Working with Striving Readers: An Interview with Children's Author and Educator Alan Trussell-Cullen
What kinds of difficulties does a striving reader have in the upper grades?
The difficulties striving readers have in the upper grades tend to be twofold. On the one hand, there are various "functional" things: striving readers will have some significant gaps in their reading skills and strategies, and because they're struggling with a text, they'll also have difficulties with comprehension. Because reading is often an essential part of the learning in other content areas, they may be underachieving or having trouble in subject areas like science and social studies, as well.
But at this age, students' biggest difficulties tend to be attitudinal. It's their lack of confidence and the negative feelings they have towards themselves as readers and as learners that is their biggest challenge. We all know the saying: "Nothing succeeds like success," but the opposite is also true: "Nothing fails like failure."
Struggling readers know that they are struggling. They know reading is a big deal. They know most people around them can read. They know most of their fellow students can do this reading thing much better than they can. And this makes striving readers really question their own ability and value, and it gnaws away at their confidence and self-esteem.
These negative, self-deprecating attitudes may make our striving readers react in a number of ways. Some will keep right on trying, and that's great. But others will act up and try to get attention for all the wrong reasons, by disrupting the class or by blatantly disengaging from the class program. Others will do the opposite: they'll try to make themselves invisible when there's reading to be done. And then there are those that just won't try because they've convinced themselves they're probably going to get it wrong so why bother to put yourself up for target practice?
All of these behaviors are coping strategies and not very good ones at that because they don't help students read and learn. The challenge for us as teachers is to show and convince our striving readers that, yes, we believe they can do it, and so empower them to believe they can do it, too.
What kinds of materials would be useful to support teachers and striving readers?
The reading materials teachers use with striving readers are tremendously important because they have to give the striving reader two essential things: Success, so the striving reader can start to believe that he or she can really do this reading thing, and acceleration: they're already slipping behind the other students; they need reading materials that will really support them but also push them along and help them make up this lost ground.
So when we're looking for good reading materials for our striving readers in the upper grades, there are some key things we should look out for:
The content or subject matter has to match the students' interest level. This is a vital key. The reading materials have to be about things kids their age are interested in and excited about.
Story characters are terribly important. Striving readers in the upper grades want to read about kids like them, doing the things kids like them do (or would like to do), thinking the things kids like them think, asking the questions kids like them ask, and feeling the things kids like them feel.
The language is also terribly important. The characters don't need to be exactly like them, but they do need to talk like them.
The pace and rhythm of the text is very important too. Struggling readers need to get moved along by the story or the content. They need action. They need momentum, and they need to feel and know they are making headway.
That's where materials like Hameray's Download series and The Extraordinary Files do such a good job. Look at the content! Skateboarding, motocross, BMX & mountain biking! UFOs and aliens! That's really cool stuff for kids of this age! Look at the characters in The Extraordinary Files: they get to do all the exciting things kids of their age would love to do! And look what they have to contend with - killer robots, headless ghosts, werewolves!
These series are lively, and they move the reader along! They reward the reader with excitement, entertainment, and intrigue, but also with a sense of achievement. They're reading! And that's great for teachers, because when your striving readers are getting that emotional pay-off, it makes giving them the instructional help they need with specific reading skills and comprehension so much easier.
What do you think about using plays for striving readers in the upper grades?
Plays are great for kids at any age but particularly for striving readers in the upper grades. There are a number of reasons for this.
Firstly, the kind of language used in plays is very supportive for striving readers because the language they are reading is the language people use when they talk; it's oral language, simply written down. Now that's one thing striving readers are really familiar with - they can talk! So when they're reading lines in a play they can draw on their own oral language knowledge and skills to help support their reading.
Secondly, the social aspects of reading a play support the striving reader. For the striving reader, when you are reading on your own or to a teacher it can be very lonely or even threatening. But plays are something you do in a group. That's fun in itself. But it also provides its own discipline. When it's your character's turn to speak, you have to read; you can't evade it or get out of it. Because you are reading out loud you have others there to check on your reading, but you've also got the support of others because if you stumble over something, the other students can help you.
Thirdly, in a play, you're a character and that often makes it easier because it takes some of the pressure off the striving reader ("it's not me here saying these words, it's my character"). Sometimes it's amazing to see the transformation that happens when reading plays. You can have this poor kid who clearly goes through agony when he or she has to read; if it's ordinary text they'll mumble and clam up at the slightest difficulty, but put them in a play with other students, and suddenly they are transformed! That's because characters have attitude! Characters can shout and move around while they speak. Often striving readers find it very difficult to sit still and quietly read. And characters can say things that striving readers wouldn't normally have the courage or the language skills to say themselves, so this can be amazingly liberating for the striving reader.
And fourthly, in reading a play, the striving reader also gets to hear other students reading and to follow along in the text. So that's a good source of continuous revision and reinforcement.
Can you make some suggestions for the kind of play resources that would be helpful for striving readers?
I really like Hameray's Superscript series. They are ideal for small groups. The content is spot on for striving readers in the upper grades. Look at some of the titles - Time Warriors, Alien Attack! Island Footprints! Truth or Dare. The interest level is pitched at grades four through eight, while the reading age is more in the second and third grade range.
The plays have small casts (six parts), and that's important because it means everyone gets a turn and gets lots of reading practice. The speeches are short, so the action moves along at a great pace. The characters are lively and have lots of attitude which makes them fun to play.
The series has some special tricks too. The characters' names are color coded - that's a great prompt for students when they're acting.
Superscripts also makes skillful use of humor. That helps make the play engaging for the striving reader. It also means when they perform the play they are going to get positive feedback from the audience. Humor also assists with comprehension; to get the joke, you have to understand what you're reading.
And one last point about the Superscripts books: they come with subtle illustrations. This helps the readers to understand and imagine their characters. It also helps with performance, too.
Can technology be helpful for instruction with when teaching students with reading difficulties?
Definitely. That's because these kids may be struggling with reading, but they're right at home with technology. It's cool in their world. They have excellent technology facilities, so they don't feel so threatened by it. And technology has some wonderful possibilities when it comes to learning: color, image, size, personal control, and amazing data and research possibilities. When it comes to harnessing all this for instruction, I don't think we've even scratched the surface of the possibilities.
How confident are you about teachers in the upper grades being able to get their striving readers to become competent readers and learners?
I'm very confident. We see teachers trying all kinds of strong, positive approaches. We see publishers like Hameray coming up with really strong reading materials for striving readers. We see technology being harnessed in ways that both teachers and kids find really cool and exciting. We see help and support from the community playing a very important role in this. There are some wonderful challenges for us as teachers. Some of the current statistics may be depressing, but with some of the things coming out now, the future looks really bright!
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