray invents stories based upon what he remembers, which is
often just a title, and then answers all questions as if this is the story he has just read.
The unfortunate thing is that Ray’s level of satisfaction from reading must be minimal.
He is not comprehending and is doing little more than ‘barking’ at the words on the
page, hoping to get them right. He over-relies on graphophonic cues at the expense
of meaning. It is essential for Ray’s teacher, as it is for all teachers, to regularly
listen to their children read. Running records can be done quickly and give insights
into readers’ strengths and weaknesses. By gathering this information on an ongoing
basis, teachers can use what they learn to direct their instruction at whole-class and
individual levels. On an individual level, regular ongoing assessment of reading and
writing will help to guide individual development based on identified needs.
In Ray’s case, Mrs Laughlin, on completion of the running record, models how
she monitors her reading for meaning. She demonstrates how she listens for when her
reading does not make sense and goes back and corrects words when meaning is lost.
She reminds Ray that the reader is always conscious that reading must make sense. These
mini-lessons do not need to take long and can be done on an individual basis, with a
small group of students or the entire class. Ray’s teacher may notice that other children
may need the same kind of assistance as Ray, and call the group together to do a small
Created from unda on 2020-04-24 05:14:14. Chapter 12 Working with struggling readers and writers 463
group demonstration. The goal is for these students
to have a specific strategy to practise during their
own reading.
Ray is particularly interested in reading non
fiction and enjoys writing about animals. Making sure
he has access to books and multimodal texts that
appeal to his interests is important. Ray could focus
his writing on nonfiction texts. Showing Ray dif-
ferent alphabet books that focus on specific themes
such as arthropods (i.e. eight-legged animals,
including spiders), insects, fish and pets could be
one way for him to think about organising his
Ray’s writing notebook entry knowledge of animals into a publishable text. His
writer’s notebook offers many short entries about spiders and other animals. Students
cannot write about what they do not know. Ray’s piece about ‘Extremely weird spiders’
can be used as an example to show how he can look inside his writing to find places
to go into further detail. In conference with Ray, the teacher had Ray share his knowl-
edge about spiders as he read from his writer’s notebook. During the conference, it
became apparent that Ray knew additional information about orb weavers, types of webs
and other weird spiders. His notebook contained the seeds of ideas that could be
expanded into publishable texts. Ray realised he could create a complete piece of writing
on spiders by adding the information that he shared.
I WONDER . . .
• What other ways could Ray’s teacher support his writing about spiders?
• How does Ray’s teacher demonstrate that she values what Ray brings to the
literacy event and learning?
• How could Ray be encouraged to work collaboratively with his peers in order to
support his literacy learning?
CHAPTER OVERVIEW
Children in Foundation year through Year 6 are learning to read and write a variety of texts and materials in different
contexts. Throughout the chapters in this book there have been multiple discussions on ways to organise and structure a
literacy curriculum that effectively meets the needs of all readers and writers in the classroom. The four-resource model
attends to all aspects of the reading process and the reader/writer workshop (literacy block) structure provides the flexi-
bility (both in terms of materials and in lessons) needed to develop a literacy curriculum that is authentic and meaningful.
For students like Ray, a reader/writer workshop forum provides opportunities to explore and draft texts that have cap-
tured students’ interests. While Ray appears as a struggling reader on some assessment measures and may be targeted for
additional support, the reading conferences provide his teacher with other views of him that demonstrate how much he is
capable of doing.
This chapter extends the conversation about literacy practices and development to consider what it might mean to
be a struggling reader and/or writer.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
After studying this chapter, you should be able to:
• describe the different ways in which students struggle with reading and writing
• understand the role motivation and engagement play in supporting struggling readers and writers
• describe the most effective strategies for increasing students’ motivation and engagement
• recognise what it means to teach literacy to all children
• understand the role parents play in supporting struggling readers
• explain the strategies that are effective in eliminating the stress, embarrassment and angst often experienced
by struggling readers.
Factors that contribute to struggling

reading and writing
In every classroom there are children for whom literacy practices are a struggle.
Termed ‘at risk’, ‘struggling’, ‘slow readers’, ‘poor readers’ or ‘remedial readers’, these
struggling readers are often one or more years below their respective year level as struggling reader
determined by a battery of assessments, both formal (e.g. NAPLAN) and informal a reader usually one or more
(e.g. teacher observation, anecdotal notes). Reading is a precursor for completing years behind their year level
many of the tasks in the classroom. If students are unable to read and write pro-
ficiently, their academic performance begins to spiral downwards. They are likely
to experience frustration as they move into middle school and beyond. What are
some factors that may impinge upon a student’s abilities to be successful in reading
and writing? Cognitive processing, motivation, and teacher beliefs and attitudes are
three possible factors.
Cognitive processing
Cognitive processing difficulties influence the extent to which a student under-
stands a given text. They do not know that reading should make sense, or that they
should use their prior background and the context to determine what is coming
next in the text. Other readers may not know how to set goals, recognise that
texts are structured differently for different purposes, or they may not know how
to apply fix-it strategies when comprehension breaks down (Worthy & Invernizzi,
1995; Hall, 2007). Some students struggle with code-breaking practices. They may
not recognise many words or have limited knowledge of letter–sound relation-
ships. Other students may find that text participant practices are difficult — they
are able to say the words but meaning is not attached to those words. They lack
the vocabulary to make sense of the text and/or have limited life connections
to the text they are attempting to read. Cognitive processing difficulties may be
evident when students are not able to initiate purpose, recognise meaning, sample
details, connect facts, select important sentences, predict, infer, make connections,
engage in self-correcting behaviours, and retain what is read or written (Ruddell &
Ruddell, 1994).
Motivation and engagement
Motivation and engagement play a significant role in how struggling readers
respond to literacy events and practices. A lack of motivation is often linked to a
student’s self-concept and willingness to engage. In the classroom, students lacking
in motivation are usually reluctant to participate in literacy activities, refuse to
select books, and consequently find ways to avoid reading. They lose interest in
reading and often become alliterate — capable of reading but choosing not to.
Malloy, Marinak and Gambrell (2010) contend that the often-neglected element
of motivation is essential to students’ growth and participation within a learning
community of literate souls.
Contributing to a lack of motivation is the mismatch between what students want
to learn and what they are required to learn in school. Often, there are discrepan-
cies between students’ in-school literacy activities and their out-of-school literacy
activities, particularly as they relate to the use of technology (Ivey & Broaddus,
2001; Newkirk, 2002; Smith & Wilhelm, 2002).
Critical to motivation is a student’s desire to learn and this occurs through mean-
ingful engagement with relevant and purposeful activities. Oldfather (1993) sug-
gests that motivation makes the difference between learning that is temporary and
superficial, and learning that is permanent and internalised.
TABLE 12.1 Differences between struggling and proficient literacy users
Reading and Struggling reader Proficient reader

writing skills and writer and writer
Comprehension Narrow Expansive
Vocabulary Underdeveloped Proficient
Fluency Disjointed Effortless
Struggling readers — out of fear, embarrassment, shame and humiliation — often

do what they can to avoid reading. It could appear that they lack motivation or
have poor attitudes when, in fact, it may be their way of avoiding the pain of being
identified as ‘struggling’. They very often have a negative history towards reading
and writing. This history plays a role in how students see themselves as readers and
writers, and how they respond to new literacy events in the classroom. In order to
survive in the classroom context, they sometimes revert to disruptive behaviours to
draw attention away from the fact that they are not reading (Guthrie & Davis, 2003;
Hall, 2007). They would rather be seen as disruptive (which they think might be
more acceptable to their peers) than be seen as a failure in reading. They develop
strategies for procrastinating (e.g., misplacing their books, making idle chatter) and
deliberately and successfully avoiding putting forth any effort.
As students approach the middle years and beyond, they are less inclined to seek
reading assistance. Resistance, resignation and/or the reluctance to try are just a few
of the reasons students give for not seeking assistance and their desire to remain
invisible. Hall (2008/2009) states:
I often hear kids say that they don’t want anyone to identify them as poor readers.
They frequently are ashamed of their perceived weaknesses and will do whatever
it takes to cover them up. Sometimes they try to figure out what it takes to be iden-
tified as a good reader then try to emulate it. Others simply withdraw from class
and from reading, believing that if they do not participate then no one can identify
them as poor readers (p. 353).
Students with low motivation and engagement are also faced with low self-
confidence and low self-esteem around literacy. They are aware that their curricular
choices and texts are not the same as their peers and begin to doubt their own
abilities to succeed in literacy-related activities and tasks. As they continue to
struggle, they begin to develop expectations that reading and writing are too hard
and that they are unable to participate. Their history dictates this to be an accurate
representation of their future literacy success. This lack of self-efficacy impacts the
decisions that students make around literacy. They may say to themselves that there
is no reason to continue reading because they are not going to succeed.
Lack of involvement in literacy practices is initially seen as why they are strug-
gling. However, as students get older they begin to attribute their struggles to luck,
task or text difficulty, or the availability of help (McElroy, Goetze & Beach, 1997;
Shell, Colvin & Bruning, 1995). A cycle develops, whereby at-risk readers and
writers struggle. Because they are not engaged in the reading and writing materials,
they are not working on various skills and strategies to improve their abilities. They
often convince themselves that the ‘pay-off ’ for maintaining their coping strategies
is greater than the ‘pay-off ’ for engaging with literacy tasks. They know what it is
like to not engage because that is their lived experience. They don’t know what it
is like to engage and be successful, and the risk to do so can be overwhelming. The
challenge then is how to effectively break the cycle and support students to be effec
tive and proficient readers and writers.
Key ideas related to motivation and reading have been identified in the research
(National Reading Research Center 1997; Reynolds & Symons, 2001; Wang &
Guthrie, 2004) and are summarised as follows.
• Affording students choices in the classroom (self-selection) is a well-supported
motivational practice. Within the U-CAN READ: Literacy Intervention
Years 3–10 program, the single most important factor in motivating students
to read is allowing them the opportunity to freely choose from a vast array of
quality and interesting books. U-CAN READ is a joint literacy project of the
University of Canberra and the ACT Education and Training Directorate. The
program employs three full-time literacy advisers and a director to work with a
minimum of 120 families annually. In addition, it provides an array of programs

to educate specific parent groups, such as dads and their sons. The program
has a secondary component focused on engaging disinterested and struggling
readers who have ‘fallen through the gaps’. Irrespective of the age and stage of
the reader, these programs all emphasise the importance of granting students
the choice of reading material. According to Reynolds and Symons (2001), when
students choose (a) the texts they read, (b) the tasks they perform with the texts
or (c) their partners during instruction, their intrinsic motivation for reading
increases. Krashen (2004) states that no single literacy activity has a more
positive effect on students’ comprehension, vocabulary knowledge, spelling,
writing ability and overall academic achievement than free voluntary reading.
• Engaged readers love books and are knowledgeable, strategic, motivated and
socially interactive.
• Instruction is systematic and integrated with quality literature. Instruction
integrates multiple texts, as opposed to limiting students’ choices to a single
textbook.
• Motivation to read and reading ability are a synergistic, mutually reinforcing
phenomenon. It stands to reason that ‘the more you read, the better you
get at it’.
• Thinking and talking about books promotes children’s interest in books,
contributes to the building of a community of readers and develops children’s
critical understandings of what they read.
• Using analogies between unfamiliar and familiar concepts aids students’
learning. Children are motivated when they connect what they read with what
they know and experience.
Motivation and boys in the middle years

Children in the middle years and those moving through adolescence often experi
ence a decline in motivation and engagement; in relation to schooling, this is par-
ticularly so with boys. Brozo & Flynt (2008) identify strategies effective in capturing
boys’ imaginations, sustaining their interests and keeping them reading (Brozo,
2005; Brozo & Flynt, 2008). They include:
• Connecting outside with inside school literacies (Brozo & Flynt, 2008). Students
in the middle years age group are often engaged with media literacy found in
their everyday worlds. While disinterested in academic texts, these boys can
be highly engaged readers and users of new media — for example, they may
read graphic novels, email, blog and game (Alvermann, 2003). Students are
often motivated to use their multi-literacy skills honed in the home context
to make connections with content material at school (Hinchman, Alvermann,
Boyd, Brozo & Vacca, 2003/2004; Alloway et al. 2002; Alloway 2003, 2006).
Interesting and varied sources of information in both print and multimedia
form is a catalyst for engagement. Students need opportunities to connect what
they are learning with their passions and interests outside of school.
• Using technology. Technology features in many studies of boys and their reading
preferences. Research by Alloway and Gilbert (2006) indicates that many
students have literacy skills that are not recognised in the classroom — that is,
‘surfing the net, reading video screens and engaging with computers all demand
levels of literacy competence that do not figure highly in school measurements
of literacy’ (p. 54).
• Developing self-efficacy (Smith & Wilhelm, 2002). Self-efficacy is a precursor to
academic achievement because it motivates behaviour that leads to academic
success, which in turn affects engagement or non-engagement for use to
acquire new knowledge. It can be particularly hard for adolescents who find
reading difficult to engage in classroom learning unless there are opportunities
for collaboration, a range of genres across a range of reading levels is available,
and there is a curriculum that is stimulating, relevant and meaningful.
Too often, students are wrongly regarded as ‘the problem’ in literacy class
rooms when there is a lack of interest and desire to learn. In addressing ‘the
problem’, the solution does not reside with the students: the problem resides in
the curriculum and pedagogical practices. The curriculum must be reviewed and
instruction made meaningful to students. Students must be granted more oppor-
tunities to showcase what they know and be trusted to make choices about what
they read and write.
Ultimately, providing students with the skill to read and learn is not enough.
Students must also develop the intrinsic motivation to read and learn. I ntrinsically intrinsically motivated
motivated readers and writers are those who seek reading and writing out of per- seek reading and writing
sonal interest and the desire to learn, relax, escape or empathise (Block, 2003). because of personal interest and
desire
Extrinsically motivated readers and writers work for rewards and praise from
others (e.g. the NSW Premier’s Reading Challenge and the Chief Minister’s extrinsically motivated
Reading Challenge in the ACT). What teachers strive for is developing readers and seek rewards and praise when
engaged in reading and writing
writers who have a love of learning and begin to develop their own reasons for
reading and writing.
Going further . . .

A growing concern
Cadieux and Boudreault (2003) claim that over the last few years there has been an
increase in the number of students experiencing difficulties in normal classrooms.
When this is combined with budgetary cuts and staff shortages, services for
students become limited (Lowe, Martens, Hannett & Tunks, 2009). The provision of
intervention programs in secondary schools is virtually nonexistent, and secondary
schools struggle to accommodate the growing number of students who present
with literacy needs. Traditionally, secondary teachers have viewed themselves as
discipline experts; the adjustment to becoming a teacher of literacy is not an easy
transition for some.
The percentage of students leaving Year 12 having attained inadequate literacy
levels is puzzling. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has reported that
literacy levels among ‘high school students and student leavers have dropped
3.7 percentage points’ in the past ten years (ABS, 2008). Approximately half of the
15- to 24-year old Australian population are unable to read to an adequate level to
properly function in society.
The Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey of Australians aged 15–74 assessed prose
literacy (e.g. ability to read newspapers), document literacy (e.g. ability to use bus
schedules), numeracy, problem-solving skills and the ability to understand health-
related information (e.g. first aid advice). Just over half (54 per cent) of these
Australians were assessed as having the prose literacy skills needed to meet the
complex demands of everyday life and work. Results were similar for document literacy,
with 47 per cent achieving similar functional levels. The survey also found that half
of recent migrants whose first language was not English did not possess the document
literacy skills to meet the complex demands of everyday life and work (Australian
Bureau of Statistics, 2007). While statistical information on current literacy levels is
scarce, it is predictable that the trends will continue through 2013 and beyond.
Illiteracy levels among Australia’s Indigenous peoples are much higher than the
rest of the country. By the age of 15, more than a third of Australia’s Indigenous
students do not have literacy skills to allow them to meet real life challenges (PISA,
cited in Bortoli & Cresswell, 2004). The National Assessment Program — Literacy
and Numeracy (NAPLAN) (2007) reported that one in five Indigenous students in
Year 3 failed to meet the reading benchmark, reflecting significantly lower levels of
achievement than non-Indigenous students in all areas tested.
Recognising the needs of boys

Zambo and Brozo (2009) observed that since the early 1930s there has been
increasing evidence of boys far outnumbering girls in remedial reading classes
(Rutter et al., 2004). In Australia, NAPLAN compares students’ results in literacy
and numeracy across all Australian States and Territories for students in Years 3, 5, 7
and 9. In 2011, it found that boys were consistently over-represented in the middle
to lower bands of literacy achievement. Reading, writing, spelling, grammar and
punctuation average scale scores were higher for female students than male students
for Australia as a whole and for every jurisdiction. NAPLAN found that the differences
were ‘substantial and consistent’ across all year levels, with an average 21 scale point
difference across the four literacy domains between boys and girls (NAPLAN, 2011).
In summary, the results of NAPLAN indicated that twice as many boys as girls were not
reaching national minimum standards across the literacy components tested.
Girls generally outscore boys on standardised reading assessments and the trend
appears to continue with digital texts. The Preparing Australian students for the
digital world report reveals Australia’s national results from the Electronic Reading
Assessment component of the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment
(PISA, 2009). The PISA Electronic Reading Assessment results released in 2011,
report on 15-year-old students’ ability to read, understand and apply digital texts.
In Australia, 20 per cent of girls and 15 per cent of boys reached a very high level
in digital reading literacy, compared to 9 per cent and 6 per cent respectively across
participating OECD countries.
The ever-widening gap

Opportunities for literacy assistance diminish beyond the early year levels. By
Years 7 and 8, there are very few reading interventions available, and so the gap
widens in secondary schools, leaving those who struggle with reading floundering.
One way to address this growing concern, along with professional learning
in literacy for secondary teachers, is training teachers assistants in effective
strategies. Research indicates that the availability and adequacy of training for
paraprofessionals remains a persistent need (Davis, Kotecki, Harvey & Oliver 2007;
Giangreco, 2003; Griffin-Shirley & Matlock, 2004). A network of support comprising
community organisations, parents, teachers and teacher assistants, working
collaboratively with students is needed to ensure that students leave secondary
school adequately equipped for a literate future.
Teacher beliefs and attitudes

Teacher beliefs and attitudes have a significant impact on how students see them-
selves as readers and writers. The impact of a teacher on a student’s literacy learning
becomes extremely apparent in the conversations with adults who failed to learn
to read. Their earliest recollections of reading in school are usually associated with
one specific, unsuccessful, early reading experience. For many, the impact of that
early experience is emotionally charged and they cry as they recall the name of the
teacher, what the teacher was wearing, who they sat next to and the book they were
attempting to read — even if the experience occurred more than thirty years ago.
They retell the experience of feeling ashamed and embarrassed. Some recall the
insensitive comments of the teacher who (knowingly or unknowingly) humiliated
them as they attempted to read. The tragedy is that these same feelings of despair
and shame live on in their daily encounters with print ten, twenty, thirty years later.
Teachers’ practices are firmly rooted in their beliefs about teaching and learning.
Recall how ideologies about teaching and learning set the stage for the types of
theories and curriculum that are made available for students. The type of curric-
ulum then shapes how students view literacy practices. For struggling readers, the
teacher’s beliefs about reading, their expectations and attitudes to teaching and how
they relate to students may be even more prominent.
According to Hattie (2003), when it comes to learning, it is what teachers know,
do and care about that makes a difference to how students learn. Teachers need
to have opportunities to articulate their beliefs when working with struggling
readers and writers. Maxson (1996) found that when the teachers in her study were
provided opportunities to articulate their strongly-held beliefs about learning in
general, and struggling readers in particular, they very often were implanting prac-
tices that aligned with their beliefs. Many of the teachers held onto an ‘all c hildren
can learn’ belief and as a result sought out additional resources, strategies and
methods to best meet the needs of the children. Teachers that work to meet the
children where they are at (linguistically, cognitively, socially) will offer a diverse
range of methods, pedagogy and environments with a singular goal of meeting
students’ needs.
In the next section, reader characteristics and behaviours are identified as well
as the evidence a teacher may use to determine students’ needs. Following that,
a discussion of how to implement a reader/writer workshop structure to support
struggling readers and writers, as a possibility of accelerating the learning for these
students is offered.
Identifying struggling readers and writers

during literacy events
Teachers draw upon a number of sources of information to determine whether stu-
dents are struggling with texts and/or literacy events. This information comes from
national reading tests, miscue analysis, qualitative reading inventories, running
records, reading and writing interviews, reading and writing conferences, retellings
and kidwatching notes. For example, Ms Galfi uses some of her time during the lit-
eracy block to take notes and confer with her students to determine if there are any
issues or concerns she needs to be aware of. On one particular day early in the school
year, Ms Galfi noticed that Anna was just sitting there, staring off into space as the
other kids bent anxiously over their books and reading logs. A few minutes into the
literacy block time, Anna insisted that she needed to use the bathroom. Ms Galfi has
noticed that Anna frequently asks to go to the bathroom during this time, so she
decided to conference with her the following day. During the conference, she asked
Anna to make a list of the kinds of things she liked to read and write. Anna said that
she liked flowers and horses. Ms Galfi asked her to write down the words flowers and
horses. Anna stared blankly at her. ‘What sound do you hear at the beginning of
flowers?’ Ms Galfi asked. ‘Ffff ’, Anna replied, making the /f/ sound. She then said,
‘What letter makes that sound?’ ‘F’, said Anna.
‘Right, flower starts with an F, so start by writing that
down.’ Again, Ms Galfi’s comment was met with a
blank stare. She began to wonder if Anna knew how
to write an ‘F’, so she told her to look at the alphabet
above the whiteboard to find the letter F and copy it
down. Anna was not able to pick it out from the
other letters until Ms Galfi pointed out the picture of
the fish right above it. Ms Galfi recorded this infor-
mation on her observation sheet. She will use the
knowledge from this conference to develop strat-
egies for providing additional support and help for

Anna. She decided that Anna would benefit from
opportunities to participate in shared reading
experiences, where she could focus on letter–sound
patterns, including onsets and rimes.
What other characteristics and behaviours
might struggling readers and writers exhibit? Lit-
eracy researchers (Valencia & Riddle Buly, 2004;
Weaver, 2002) have identified and labelled these
behaviours and the possible evidence for such
actions. In most cases, readers are not weak in all areas of the reading process (e.g.,
word identification, comprehension, fluency), but are generally challenged in
one area. Table 12.2 lists the characteristics and the types of evidence that teachers
may use in determining possible teaching strategies to further support struggling
literacy users.
Table 12.2 Struggling reader characteristics and possible evidence
Reader characteristics Possible evidence that a reader may be struggling

Automatic word Reader doesn’t seem to know • Word identification is strong, usually at or above year level.
caller that reading should make sense. • Reader cannot tell much about the text even if the text is
Reader is able to decode words appropriate for the reader’s prior knowledge.
quickly and for the most part • Reader avoids performing self corrections.
accurately. • Reader often ignores punctuation.
Struggling word Reader struggles with both word • Reader sounds out a lot of words and settles for words
caller identification and meaning. that don’t fit the context.
Reader has uneven expression and • Reader cannot tell much about the text even if the text is
phrasing. appropriate for the reader’s prior knowledge.
Reader doesn’t seem to know that • Reader is easily distracted.
reading should make sense. • Reader says they can’t read.
Reader appears to have very little
interest in what is being read.
Word stumbler Reader doesn’t recognise many • Reader tells the story more from the pictures than the
words or have much knowledge of words on the page.
letter–sound patterns. • Reader skips or misreads a huge portion of the words.
Reader over-relies on context to • Reader guesses words that are often not associated with
determine words. words in the text.
Reader’s initial attempts at • Reader substitutes many words to preserve meaning.
reading are choppy and slow. • Reader says they can’t read.
Slow comprehender Reader doesn’t seem to monitor • Miscues often do not fit the grammar or meaning.
comprehension. • Reader does not automatically decode multisyllabic words.
Reader has good word knowledge • Reader uses punctuation inappropriately.
and understands that reading • Reader cannot tell what the selection is about, even in
should make sense. texts that are appropriate to their interests.
• Reader says that they do not like to read.
Slow word caller Reader doesn’t read fluently or • Reader reads in a monotone, reads through
efficiently. punctuation marks and otherwise reads aloud without
Reader lacks confidence and often appropriate intonation for an audience.
thinks that reading means saying • Reader struggles again and again to get each word not
all the words correctly. recognised on sight.
Reader is preoccupied with • Reader has a vested interest in surviving the reading time
getting every word right. rather than reading for pleasure.
Instructional practices for struggling readers

and writers
There is a perception that struggling readers and writers are deficit in some way
(e.g. linguistically, cognitively, socioeconomically) and that they need to be remedi-
ated prior to receiving regular class instruction. Struggling readers and writers are
often supplied with a remedial curriculum. They are often identified and ‘locked’
into a remedial program as though they were serving a life-sentence. They are regu-
larly provided a curriculum that is watered down, slowed down, and presented
in a more isolated fashion that focuses on specific skills and drills (Johnston &
Allington, 1991). They are often re-drilled and re-skilled in aspects of reading that
often they have mastered.
Struggling readers also experience a curriculum that emphasises code breaking
and phonics at the expense of text participant and critical practices focused on
comprehending. There are very few opportunities for students who struggle with
reading to work on meaning-making strategies. Additionally, Roller (1996) notes
that struggling readers are provided less wait time for self-correction to take place
as compared to proficient readers. Teachers and others will immediately jump in
and provide the appropriate word for the struggling reader rather than allowing the
student to try out various reading strategies to decode and make sense of the word.
Struggling readers do not need to be rescued. They need time to gather information
and test out their strategies of reading on, re-reading, or skipping the word in order
to reach independence.
More of the same but at a slower pace does very little to enhance a struggling
reader’s self-confidence. Creating ability-based groups does very little to enhance
the self-concept and self-esteem of those in the ‘Wombat’ group. Students are
quite aware of the differences in each other’s curriculum and expectations. For the
struggling reader, they may feel even less motivated and engaged in literacy prac-
tices. The slower pace continues to push these students farther and farther behind,
depletes their enthusiasm for engaging and thereby creates an even greater aca-
demic gap between those who struggle and those who are proficient.
A reader/writer workshop structure is an appropriate structure to support strug-
gling readers and writers in the classroom. Because there is flexibility within the
structure and all students are not completing the same tasks and activities at the
same time, it is more difficult for classmates to signal out those who struggle. With
a focus on personalising instruction to meet the needs of each individual, teachers
can implement a range of literacy strategies to attend to the varied strengths and
needs that each student displays. For struggling readers, teachers can take a closer
look at the role of interest and background and scaffolding in motivating strug-
gling readers. They can modify echo, shared and buddy reading; read alouds;
independent reading time. They can also utilise neurological impress and compre-
hension monitoring strategies.
Echo reading
Negotiate with the child whether you will read a sentence, paragraph or page. The
adult then reads the sentence, paragraph or page first. The child re-reads (echoes)
the sentence, paragraph or page back. Continue in this way to complete the book.
Echo reading eliminates the frustration and anxiety that is too often associated with
reading aloud.
By ‘echoing’ your reading, the child has an opportunity to sound like a fluent
reader. This is important in building a child’s sense of what it feels like and sounds
like to be a good reader. The child can feel confident, relaxed and will enjoy the
experience. There is no loss of comprehension and together you can have fun
reading the story. You are modelling good reading. When you make a mistake,
share the experience. This gives the child an opportunity to understand that all
readers make errors and self-correct (U-CAN READ, 2013).
Shared reading
Negotiate with the child to take turns in reading. You could take turns at reading
a sentence, paragraph or page depending on the book. With shared reading, when
the child comes to an unfamiliar word, they will hear you read it correctly and will
self-correct next time the word appears.
Shared reading ensures that comprehension is maintained. Any meaning lost
when the child is reading is restored when you read the next sentence, paragraph or
page. Shared reading eliminates the frustration of reading together because you are
modelling good reading and clarifying any misunderstandings or mispronunciations
the child may experience during their turn at reading (U-CAN READ, 2013).
Neurological impress method (NIM)

Read a story out loud while the child reads aloud with you. The child will ‘mimic’
the words behind you. Track the reading with your finger so the child can keep up.
The child mimics your reading and, by tracking, you are directing the child to where
you are reading. Avoid word pointing — instead, move your finger across the line
in a fluid movement. Read at your normal reading pace.
When using NIM, the child has an opportunity to sound like a fluent reader.
This is important in building a child’s sense of what it feels like and sounds like to
be a good reader. The child can feel confident, relaxed and enjoy the experience.
You are modelling good reading. When you make a mistake, share the experience.
This gives the child an opportunity to understand that all readers make errors and
self-correct. If the child looks away from the book, don’t stop reading or give up in
despair. Continue to read with enthusiasm and you will find that the child returns
to the book (U-CAN READ, 2013).
Interest and background

Interest and background knowledge play an important role in readers’ abilities to
make sense of text. Interest fosters a desire to know more, while background knowl-
edge on the topic enables readers to draw upon what they already know to support
comprehension. When students are interested and engaged in the topic or material,
they often can read texts that are above their instructional reading level. Children
who indicate they are interested in the text are also more likely to ‘try harder’ and
say they ‘want to learn more’ (Mizelle, 1997, p. 16). This is why struggling readers
need to have options and select their own texts to read. They should not be rel-
egated to a particular reading level as determined by a prescriptive program. It is
important for teachers to be knowledgeable about students’ interests. Recall from
chapter 3 how Ms White provided Jacob with books and websites on soccer because
she was aware of his interests through questionnaires and interest inventories. Jacob
responded by actively reading and engaging with the materials.
All children like to be considered experts at something and so this is a great
avenue to explore with struggling readers and writers. They are not often seen as
experts due to their inabilities to effectively read (and this skill clouds the judge-
ment of many, peers and teachers included). When struggling readers and writers
are seen as experts, they gain much needed confidence. Ms Carrier, a Year 3 teacher,
invites students to share their interests and passions with the class community. She
has numerous occasions throughout the instructional day where students share
and talk with each other. This sharing enables students to make visible their own
interests. Ms Carrier records these interests, and as opportunities become available
she asks students to become resident experts. Recently, Ms Carrier noted that one
of her struggling readers paid particularly close attention during morning meeting
when the topic of caring for the class pets (exotic fish) came up. The students were
reading an article in the Weekly Reader about how to care for exotic pets and Toby
talked a lot about caring for his own pets at home (a turtle and a dog). Ms Carrier
asked Toby if he could create a checklist that shows how much work he does to care
for his animals. Toby agreed and in the process of creating the checklist, he went
to the school media specialist for suggestions on books and websites that provide
information on caring for pets. Toby brought these materials into the classroom
and shared with his classmates some information he learned (figure 12.1). As a
result of noticing Toby’s interest, Ms Carrier provided Toby with a way into literacy
and encouraged him to continue learning more about animal care.
Figure 12.1 Toby’s materials

on caring for pets
Sources: Hirst © 1994; Tails Are
Not for Pulling © 2005 by Elizabeth
Verdick and Marieka Heinlen. Used
with permission of Free Spirit
Publishing Inc.
Read alouds to extend

comprehension
Struggling readers, particularly in the intermediate
and upper year levels, can usually comprehend and
appreciate texts that are far more demanding than
what they can read on their own. Read alouds can
be used to engage students in comprehension strat-
egies because they encourage active participation
through open-ended questions. Students can be exposed to texts that are inter-
esting and will help prepare them for materials that they will likely experience
as their word identification improves (Ganske, Monroe & Strickland, 2003).
During read-aloud events, teachers can model comprehension strategies through
think alouds and explicit demonstrations of what good readers do when reading.
Think alouds require a reader to stop periodically, reflect on what is happening
in the text, and relate orally what reading strategies are being used. ‘By thinking
aloud during a read aloud, teachers can demonstrate the kind of self-questioning,
reacting and visualising in which they engage (e.g. I’m wondering why the little boy
keeps asking this question; or I’m confused by that idea, so I’ll read it over again;
or I’m picturing the dark clouds in the sky.) (Ganske, Monroe & Strickland, 2003,
pp. 123–24).
Teachers can also read aloud authors that write across levels of difficulty (e.g. Paul
Jennings, Andy Griffith, Emily Rodda, Margaret Wild, Jackie French). The teacher
can read the more difficult text during a read aloud and invite students who need
more support to read other stories by the author for independent reading time.
Independent reading time

It is up to the teacher to create a community of readers who value the time of day
to relax and enjoy a book, irrespective of their reading level. The teacher during
this time must also enjoy reading rather than marking the roll, collecting money or
completing other administrative tasks. In the early years, the independent reading
time could be limited to fifteen minutes until a routine is established. It does not
take children long to adjust to the expectation that in this class we read for a sus-
tained period of time every day; it is just what we do.
The inclusion of hi/lo books in booklists for reluctant readers can encourage hi/lo books
reading. These books are at the reader’s interest level (‘hi’ stands for ‘high interest’) books that are high interest
but written at a lower reading level (‘lo’ stands for ‘low readability’). Kids and teens but written at a lower reading
ability
reading below year level are more apt to want to read a book if it is not only at their
reading level but also at their interest level.
Buddy reading
Children in all classes benefit from reading with younger students. Buddy
reading helps build the confidence of struggling readers and gives them a legit-
imate reason to read books that they may have ignored or overlooked in their
early years of schooling when reading was a challenge. One possibility is to create
buddy reading partnerships. The older reader provides a reading model for the
younger student. Most often, the materials selected for this reading event are
easy books (ones that younger readers enjoy). The struggling older reader now
has a purpose for reading easy books. Before reading the book to the younger
reader, the struggling reader should practise (as all professional readers do before
reading to an audience). This enables the struggling reader to work on fluency
in an authentic manner. The buddy reading partnership provides the necessary
purpose for engaging struggling readers in reading and for building self-esteem
around literacy practices.
Pedagogies for the classroom
Think aloud
The ‘think-aloud’ strategy helps students make predictions
about the text; compare and contrast events, ideas, and
characters; visualise the information that is described
in the text; and make connections to prior knowledge.
It is important for teachers to model how to engage in a
think aloud.
Provide students with a passage from a text they are
currently reading. As you read it aloud, stop periodically
and comment. There are a variety of responses that you
can make, including imagery/visual responses, making
connections to personal experiences, making connections
to other texts, predictions, stating confusion, and
stating understanding.
Ask students to reflect on the types of comments and
responses you made while reading. Students can create
bookmarks to remind them of the different responses
they can make.
Have students work in small groups and practise
thinking aloud as they read various passages from a text.
A selection of books to use with buddy reading partnerships

Browne, A. (2011). Me and you. New York: Doubleday.
Brown, M. (1995). Arthur’s Christmas Cookies. Boston: Little, Brown.
Carle, E. (1995). The Fireflies. New York: Harcourt.
Emberley, B. A. (1995). Drummer Hoff. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Fox, M. (2009). The goblin and the empty chair. Sydney: Beach Lane Books.
Hogrogian, N. (1995). Good night, owl. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Jeffers, O. (2010). Up and down. London: HarperCollins.
Jeffers, O. (2006). The Incredible book of eating. London: HarperCollins.
Rosen, M., & Graham, B. (2005). This is our house. Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press.
Willems, M. (2004). Don’t let the pigeon drive the bus. London: Walker Books.
Willems, M. (2008). I love my new toy. London: Walker Books.
Scheduling easy reading time to gain confidence

All readers in the classroom need time during the instructional day to read texts
and materials that are below their instructional level. Teachers can coordinate this
time to bring together struggling students with more proficient readers so that
there are good reading models available for the former ones to observe.
FIGURE 12.2 Promoting
• Create a classroom library that contains books across a range of genres for all reading independent reading with
abilities, from two years below to at least two years above instructional level. struggling readers
• Include e-readers and other digital devices so that a range of books are readily
available.
• Increase the number of nonfiction texts in the classroom library. Nonfiction books
are often high interest and contain text features (headings, graphics, pictures) that
support reading.
• Conduct regular book talks. At least twice a week (after independent reading),
gather the whole class to share and talk about books that the students are
reading. Regular book talks provide a measure of accountability, serve to motivate
and inform students about ‘hot books’ others are reading, and contribute to the
building of a community of readers who respect and share a love of reading. Book
talks do not always have to be done on a whole-class basis. Students can share in
pairs or in smaller, collaborative groups.
• Encourage reading books in a series. Series books enable students to use their
knowledge of characters to make sense of new plots and situations. Series books
build students’ confidence (especially struggling readers) because they develop a
sense of the author’s style, the characters and previous events.
• Allow time for students to present their own books in book talks.
In Ms Elrod’s Year 4 classroom, she

has students meet with her after recess A selection of books for reluctant readers in
for 15 minutes to share in some easy fun Years 4 through 6
reading. The group changes each day, but Beecroft, S. (2011). Star Wars: Galactic adventures. London: DK
Ms Elrod ensures that her most strug- Carman, P. (2009). Skeleton Creek. New York: Scholastic Press.
gling students are a part of the group D’Ath, J. (2011). Extreme adventures: Anaconda ambush. London:
A & C Black.
on a more frequent basis. Because she
Fleischman, Paul (2004) Seedfolks. Harper Trophy.
includes her stronger, more proficient
Griffiths, A. (2011). The 13-story treehouse. Sydney: Pan Macmillan.
readers in the group, the students do Griffiths, A. (2012) The 26-storey treehouse. Sydney: Pan Macmillan.
not suspect that this work was for the Griffiths, A., & Denton, T. (2004). The Very Bad Book. Sydney: Pan
‘low group.’ As the children come in Macmillan.
from recess they check the whiteboard Grylls, B. (2009). Way of the Wolf. London: Red Fox.
to see if their name is listed. If it is, they Kinney, J. (2007). Diary of a wimpy kid. Camberwell, Vic.: Puffin Books.
meet in the library corner. If their name Lord, G. (2010). Conspiracy 365. Lindfield, NSW: Scholastic Australia.
is not listed, they continue reading their Rumble, M. (2012). Cricket sledged! Newtown, NSW: Walker Books.
independent selection. The materials that Other favourite authors for the middle years include Michael Morpurgo,
Ms Elrod has in the basket are easy Pittacus Lore, Shamini Flint and Roy Apps as well as the ‘old-time’
picture books that students are familiar favourites Paul Jennings, Roald Dahl, Gary Paulsen and Judy Blume.
Book series may also attract a student’s attention — for example,
with. While the children are reading the
‘Boys vs beast’ and ‘Captain Underpants’. Factual texts based on
books, Ms Elrod does not work with stu-
students’ interests are essential — for example, horse books, and ones
dents on comprehension. She may talk about sporting legends and leisure time activities. Magazines related
with them about figuring out unfamiliar to interests should be included in the class library — for example,
words but the intention is for students to magazines about football and motorbikes.
gain confidence in their reading.
Scaffolding
Scaffolding is often used to describe actions that teachers take to provide sup-
port and guidance to struggling readers. Because less-accomplished readers and
writers tend to engage in literacy events that they are already familiar with, scaf-
folding provides opportunities for these students to engage in new tasks. In many
scaffolding instances, scaffolding refers to the activity before, during, and after a reading event
individual support to help that is intended to help a struggling or novice reader. For example, when a strug-
bridge the gap between what a gling reader selects a book to read, it is essential that — prior to reading taking
learner knows and can do with
place — the teacher spends time completing an orientation to the book. The book
what a learner needs to know in
order to succeed is placed in the reader’s hands and the reader flicks through the pages. The reader is
encouraged to talk about the book, the illustrations, and predict what could happen
in the story. It is while the reader is exploring the book that the teacher introduces
any unfamiliar words, discusses the illustrations or reads sections aloud. All the
time, the teacher is providing the necessary context to support the reader make the
transition into the text. This orientation should be limited to a few minutes and not
every page needs to be discussed. The reader gains a sense of the story but does not
need to know everything about it.
Similar to the scaffolding that is on a building, a teacher’s scaffolding should be
gradually withdrawn as a student develops independent reading skills and strat-
egies. Graves and Graves (1994) suggest that scaffolding should be treated as ‘a
flexible framework that provides a set of options from which you select those that
are best suited for a particular group of students reading a particular text for a par-
ticular purpose’ (p. 5). Figure 12.3 offers a framework for considering the level of
scaffolding needed in a particular literacy event.
When teachers provide appropriate scaffolding to struggling readers and writers,
they create a learning environment that presents challenges in a supportive con-
text; provides security through successful risk taking on a daily basis; and includes
opportunities for students to begin assuming responsibility for their learning
(Block, 2003).
High interest
Low to moderate scaffolding Moderate scaffolding
Independent or small group Review prior knowledge to identify
reading with guided discussion incorrect information, vocabulary
and/or mini lessons to ensure instruction, text structure support,
accurate comprehension guiding reading strategies with
increased text difficulty

Easy Difficult
Moderate to high scaffolding High scaffolding

Pre-reading and motivational Pre-reading and motivational
activities including video, art, activities, vocabulary
music, experiments, hands-on instruction; guided silent
activities, guided silent reading; reading or teacher read aloud;
Figure 12.3 Levels of
scaffolding reciprocal teaching strategies study strategies. Project-based
strategies can create ownership.
Source: Combs (2004). Low interest
Comprehension monitoring strategies
A significant issue with struggling readers is that most of their effort is directed at
the word and sound level — that is, at processing the isolated squiggles on the page
at the expense of comprehending. They fixate on unknown words and fail to read
ahead, gather information from illustrations, re-read or predict what word would
make sense. As Harris and Hodges (1995) point out, comprehension is the ‘inten-
tional thinking during which meaning is constructed through interactions with
text and reader’ (p. 207) and this is often what struggling readers fail to achieve.
They do not consciously create meaning as they read because they are focused on
getting words right. As identified in table 12.2’s listing of characteristics of strug-
gling readers, students may be able to effectively decode words and read with some
fluency, but are unable to recount what was read or comprehend with any degree
of success. There are a number of strategies that students can engage in to monitor
their own comprehension and notice when it is breaking down. Figure 12.4 pro-
vides a flow chart developed by Jeff Wilhelm that students can use to monitor their
comprehension. This flow chart can be adapted for any level of reader and is useful
to have hanging as a reminder for students, or as a bookmark for students to refer
to when they sense their comprehension is breaking down.
All students can use the identified strategies that support struggling readers. They
are designed to be implemented in reader/writer workshop structures, whereby
the teacher is working in small groups and individually with students. Because the
reader/writer workshop structure enables students to grow and develop as indi-
vidual readers and writers, teachers can more directly attend to the individual needs
of each student. Some students require more time to process the information, while
others struggle when reading particular formats or genres of text. The reader/writer
workshop supports this variation as flexible grouping routines are implemented,
text sets are provided, and students are given ample time to participate in uninter-
rupted reading and writing.
Flow chart of comprehension-monitoring behaviours
1. Read a passage of text.
2. Pause, ask yourself: Does this make sense? (Do this periodically; pause at ends
of natural text segments like paragraphs.) Option, check yourself: Can I retell the
important points of the last segment? Other options: Can I say it in my own words?
Are my hypotheses holding up, or do I need to change my predictions?
3. If Yes, reading makes sense! Continue

reading (back to #1). If No, continue to #4.
4. Ask: When did I lose track?

When did it start to go wrong?
5. Isolate cause of difficulty (each difficulty is matched to an appropriate problem-solving strategy in #6). Did I:
a. run into difficulty with a word or words? (vocabulary)
b. stop concentrating?
c. read it too fast?
d. lose the thread of meaning? i.e. struggle to understand how it relates to what was written before?
e. not know enough about the topic that's been taken up?
f. lose image or mental representation? i.e. Can't ‘see’ what it is I am reading about?
g. not understand how text is organised and where it is headed, what I should expect?
h. try a strategy that didn't work? Not know which strategy to try?
6. Use an appropriate strategy for your problem.

a. Skip the word and read to end of sentence or segment, trying to figure it out from the context.
Guess the meaning or substitute a word that seems to fit and see if it makes sense.
Ask someone the meaning of the word, look for definition in text, look up in dictionary.
b. Reread the segment.
Read aloud — it can really help to hear the text. Or ask someone else to read it aloud to you.
c. Slow down and reread, or read aloud.
d. Chunk the confusing segment with what came before or what comes afterward. Try to understand a whole chunk that is short
and manageable.
e. Identify the topic and bring personal knowledge to bear. What do you know about this or a similar topic that might help you?
Find out more about the topic — read something else that is simpler or more introductory; use a reference book; ask someone
else who knows more.
f. Try to create an image or mind picture of what is going on (could use picture mapping, tableaux, or mapping techniques from
next chapter).
g. Ask: How is the text organised? How should what comes before help me with my problem? (Very helpful to know that in an
argument a claim is followed by evidence and evidence is usually followed by a warrant; in cause and effect text structures,
causes are followed by effects; in classification, one class or category is followed by a parallel category, etc. See Chapter 6.)
Recognise and use text features and cues to text structure like transitions, headings, illustrations, and captions, charts, etc.
Ask: Am I supposed to make an inference? Fill a gap in the story? Put several pieces of information together to see a pattern?
h. Read on and see if the confusion clears up.
If still confused, try another strategy or ask for help. Ask a peer, then the teacher or another expert reader.
7. Check understanding — if Yes, back to #1

to continue reading; if No, ask for help
FIGURE 12.4 Flow chart to help students monitor their comprehension

Source: Improving comprehension with think-aloud strategies (2nd edition) by Jeffrey Wilhelm. Copyright © 2013.
Main idea questioning
This strategy lesson helps children manage the complex series of information-
processing tasks involved in proficient reading. Readers are asked to think about the
meaning of a text as it is read.
While students are reading a paragraph of their text, ask them to:
THINK: Think as you read each sentence: What is the author saying?
BUILD: Put the ideas together and build meaning.
SUMMARISE: What is the main idea of the text?
QUESTION: Choose a question word (who, what, when, where, why, how) and build a
question about the main idea of the text.
ASK: Ask your ‘main idea’ question and consider the answer.
Source: Adapted from Lubliner (2004).

Reflecting questions back to the student
Reflecting questions back to students asks them to (a) elaborate, (b) think
metacognitively, (c) solve problems, and (d) support their answers.
Elaboration
Does this make you think of anything else you read?
Did you like this more or less than the last thing you read? Why?
What parts of this text did you particularly like?
If you had a chance to talk to the author, what would you say?
Why is this an important story to share?
Metacognition
How would you feel if _______ happened?
Why did you choose this selection to read?
Can you describe your thinking?
What do you know that you did not know before reading this?
Did your thoughts and feelings change?
Problem solving
What do you need to do next?
How did you solve this problem?
What do you do when you get stuck?

What do you do when you don’t understand the content?
Can you think of another way we could do this?
Supporting answers
Why is this one better than that one?
What are your reasons for saying that?
How did you know that?
Do you have good evidence for believing that?
What did you (or author) mean by _______?
Source: Adapted from Block (2003).
Literacy in context 12.1
Think about a student who may be struggling with reading and writing. As you
consider the actions and behaviours of the student, what initial actions can you take
to support this reader or writer in classroom literacy events?
Share your thinking with peers — either during tutorial time or in an electronic
format (e.g. blog, wiki).
Supporting struggling readers through

parent education
The parent [caregiver] is the primary force that propels the child into the world
of discovery, the world of literacy, and the world of success. (Gilliam, Gerla, &
Wright, 2004, p. 226).
Parents are underutilised and undervalued resources when it comes to supporting

struggling readers. Most parents want to support their children and are often at their
‘wits end’ to know how to go about locating the necessary information and assistance
to alleviate the stress and anxiety associated with reading at home. They frequently
rely on methods that they remember from their school days, with limited success.
Cunningham and Allington, (2003) point out that most parents are unsure of
how to teach reading or help their children with literacy development. The posi
tive impact of parent education on children’s reading acquisition is emphasised
in research by Senechal (2006). In his study of 1174 families, it was found that
when parents were taught specific literacy skills to use with their children, they
were twice as effective as parents who listened to their children read and six times
more effective than parents who read to their children. In addition, Project ROAR
(Reach Out And Read) indicated that parents are eager to help their children and
when instructed in appropriate literacy activities can positively affect the academic
progress of their children (Gilliam et al., 2004).
The need for evidence-based, prolonged research on the effectiveness of parent
education programs is paramount. It appears that most programs were short-lived,
often school based and predominantly designed for parents of children in the early
years of school (Foundation to Year 3). Lowe et al. (2009) found that p rograms were
generally initiated by a teacher in the school and were dependent upon that teacher’s
ongoing involvement. When the teacher left the school, it was not uncommon for
the program to end.
As with intervention programs, there is a noticeable decrease in parent e ducation
programs beyond the early years. Recently, there has been a growing (and much-
needed) interest in research into the role of fathers on their son’s literacy devel-
opment. While there is a considerable body of research on the effects of literacy
interventions with mothers of young children (Ortiz, 1994, 2004), studies of the
impact of literacy programs with fathers up until recently has generally been
neglected. Ortiz (2004) points out that parent involvement is an important goal
of early childhood education programs, but ‘parents’ in this context often refers
to ‘mothers’.
The University of Canberra, in conjunction with the ACT Education and Training
Directorate, has conducted a successful and sustained parent education program in
literacy for more than thirty years. It is a free service to parents whose children
are experiencing reading difficulties and the application must be endorsed by the
teacher and school principal. The program caters for in excess of one hundred
families annually, and it also offers additional programs directed at specific parent
groups — for example, Boys, blokes and books for fathers and their sons.
Known as U-CAN READ: Literacy Intervention for Years 3–10 (UCR), the pro
gram addresses the needs of struggling readers by educating parents in the use of
effective reading and writing strategies, accompanied by the use of technology. The
program works in conjunction with all schools in the Australian Capital Territory.
Parents participate in a series of six, two-hour workshops. The workshops are fol-
lowed by an individual assistance program (IAP). The IAPs are conducted in col-
laboration with a literacy adviser and parents and students work together for one
hour per week for up to twelve weeks. It is based on the following sound principles
of parent education:
1. Collaboration
Unlike other intervention programs where parents drop their children off to be
tutored or they watch passively while tutors instruct their children, U-CAN READ
empowers parents to be active participants in their children’s literacy learning. Here,
parents, children and a literacy adviser engage collaboratively in literacy activities.
This could include shared reading or writing. The intention is to create a commu-
nity of readers and writers rather than have the child be ‘the object’ of intervention.
2. Independence
U-CAN READ encourages independence by giving children:
• choice of reading material, electronic and/or hard copies
• access to a range of literacy strategies — including shared, paired, echo or NIM
reading
• free choice of writing topics — including timed writing experiences, dialogue
journals made up of ongoing written dialogues with a literacy adviser, and
publishing opportunities such as uploading work to an e-reader
• borrowing rights to an extensive library of current and interesting books as well
as e-books, iPads and iPods.
3. High interest and fun

U-CAN READ promotes a love of reading by making available high interest and
diverse literature. The aim is to introduce the parent to stress-free strategies so
that reading time is an enjoyable encounter. Children choose what they read.
Initially, parents are instructed to restrict the reading sessions to ten minutes —
ten a nxiety-free minutes of fun. By limiting the time, it has been found that the
children begin to ask for more time rather than continue to draw on their avoidance
strategies of the past (U-CAN READ, 2013).
Parents support independence at home by taking children to local libraries, school
libraries, bookshops, and garage sales to choose their books. Parents are asked to look
for ways to generate a family community of readers by turning the television off, pro-
viding bedside reading lights and book cases, and by sharing what they love to read.
4. Meeting individual needs
On acceptance into the UCR program, a battery of assessments is conducted.
Assessments include miscue analysis, spelling tests, writing samples (timed free
writing), word identification tests, attitudinal surveys and standardised reading
tests (including the PM Benchmark Reading Assessment). IAP sessions are
planned individually to specifically target the needs of each child. Classroom
teachers of children in the program are contacted prior to and throughout the
IAP to discuss the child’s progress. During IAP sessions, the literacy advisers
model strategies to the parent and child so that the strategies can continue to be
reinforced at home.
5. Fostering confidence and motivation

UCR caters for children in Years 3–10. It is not uncommon for participants to lack
confidence and have low self-esteem. Consistently, U-CAN READ (2011, 2012)
found that more than 20 per cent of children who entered the program defined
themselves as ‘not good’ at reading. Most have experienced other interventions and
many have had years of failure in school. U-CAN READ endeavours to promote a
sense of confidence by providing scaffolded experiences that encourage risk taking
and engagement in purposeful activities.
6. Providing opportunities for reflection

Reflecting on literacy strategies and behaviours occurs both within the seminar
series and the IAPs. Throughout the seminars, parents are asked to reflect on their
changing perceptions of reading and the success/failures they experience on a
weekly basis. At the final seminar, parents are asked to reflect and document the
‘best’ advice they would give a parent of a struggling reader. It is common for par-
ents to reflect on how their fear and expectations impact negatively on their chil-
dren’s prior experiences of reading (Lowe, 2012).
Struggling readers require urgent and consistent support from a network of com-
mitted adults. Parents are crucial advocates in the network of support. Not only do
they have access to their children 24/7, they are often desperate to help. They feel
their child’s shame, and worry about the impact on their child’s future prospects.
They often feel guilty that they have not done enough. It is essential that they are
shown effective ways they can assist at home and are armed with reading strategies
such as echo reading, shared reading and NIM to allow them to focus on enjoying
reading together. These strategies take away the angst and put pleasure back in
family reading time.
Literacy in context 12.2

Interview teachers in your local school system to determine the school’s policy on
teaching reading. What reactions do the teachers have to such efforts? Ask:
• What reading resources are currently available?
• Where does technology fit within the reading program?
• Does the school employ teaching assistants to work with struggling readers? Do these
teaching assistants receive training in supporting struggling readers? Why or why not?
• What is done in relation to supporting parents of struggling readers?
Teaching all children to lead literate lives
in the twenty-first century
Children are redefining what it means to be literate in the twenty-first century.
They seamlessly navigate between and among texts in a variety of forms and for-
mats, from traditional print-based materials to interactive web-based materials.
As they effectively demonstrate their abilities to work with such materials, it is
necessary for teachers to teach into the individual needs and strengths of each
student. Students come into our classrooms with a range of strengths, experiences,
background, knowledge and needs. The guiding principles outlined in chapter 1
are not just for students who are on track for successful literacy experiences, but
should also be considered for students who find reading and writing events chal-
lenging and difficult. Restated here in figure 12.5, these guiding principles are a
reminder that literacy practices are far more complex than merely calling out words
and answering literal level questions.
• Principle #1: Literacy practices are socially and culturally constructed. Reading
and writing practices are not isolated events, but rather involve social and
cultural understandings. Struggling readers benefit greatly from participating in
collaborative reading and writing events.
• Principle #2: Literacy practices are purposeful. Literacy should be purposeful
and take social goals into consideration. It is extremely important for struggling
readers and writers to see the value and purpose for the literacy event. The pay-off for
engaging in literacy events must outweigh any reason they have for not participating.
• Principle #3: Literacy practices contain ideologies and values. Literacy practices
are not neutral; they carry with them ideas, beliefs, and values on how the world
should be organised. The types of materials and curricular decisions made available
for struggling readers and writers reflect the beliefs and assumptions of what
struggling readers are capable of doing. Activities that devalue the learner and
what the learner knows are detrimental to struggling readers. Literacy practices
must embrace the learner’s interests, passions and be relevant to what they value.
• Principle #4: Literacy practices are learned through inquiry. There are many
ways to approach the teaching of reading and writing, and by taking on a problem-
posing stance, new insights may be uncovered. Struggling readers and writers
should have opportunities to participate in inquiry-based curriculum.
• Principle #5: Literacy practices invite readers and writers to use their
background knowledge and cultural understandings to make sense of texts.
Essential to making sense of texts is drawing upon students’ background experiences

and knowledge. Struggling readers and writers come into the classrooms with a range
of experiences that need to be acknowledged as they navigate texts.
• Principle #6: Literacy practices expand to include everyday texts and m ultimodal
texts. Everyday materials (e.g. flyers, brochures, song lyrics, a dvertisements) and
multimodal texts can be used to teach reading and writing. Struggling readers and
writers benefit from a diverse set of reading and writing m
aterials. They need to
make choices about what they read and be supported in their efforts. FIGURE 12.5 Guiding principles
for effective literacy instruction
These principles are the foundation for developing and implementing a mean-
ingful and effective literacy curriculum for all children. As teachers embrace these
principles and make them central to their literacy curriculum, students experience
a curriculum that is generative, student centred, and has application beyond the
classroom walls.
Working toward such a curriculum requires that teachers begin to ask a dif-
ferent set of questions. Based on the work of Tomlinson (2003) and the ideas in
chapter 1 regarding a teacher’s vision, the following questions may seem straight-
forward, yet the answers are much more complex and require that teachers embrace
a perspective that all children have potential for learning regardless of their life
circumstances, ethnic and cultural backgrounds, and language abilities. The most
fundamental question is:
Do I intend to teach each individual child to be a proficient and engaged reader
and writer?
Answering this question in the affirmative means that a teacher must consider
how to reach children who struggle with the reading and writing processes. Where
can a teacher begin? First, remember that children enter into the literacy curriculum
from various points of entry and bring with them diverse perspectives on learning.
Earlier in the chapter, you read Toby’s list of pet care responsibilities. This is just
one example of how teachers teach into students’ needs. Toby’s teacher noticed how
engaged Toby was during the morning meeting conversation and constructed a
pathway for him to be recognised for his knowledge and interest. Throughout all of
the chapters, the teachers have engaged in kidwatching and reflection to determine
the next best step in a child’s literacy development. Other questions that encourage
teachers to teach into the students’ needs and experiences are:
• What are my students’ particular interests and needs?
• What are my students’ strengths?
• What can I do to ensure that each student works at the highest level of thought
and production possible?
• What would it take to tap the motivation already within this learner?
• How might I adapt the agenda to work for the student?
• What circumstances will be the most effective catalyst for this student’s
development?
• How do I support each student’s movement toward being an expert reader and
writer?
• How do I ensure that all learners have a network of support?
These questions focus on developing excellence and equity in the classroom.

Individuals are at the centre of each question. The responsibility lies with the
teacher to adapt the activities and curriculum — when students struggle to learn, it
is the curriculum that needs to be reviewed in light of the above questions, not the
students. Because the focus is on the students’ interests and not on the labels they
may have been encumbered with, students can
Literacy in context 12.3 work across groups and opportunities. They are
not confined to a particular experience because of
Return to your discussion of what reading is in the first
chapter. How might you revise your initial discussion? their abilities or lack of abilities in literacy
development.
Summary
Teaching all students in a classroom means that a teacher is committed to pro-
viding instruction that highlights the differences that individual children exhibit
and not aim for a one-size-fits-all model and hope for the best. There is no magic,
one-size-fits-all reading program, intervention or set of strategies. In every class-
room there will be children who, for a whole range of reasons, will find reading
and writing difficult. National testing standards ensure that there are always
children not performing to benchmark. Struggling readers and writers do not
need a curriculum that is slowed down or singularly focused (most often on code-
breaking strategies, as this pushes struggling readers further behind with less and
less motivation to continue. When they have only limited strategies to draw on,
they too often become victims of a system where they have been taught how not
to read.
To effectively meet the needs of struggling readers and writers, and in fact all
readers and writers in a classroom, the literacy curriculum includes: planning lit-
eracy as a socio-critical practice, differentiating instruction with the reader/writer
workshops, using the four-resource model for authentic literacy instruction, main-
taining a long-term view of literacy and ultimately seeing reading and writing as
pleasurable and purposeful pursuits.
Plan literacy as a socio-critical practice
Literacy is first and foremost a social practice. Teachers must go beyond the class-
room to think about the lives and experiences of children. Teachers should plan
for the big picture (Wilson, 2002). They do this by drawing upon their own beliefs
about teaching and learning, about language, and literacy. They think about the
kind of curriculum they want to implement in the classroom. As Harste reminds
us, curriculum is a ‘metaphor for the lives we want to lead’. Teaching literacy from
a socio-critical perspective recognises that reading is more than breaking the code.
Literacy practices involve readers taking on multiple perspectives, engaging in
social action, disrupting the commonplace, and focusing on sociopolitical issues
(Lewison, Flint, & Van Sluys, 2002).
Differentiate instruction with reader/writer workshops
The reader/writer workshop approach as described throughout this text is one
approach to literacy instruction that supports the varying interests and needs
of students. Reader/writer workshop structure differentiates and personalises
instruction for students through mini-lessons, literature discussions, independent
reading and writing time, and conferences. Students are celebrated for their
own accomplishments as they reflect on their progress and set new goals for
themselves.
Use the four-resource model for authentic literacy instruction
The four-resource model for literacy development enables teachers to infuse the
curriculum with literacy events and practices that are authentic and meaningful to
emergent, novice and accomplished readers and writers. Children not only learn to
be code breakers and text participants, but also text users and text analysts. These
resources are not hierarchical or discrete. ‘The proposition here is that all of these
repertoires are variously mixed and orchestrated in proficient reading and writing.
The key concept in the model is necessity and not sufficiency — each is necessary
in new conditions, but in and of themselves, none of the four families of prac-
tices [resources] is sufficient for literate citizens/subjects’ (Luke & Freebody, 1999,
pp. 7–8). The four-resource model helps teachers and students move toward a more
socially just society by inviting readers and writers to examine why things are the
way they are. By infusing the four-resource model into the literacy curriculum,
teachers offer students challenges and possibilities that prepare them to participate
in a multimodal, multicultural global context.
Maintain a long-term view of literacy
Today, teachers are often bogged down with mandates and prescriptions for
literacy development. Many teachers believe that their major responsibility is
to improve national test scores, which essentially means that they are teaching
for short-term results. And yet when teachers have a long-term view of what
literacy is all about, ‘students’ intellectual development and reading achievement
are better served by practices that foster the desire to read’ (Worthy, Turner, &
Moorman, 1998, p. 302). This text is designed to offer teachers with possibilities
in their teaching to teach for long-term results. Literacy development is not a
discipline to be taught, but a means to understand and make a difference in the
world. We owe it to our students to ensure literacy learning endures beyond
the four walls of a classroom. Literacy is our students’ access to attaining their
future aspirations and as classroom teachers, we are crucial to igniting their desire
to be lifelong learners.
Terms to remember
Extrinsically motivated (469) Scaffolding (480)
Hi/lo books (477) Struggling reader (465)
Intrinsically motivated (469)
From theory to practice

• What resources and support mechanisms do you believe need to be in place to
support struggling readers? Explain why.
• Reflecting on the previous chapters in this textbook, identify particular
chapters and/or sections where the guiding principles were clearly evident.
How might you use this information to begin conversations with teachers and
administrators in the field?

• How do you envision literacy in the twenty-first century? What does it mean to
live a literate life?
• What resources (human and material) will you need to teach a reader/writer
workshop? How might you begin to acquire these resources?
• Explain how digital literacies could be used to support struggling readers. Why
would this be effective?
• Prepare a short handout for parents on what they can do to assist their children
at home in reading. Explain what you think are the four most important
considerations.
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Literacy in Australia Pedagogies For Engagement - (CHAPTER 12 Working With Struggling Readers and Writers)

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Literacy in Australia Pedagogies For Engagement - (CHAPTER 12 Working With Struggling Readers and Writers)

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Chapter

12 Working with struggling

Factors that contribute to struggling

Reading and Struggling reader Proficient reader

Struggling readers — out of fear, embarrassment, shame and humiliation — often

minimum of 120 families annually. In addition, it provides an array of programs

Motivation and boys in the middle years

Going further . . .

Recognising the needs of boys

The ever-widening gap

Teacher beliefs and attitudes

Identifying struggling readers and writers

egies for providing additional support and help for

Reader characteristics Possible evidence that a reader may be struggling

Instructional practices for struggling readers

Neurological impress method (NIM)

Interest and background

Figure 12.1 Toby’s materials

Read alouds to extend

Independent reading time

A selection of books to use with buddy reading partnerships

Scheduling easy reading time to gain confidence

In Ms Elrod’s Year 4 classroom, she

increased text difficulty

Moderate to high scaffolding High scaffolding

1. Read a passage of text.

3. If Yes, reading makes sense! Continue

4. Ask: When did I lose track?

6. Use an appropriate strategy for your problem.

7. Check understanding — if Yes, back to #1

FIGURE 12.4 Flow chart to help students monitor their comprehension

Pedagogies for the classroom

What do you do when you get stuck?

Supporting struggling readers through

Parents are underutilised and undervalued resources when it comes to supporting

3. High interest and fun

5. Fostering confidence and motivation

6. Providing opportunities for reflection

family reading time.

Literacy in context 12.2

Essential to making sense of texts is drawing upon students’ background experiences

These questions focus on developing excellence and equity in the classroom.

From theory to practice

administrators in the field?

Rehabilitation and Education in Blindness and Visual Impairments, 36, 127–136.

Ortiz, R. W. (2004). Hispanic/Latino fathers’ and childrens’ literacy development examining

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