Calling all READING TEACHERS!!!! This is a blog post you do NOT want to miss!
We have been teaching for quite some time and can we tell you something??? Reading was not always our passion! We were just talking the other day about how it was that we fell in love with teaching reading and teaching a love for reading. We realized that it is when we LEARNED MORE about reading that we fell in love with reading! Isn’t that the case with everything? The more you know about something, the more you feel comfortable and the more you experiment with your students until you find what works!
During those first few years, we “taught reading” but we weren’t “Reading Teachers.” If we are being honest, we really feel bad for those students we had during our first years of teaching. They did not nearly get the quality of reading instruction that our students do now! Simply put, we did not know our students during those first few years as READERS.
9 Types of Struggling Readers in Your Classroom
Tell us if any of these “readers” sound familiar… Have you ever noticed that there have been a few students in your class who never seem to finish books? Those are students we like to call “Abandoning Abel and Abby!” What about readers who either choose books that are WAY too easy or WAY too difficult? We like to call them “Too Simple Sara and Too Challenging Charlie!” What about readers who read the same series over and over and over again and never try anything new? Those readers are “Reading Rut Ruth and Repetitive Ruben!”
Okay, so all of these readers have some pretty cute names and some pretty serious problems, but now what? What do I, as a reading teacher, actually do for “Fakin’ It Farrah and Fred” and “Doesn’t Read at Home Henry and Helen?” We are sooooo glad you asked! Keep reading!
How to Help Your Struggling Readers Become Better Readers
Our favorite part of being reading teachers is the ability to be able to look at any of our students and know them as readers… their comprehension level, their reading habits and behaviors, etc… We can do this through spending time watching them read and looking at their reading habits, talking to them individually in a reading conference, small group, or a whole group setting. As we observe our students, we have a mental checklist going with the clues that they are giving us about their reading interests and abilities.
It is like being a detective and solving the mystery of unlocking the love of reading in each student in the very short time we have with them. It is very exciting because one of our top goals is to create students who leave our classroom with a lifelong love of reading.
There are many ways to do this…including identifying what type of reader each student is. That is what we are going to focus on today!
Now that we’ve been back to school for a while and are getting to know our students as readers, it is the perfect time to dive deeper into what type of readers you have in your class. Get your detective hat and magnifying glass ready because we are about to share our secret weapon!
Readers’ Profiles
Our secret weapon (insert spy music) is our Reading Profiles. Our Reading Profiles give clues to help you identify which type of reader each student is and ways that you can help each type of reader. You will unlock their love of reading by meeting their individual needs based on their reading type. We have identified 9 types of reading challenges that we typically see in our readers. Grab a cup of coffee, your class list, some colorful pens (Team InkJoy here!) and get yourself ready for some fun reading professional development! Before long, you will be saying…MYSTERY SOLVED!
***Disclaimer*** Of course, this is not an all-inclusive list. We have created these guidelines based on our combined experiences and research over many years. This is not about labeling students or putting them in a box because we know all students are different. It is more of a general guideline that can guide you as a teacher to help each student where they are as a reader without becoming overwhelmed as a reading teacher.
A Free Activity for Reading Teachers
Are you ready to get your sleuthing on? Here are some tips to make the most out of our Reading Profiles:
- Make sure you have been teaching your class for at least a month and you have had the chance to conference with them about their reading.
- Grab a cup of coffee and your class list.
- Download the FREEBIE to organize your findings.
- START CLICKING AND EXPLORING!
