Motivating Struggling Readers

This article shares 5 examples of ways to motivate struggling readers.
http://www.imaginelearning.com/blog/index.php/2010/07/five-strategies-for-motivating-your-struggling-reader/

A way not mentioned in the article to motivate students to read is to give them interesting books as gifts. This Christmas my niece will be receiving a set of 10 easy readers that are winter themed as part of the gifts that I have purchased for her. Magazine subscriptions are also a way to get reluctant readers to read. For recommendations on the best books of the year check out this link: http://imaginationsoup.net/2010/11/2010-holiday-gift-guide-kids-books-best-recommended-gifts-presents/

What Good Readers Do- Older Grades

Have a student that during independent reading time will read out loud rather than silently?
Check out the link below!  One of the things that you will learn is how to help a student transition from reading out loud to being able to read silently and still comprehend the text.
                                     http://jc-schools.net/read6-12/Good%20Readers.ppt

This is PowerPoint  presentation that you can share with older students. It discusses many of the different thought processes and questions that students should be asking themselves before, during, and after reading. These questions could also be used to check students' comprehension after reading through a text.

If there's any strategies that you use in your classroom or with your child that you did not find in the presentation, leave a comment so that others can learn from your expertise!

Background Knowledge

One common problem for struggling readers is having difficulty with reading comprehension. There are many causes for students not comprehending what they have read including spending too much energy on decoding the text. An easy fix is to lower the difficulty of the reading material so that less energy is spent on word calling so that more attention can be given to comprehension. Another reason for lack of comprehension is that students do not have background knowledge on the topic. It is important to build background knowledge prior to starting a new story and continually activate student knowledge and connections while reading the text.
One way that you could activate background knowledge is to use a quick video of the topic from websites such as  http://www.youtube.com/ or share one of your personal experiences that relates to the text. Not only do videos increase students background knowledge but it gives them motivation for reading. For more information about background knowledge, read this article: http://www.bnkst.edu/literacyguide/back.html