Hello everyone, and welcome back!
Happy August! This month always feels a little strange because we’re all in such different places. Some of you are already back in your classrooms welcoming students, while others still have a few more weeks of summer left to enjoy. Wherever you are, I hope you’re finding a little time to recharge and get excited for a new school year.
Today we’re continuing our Back-to-School series, and we’re focusing on a group of students that’s on many of our minds this time of year—our struggling readers.
In our last episode, we talked about helping students begin to see themselves as readers. Today, we’re going to continue that conversation by looking at what struggling readers need most during those first few weeks of school and how we can intentionally set them up for success.
There are a lot of great ideas out there for supporting struggling readers. If you’ve been teaching for any length of time, you’ve probably heard many of them: audiobooks, choice reading, sentence frames, small groups, partner discussions. Those strategies absolutely have their place.
But today, I want to step back from the strategies for a minute. Before we decide how we’re going to support struggling readers, I think it’s worth asking a different question: What do they actually need from us during those first few weeks of school?
I think the answer to that question changes the way we plan those first days and weeks of school. So let’s jump in.
One of the first things I think struggling readers need is the opportunity to experience success early.
Think about any time you’ve learned something new. Maybe it was learning to play pickleball, trying a new recipe, or figuring out a new piece of technology. If every attempt ended in frustration, you’d probably give up pretty quickly.
But when you start seeing little signs that you’re improving, you’re much more likely to stick with it. Those small successes make you want to keep going.
I think that’s true for reading, too. When struggling readers begin experiencing success, even in small ways, they’re more willing to keep trying. They pick up the book again. They participate in the discussion. They take on the next challenge because they’ve started to believe their effort is leading somewhere.
Unfortunately, many struggling readers walk into our classes carrying years of evidence that reading is hard. They’ve experienced frustration far more often than success, so when we hand them a text, they’re already wondering if this experience will be any different.
The reasons behind that evidence are different for every student, but the result is often the same. Students begin the year expecting reading to be difficult because that’s what their past experiences have taught them to believe.
If those first successful experiences are going to happen, they can’t be left to chance. They have to be part of our planning from the very beginning.
When I’m planning those first couple of weeks, I’m not just thinking about the standards I need to teach. I’m also asking myself, “Where are my struggling readers going to experience success?”
That question changes the way I sequence instruction. I want students to experience success before I increase the complexity of the work. I intentionally sequence learning so students build confidence before taking on more challenging work.
Notice that this doesn’t lower expectations. The thinking is still there. The learning is still there. I’ve simply planned the learning experience so students build momentum before they’re asked to take on something more challenging.
And here’s something else I’ve noticed over the years. This doesn’t just benefit struggling readers. Every student benefits from experiencing success during those first weeks of school. When students begin the year feeling successful, they’re more willing to participate, ask questions, and take on new challenges. That creates momentum for the entire class.
If you listened to last week’s episode, we talked about reader identity and how students begin deciding whether they see themselves as readers. I think these early successful experiences become part of that story. They give struggling readers something they’ve often been missing—evidence that this year might be different.
As you’re planning those first few weeks, don’t just think about what you want to teach. Also ask yourself, “Where have I intentionally planned opportunities for my struggling readers to find success?” Because those early successes often become the foundation for the more challenging work that’s still to come.
Those early successes are important, but they also give us something else. They give us the chance to start learning about our students as readers.
I think that’s one of the biggest purposes of those first few weeks. Yes, we’re building routines and helping students experience success, but we’re also gathering information that will shape our instruction for the rest of the year.
I know when I first started teaching, I was eager to jump in and fix things. If a student wasn’t engaged or seemed to be struggling, I’d immediately start thinking about interventions or trying to figure out how to motivate them.
Over time, though, I realized I was making assumptions before I really understood the problem.
Experience has taught me to slow down. Before I decide what a struggling reader needs, I need to understand how they actually read.
In those first few weeks, I’m paying attention to things that don’t show up on a reading assessment. How long can they stay focused? What happens when they come to a difficult section? Do they keep reading, or do they shut down?
Are they choosing books that match their interests and reading level? Can they tell me what they just read, or are they simply moving their eyes across the page? Those observations help me understand what’s really getting in the way.
Two students might both be reading below grade level, but for completely different reasons. One student may need help building stamina. Another may struggle to monitor their own comprehension. If I assume they all need the same support, I’m probably going to miss what each student actually needs.
What I learn during those first few weeks helps me make better instructional decisions. If I notice a student loses focus after just a few minutes, my first thought isn’t, “How do I get them to read a harder book?” It’s, “How do I help them build stamina?”
If another student can retell everything that happened in a chapter but struggles to explain why it matters, that’s a completely different instructional need.
I’ve found that those first few weeks answer questions that no reading assessment can. Assessments tell me where students are performing, but watching students read helps me understand why they may be struggling. That’s the information that helps me decide where my support will have the greatest impact.
That’s why I don’t rush to make instructional decisions or plan interventions before I learn about my students. I’m watching, listening, and looking for patterns. The better I understand my students as readers, the more intentional I can be with the support I provide throughout the year.
Before you start planning interventions, take time to understand how your students approach reading. Those observations will tell you what supports you need and where your support will have the greatest impact.
Once we know what our students need, our job becomes much simpler—and much harder at the same time.
It’s simpler because we have a clearer direction. We have a better understanding of what’s getting in the way and where our instruction can make the biggest difference.
But it’s harder because there usually isn’t a quick fix.
I’ll be honest, those first few weeks can test your confidence as a teacher, too. It’s easy to look around the room and wonder if the routines you’ve planned are working or if you should be doing something completely different. When students are still getting distracted during independent reading or discussions don’t go the way you pictured, it’s tempting to think the routine isn’t working.
Experience has taught me that’s usually not the problem. More often than not, the routine simply hasn’t had time to take hold. Before you decide it isn’t working, ask yourself if you’ve given students enough opportunities to learn it. Keep reinforcing your expectations, reteach when needed, and give students time to build the habit.
Reading is a process, and meaningful growth takes time. I know that’s probably not what anyone wants to hear at the beginning of the year. We all want our struggling readers to make huge gains, and we want to know we’re doing the right things.
One of the biggest mistakes I see is abandoning a good plan before it’s had time to work. Those first few weeks can feel messy. Students are still learning routines. They’re figuring out expectations. Some days independent reading goes really well, and other days it feels like no one can stay focused for more than a few minutes. That’s normal.
Instead of asking, “Is this working?” I think a better question is, “Have I given this enough time to become a routine?”
I think that’s an important distinction because our goal during those first few weeks isn’t perfection. It’s consistency. We’re establishing habits that we hope will carry students through the rest of the year. Every time we protect those routines, we’re reinforcing the message that reading is something we value, that discussions are expected, and that reflecting on what we read is simply part of what we do in our classroom.
Struggling readers can’t build reading stamina if independent reading is constantly changing. They can’t become comfortable discussing books if every discussion looks different. They can’t grow in confidence if the expectations keep shifting.
That’s why I try to protect the routines I’ve intentionally put in place. Of course I make adjustments when something truly isn’t working, but I don’t confuse the normal challenges of the beginning of the school year with failure. Those are two very different things.
When I think back on the students who made the biggest gains, I honestly can’t point to one lesson that changed everything. I can point to the classroom routines that consistently gave them opportunities to read, think, discuss, and reflect. Those practices became the foundation for the growth that happened throughout the year.
As you’re planning these first few weeks, remember that struggling readers don’t need perfection from us. They need thoughtful instruction, intentional routines, and a teacher who is willing to stay committed long enough to let those routines begin to work.
As we wrap up today’s episode, I hope it encourages you to think a little differently about those first few weeks of school. Supporting struggling readers isn’t about finding one perfect strategy. It’s about intentionally creating early success, taking time to understand your students as readers, and staying committed to the routines that give them the opportunity to grow.
If you missed the previous episode in this Back-to-School series, I encourage you to go back to Episode #80 and give it a listen. I talked about reader identity and why helping students begin to see themselves as readers can shape the way they approach reading all year long. It provides an important foundation for everything we discussed in today’s episode.
And be sure to join me next time as we look at five classroom routines that are worth establishing during those first few weeks. They’re simple to teach, easy to maintain, and can help your class run more smoothly all year long.
As you’re getting your classroom ready for a new school year, I have a free set of Reading Support Posters that you might find helpful. They’re designed to remind students of simple strategies they can use when they lose focus, don’t understand what they’re reading, or need a little support working through a challenging text. You can display them in your classroom, use them as reference cards at student tables, or give them to students as individual reading supports. I’ll include the link in today’s show notes so you can grab your free copy.
Thanks for joining me today. I’ll see you next time.