It truly breaks my heart when I hear people say their students can’t learn the material because they haven’t learned to read. I teach at a middle school, and some of our students arrive without having been equipped with many reading skills or strategies, and they are definitely struggling. I ache for these kiddos because I know how disconnected they’ve felt from much of their school experience.
However, with support strategies struggling readers, even those at the earliest stages of literacy, can engage with many grade-level skills. I’ve seen dyslexic students excel at identifying themes, students reading at a first-grade level express complex ideas using speech-to-text, and newcomers make meaningful, insightful comparisons between different experiences.
It is a monumental task for teachers to help these students succeed, but I know, from both my heart and experience, that it is possible. Along the way, I’ve learned a few strategies for struggling readers that can really help.
Separate Reading from Comprehension and Analysis
One impactful strategy is to remember that students can practice literary analysis without necessarily reading a grade-level text. The books they can read independently may lack opportunities to make inferences or explore deeper meanings, but they can still learn these skills. This is why read-alouds are one of my top priorities in the classroom. I also use short video clips, songs, audiobooks, and YouTube read-alouds to give students access to content. This way, they can demonstrate comprehension and analysis even if they aren’t yet able to read the text independently.
“Shared writing,” where a teacher models writing based on a shared experience, is common in lower grades, but it has a place in older grades, too. Skills like comparing and contrasting, identifying cause and effect, and analyzing key details can be modeled using shared campus events. For example, when teaching RL 5 – Craft and Structure, I’ve used our school’s morning announcements to discuss how the closing phrase affects the message as a whole. (My students have argued it doesn’t work, kind of like that awful Game of Thrones‘ final season.)
Embrace Tech
I’ve shared before how Murf and Diffit are some of my favorite tech tools. Having a text read aloud in a friendly voice allows students to hear it while reading along, or just listen if they aren’t able to decode the words yet. With this strategy, struggling readers can still participate in discussions about the written text with their peers.
Teaching students to use the speech-to-text feature embedded in their Chromebooks has been a game changer. Many of my students can express themselves verbally better than in writing, so this tool allows them to share their thinking alongside their peers.
Finally, I encourage students to translate information between English and their home language when it helps them. This strategy is appropriate for students who have stronger literacy in a home language that isn’t English. I also ensure that students feel no shame in using these tools when appropriate.
Offer Strategic Partnerships
This is admittedly one of the more time-intensive strategies to support struggling readers, but I believe it’s worth it. From day one, I use the tools mentioned above to assess which students are more independent and who might need more support with reading or analysis skills. I pair a student who can decode a grade-level text with one who might struggle to read it but excels at making connections and categorizing ideas. This way, each student feels like a valuable part of the partnership.
In paired reading, students take turns paraphrasing what they’ve just read, even if only one of them does the reading. This helps them hold each other accountable for their thinking. I’m sensitive to the fact that some students may feel burdened by always being paired with someone who needs help, so I work hard to ensure they also get to work with peers who are at a similar skill level. The goal is to balance the partnership dynamics so that everyone benefits.
Be Strategic with Seating
A colleague recently asked me if it would be a problem to seat all struggling readers at one table for a group project. She planned to differentiate the text so they could all access it. I suggested she assign temporary seats just for the project, keeping her regular seating chart for direct instruction and independent work. This way, her seating arrangement still works for classroom management, but students can group up for specific tasks without being singled out.
In my classroom, I have flexible seating options—like chairs by bookcases, cushions along the front wall, and tables where students can work under them if they prefer. Students using speech-to-text often like to work in these quieter spaces, sometimes right outside my room when the weather allows. My desks are arranged in groups of two and four so it’s easy to transition to working with partners when needed.
