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40 Ways to Support Struggling Readers in Content Classrooms, Grades 6-12

By: Elaine K. McEwan-Adkins

Help for students who are overwhelmed, feel confused, can't remember, lack language skills, or just don't get it.

In today's era of accountability, teachers are expected to help all secondary students understand complex concepts and ideas and demonstrate proficiency on high-stakes tests. To promote success for struggling readers, Elaine McEwan offers teachers 40 research-based and classroom-tested methods, each featuring:

An intriguing quotation or definition to grab your attention
A brief description of the method and suggestions for implementation
Recommended resources to gain a more in-depth understanding of the method
Research citations to demonstrate the power of the method to get results

Full description

Product Details

Grade Level: 6-12
ISBN: 9781412952064
Published By: Corwin
Year: 2007
Page Count: 200
Publication date: May 01, 2007

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Description

"The book's major strengths are its ease of use and the range of approaches to address many different reading issues. You can read straight through for a host of ideas, or you can pinpoint exactly which kind of strategy to explore."
—Kristie Mary Betts, English Teacher
Peak to Peak High School, Lafayette, CO

"Bottom line: This book is reader friendly! Teachers in the content areas can quickly and easily find specific ideas to help students."
—Barbara L. Townsend, Reading Specialist
Elkhorn Area School District, WI

Help for students who are overwhelmed, feel confused, can't remember, lack language skills, or just don't get it.

In today's era of accountability, teachers are expected to help all secondary students understand complex concepts and ideas and demonstrate proficiency on high-stakes tests. To promote success for struggling readers in all content areas, expert educator Elaine K. McEwan offers 40 user-friendly and easy-to-implement strategies in an invaluable text that includes three tables of contents (traditional, topical, and problem-solving) formatted for quick and easy reference.

Each of the 40 research-based and classroom-tested techniques features:

An intriguing quotation or definition to grab your attention
A brief description of the method and suggestions for implementation
Recommended resources to gain a more in-depth understanding of the method
Research citations to demonstrate the power of the method to get results

Offering cross-references and advance organizers throughout, this book provides the specific yet comprehensive information you need to support all students with reading difficulties.

Key features

The book contains forty research-based and classroom-tested methods that teachers can implement to help struggling readers be more successful. The methods are arranged in numerical order from 1-40. They can be accessed in three separate tables of contents found at the beginning of the book:

1. A traditional table of contents listing methods in numerical order.

2. A topical table of contents grouping methods by categories (e.g., Cognitive Strategy Instruction; Vocabulary Instruction; Graphic Organizing; and Lesson Design, etc.)

3. A problem-solution table of contents listing methods as solutions to common problems such as:

Students who read it but don't get it
Students who don't get it, even after you've taught it
English Language Learners and other students who lack vocabulary
Students who are overwhelmed by too many concepts
Students who lack background knowledge about academic content
Students who can't read the textbook at all
Students who are bored, unmotivated, or sleeping in class
Students who are confused
Students who need to process what they are hearing and reading more frequently
Students who can't retain information for the test

Each of the 40 ways contains the following features:

An intriguing quotation or definition to grab your attention
A brief description of the method and suggestions for how to implement it
Recommended resources to help you gain a more in-depth understanding of the method either through independent study or as part of a professional learning community
Research citations to demonstrate the power of the method to get results
Accompanying instructional aids (where applicable)

Author(s)

Elaine K. McEwan-Adkins

Elaine K. McEwan is an educational consultant with The McEwan-Adkins Group, offering professional development for educators to assist them in meeting the challenges of literacy learning in Grades Pre K-6. A former teacher, librarian, principal, and assistant superintendent for instruction in several suburban Chicago school districts, Elaine is the award-winning and best-selling author of more than three dozen books for educators. Her Corwin Press titles include Raising Reading Achievement in Middle and High Schools: Five Simple-to-Follow Strategies for Principals, Second Edition (2006), Seven Strategies of Highly Effective Readers: Using Cognitive Research to Boost K-8 Achievement (2004), Ten Traits of Highly Effective Principals: From Good to Great Performance (2003), Making Sense of Research: What’s Good, What’s Not, and How to Tell the Difference (2003), Seven Steps to Effective Instructional Leadership, Second Edition (2003), Teach Them ALL to Read: Catching the Kids Who Fall through the Cracks (2002), and Ten Traits of Highly Effective Teachers: How to Hire, Mentor, and Coach Successful Teachers (2001).

McEwan was honored by the Illinois Principals Association as an outstanding instructional leader, by the Illinois State Board of Education with an Award of Excellence in the Those Who Excel Program, and by the National Association of Elementary School Principals as the National Distinguished Principal from Illinois for 1991. She received her undergraduate degree in education from Wheaton College and advanced degrees in library science (MA) and educational administration (EdD) from Northern Illinois University.

Table of Contents

Problem-Solution Table of Contents

Topical Table of Contents

List of Instructional Aids

Preface

Acknowledgements

About the Author

1. Teach the Seven Strategies of Highly Effective Readers

2. Engage in Teacher and Student Think-Alouds Daily

3. Teach Students How to Activate Prior Knowledge and Make Connections to New Knowledge

4. Teach Students How to Infer

5. Teach Students How to Monitor Their Comprehension

6. Teach Students How to Ask Questions

7. Teach Students How to Question the Author

8. Teach Students How to Search and Select

9. Teach Students How to Summarize

10. Teach Students How to Graphically Organize Text and Concepts by Chunking

11. Use and Teach Concept Maps

12. Teach Students How to Mark Text as They Read

13. Provide Advance Organizers Before Lessons

14. Use the I Do It, We Do It, You Do It Lesson Plan

15. Provide Models, Examples, and Nonexamples

16. Preview and Preteach Critical Concepts and Vocabulary

17. Check Frequently for Understanding

18. Assess for Learning and for Grading

19. Use and Teach Content Vocabulary Daily

20. Teach Academic Vocabulary

21. Teach Vocabulary Using Graphic Organizers

22. Reduce the Cognitive Load

23. Teach the Structure of Your Discipline

24. Use Easy Nonfiction to Build Background Knowledge

25. Determine What's Hard for Students and Teach It

26. Provide Easy-to-Read Short Articles Based on Content Standards

27. Assign Oral-Assisted Repeated Reading of Content Text

28. Use a Variety of Oral Reading Approaches

29. Vary Your Models, Moves, and Activities

30. Design Interactive Lessons

31. Use the Cooperative Learning Model

32. Create Content-Based Cooperative Games and Activities

33. Vary Your Seating and Grouping Arrangements

34. Give Students Reasons for Reading

35. Develop and Use Scoring Rubrics

36. Increase Wait Time

37. Build In Frequent Processing Breaks

38. Use and Teach Mnemonic Devices

39. Schedule Writing in Response to Reading on a Regular Basis

40. Expect Students to Activate, Connect, and Summarize Daily

Conclusion

References

Index

Reviews

"The format is easy to understand. Content-area teachers can quickly and easily find specific ideas to help students. Bottom line: This book is reader-friendly!"

Barbara L. Townsend, Reading Specialist
Elkhorn Area School District, WI

"The book’s major strengths are its ease of use and the range of approaches to address many different reading issues. You can read straight through for a host of ideas or you can pinpoint exactly which kind of strategy to explore."

Kristie Mary Betts, English Teacher
Peak to Peak High School, Lafayette, CO

"The parallel structure of each chapter helps the reader anticipate what is coming next by modeling a key reading strategy."

Sandra Ness, Literacy Teacher
Patrick Henry High School, Minneapolis, MN

"A key ingredient for success for any teacher who would help students using tested classroom techniques."

The Bookwatch, July 2007
Midwest Book Review

"This straightforward, no-nonsense book lives up to its title."

Curriculum Connections, Spring 2008
School Library Journal

Other Titles in: High School Teaching Methods | Literacy, K-12

Select Format:

Review Copies

This book is not available as a review copy.