"George: I don't it.
Me: Don't get what, George?
George: It?
Me: It what?
George: It. I don't get it. "
I feel as though I have had this conversation so many times with students. While Substitute teaching I have worked with every grade level and with different learning levels. There have been numerous times where I have encountered students like George and in my head I wonder... how are they not understanding?? What is there to not understand?? Well, if the student cannot read of course they cannot understand.
The first aspect defined to be addressed is defining the struggling reader. That seems so obvious, but it's not. It's very easy to make assumptions on her that reader may be. The truth is, you can't always assume... I have noticed the student who sits back, and hides with their head down... but there are also the students who always volunteer to read but struggle through each word or when asked a question about what they read, they have no idea.
I have spent the last week with 6th graders of all reading levels, and I now find myself analyzing them. When Beers describes independent and dependent readers and the various confidence readers need, I am looking for these characteristics in my students. Her writing style and use of personal experiences is more than helpful in allowing us to understand various types of readers.
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