Four Powerful Strategies For Struggling Readers Grades 3 8

Help struggling readers succeed by teaching four research-based comprehension strategies with sample lessons and a gradual-release approach leading to student-directed learning.

Sorting through the myriad of reading strategies and skills listed in state standards, local curricula, basal readers, and professional publications, the author here identifies and emphasizes four 'power strategies' worth spending time teaching when the goal is understanding text: summarizing, making meaningful connections, self-regulating, and inferring.

The untold story of the root cause of America's education crisis--and the seemingly endless cycle of multigenerational poverty. It was only after years within the education reform movement that Natalie Wexler stumbled across a hidden explanation for our country's frustrating lack of progress when it comes to providing every child with a quality education. The problem wasn't one of the usual scapegoats: lazy teachers, shoddy facilities, lack of accountability. It was something no one was talking about: the elementary school curriculum's intense focus on decontextualized reading comprehension "skills" at the expense of actual knowledge. In the tradition of Dale Russakoff's The Prize and Dana Goldstein's The Teacher Wars, Wexler brings together history, research, and compelling characters to pull back the curtain on this fundamental flaw in our education system--one that fellow reformers, journalists, and policymakers have long overlooked, and of which the general public, including many parents, remains unaware. But The Knowledge Gap isn't just a story of what schools have gotten so wrong--it also follows innovative educators who are in the process of shedding their deeply ingrained habits, and describes the rewards that have come along: students who are not only excited to learn but are also acquiring the knowledge and vocabulary that will enable them to succeed. If we truly want to fix our education system and unlock the potential of our neediest children, we have no choice but to pay attention.

Through specific examples, real-life scenarios, and diagrams, this book vividly conveys the most fundamental and effective tactics for boosting reading proficiency while enhancing student and teacher performance.

Presents a variety of of research-based instructional strategies for use with struggling readers in the grades three through eight.

Describes everyday classroom practices and exercises to help students in grades four through twelve read for accuracy, extract meaning from text, and interpret subject matter.

Teach kindergarten students close reading strategies that strengthen their fluency and comprehension skills! Students will read and analyze various types of texts to get the most out of the rich content. Their reading skills will improve as they answer text-dependent questions, compare and contrast texts, and learn to use close reading strategies on their own! The lessons are designed to make close reading strategies accessible, interactive, grade appropriate, and fun. The lesson plans are easy to follow, and offer a practical model built on research-based comprehension and fluency strategies.

Contains strategies for the seven through twelve classroom that includes critical thinking and problem solving skills, writing, researching, and organizing ideas, and approaches to reasoning and creativity.