Summary:

Students in middle school and high school who struggle with literacy can sometimes be ignored when it comes to intervention. They have somehow managed to get to where they are in school, but their skills are weak. As the rigor increases in their classes, their coping skills become less effective and even if they have managed to stay motivated, there is a lot less reward for their efforts. The achievement gap becomes wider and more difficult to close during the adolescent years.

Elementary teachers are trained to teach reading so they have the skills and knowledge to assist a struggling reader in their classrooms. Typically at the middle and high school levels, the teachers are trained to teach their content—this includes English teachers.

RTI is forcing schools to assess and diagnose student weaknesses—they can pinpoint if the reading issue is decoding or comprehension. But when it comes time to prescribe an intervention, middle and high school teachers are hitting a wall. Educators can find decoding and comprehension materials, but these are often presented at an elementary level. This compounds the problem. The students feel bad enough that they struggle with reading; it’s insulting to ask them to do ‘baby work’.

This book addresses the need for 6-12 teachers to have literacy intervention materials to use for their older struggling readers. This book will also help teachers learn how to support any adolescent reader—struggling or not—when they encounter challenging text.

The book features two strands: Decoding and Comprehension. Each strand contains lessons, suggested materials, tips for implementation and student samples. The book concludes with a third strand: Classroom Management. In this final strand, practical topics like running records, and student self-regulation and motivation are explored.