Reflections on teaching struggling middle school readers ivey

Reflections on Teaching Struggling Middle School Readers
Author(s): Gay Ivey
Source: Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, Vol. 42, No. 5 (Feb., 1999), pp. 372-381
Published by: International Reading Association
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Reflections on teaching struggling
middle school readers
Gay Ivey
Here are four working
generalizationsaboutteachingthat
shouldbehelpfultoboth
experiencedmiddleschoolteachers
andpreserviceteachersin
universityclassrooms.Each
generalizationissupportedby
research,firsthandexperience,and
suggestedstrategiesandmaterials.
Clark[allnamesarepseudonyms]toldme he is interestedin historical
fiction.He saidhe guessedthatTheHighwayman(Noyes,1981),which
I readto the classtoday,was set duringthe AmericanRevolutionbe-
causeRedcoatswerementioned.Duringfreereadingtimewe explored
theclassroomlibraryformorehistoricalfiction.Isuggestedthathe take
a look atMyBrotherSamIsDead(Collier&Collier,1974).
ThisafternoonI read TheLittleMatchGirl(Andersen,1975)withKatie
andRobin.Therewas a hugedifferenceinthewaythesetwogirlsread
thestory.Robinreadveryfluently,withno problems.Katie,on theoth-
er hand,stumbledthroughthe story.Robinhelpedheroutwithevery
few words.I noticedthat,in some instances,Katiewas not usingbe-
ginningconsonantsoundsto help herfigureoutwords.
Attheend of classtoday,SarahAnnaskedme ifIplannedtobe intheir
classroomtomorrow.I assuredherthatI would. Shesaidshe likes it
when I'mtherebecausethestudentsinthe classgetto do "funthings."
Thenshe said she reallydoesn'tlike reading,though.Butshe pulled
out a picturebook, TheWolfsChickenStew(Kasza,1987),andasked,
"Dowe get to read tomorrow?I want to read this book."I wonder
how she reallyfeels aboutreading.
excerpts from my research journalwere recorded during
These
the firstseveralweeks of a 5-monthnaturalisticinvestigationon
sixth-gradereaders(Ivey,in press).Thesethreeseparateinci-
dentsexemplifythe interestingandcomplexnatureof whatI dis-
©1999InternationalReadingAssociation
(pp.372-381)
372 H JournalofAdolescent&AdultLiteracy 42:5 February1999

coveredaboutsixth-gradereaders.Clarkshows
thatmiddleschool studentscanhave specific
readingpreferences.KatieandRobindemonstrate
thewide rangeof abilitiesamongmiddleschool
readers.SarahAnnrevealsthatsome middle
schoolstudentshavemixedattitudestowardread-
ing.Asdemonstratedby these childrenandtheir
sixth-gradeclassmates,middleschool students
exhibitgreatrangeanddiversityin theirreading
behaviors.
Whatmystudyrevealed,thatmiddleschool
studentsas readersarecomplex,was not surpris-
ingto me givenmypreviousexperienceswith
youngadolescentreadersandtheirteachers.
Duringmytrainingas a readingspecialist,I had
the opportunityto workwithscoresof elementary
andmiddleschool studentsin a universityreading
clinic.I learnedsome particularlyimportant
lessonsaboutliteracydevelopmentfromtutoring
foran entireacademicyeara fourth-gradestudent
who enrolledin the clinicas an emergentreader.
Asa middleschoolTitleI (thenChapter1) read-
ing/languageartsteacher,I workedprimarilywith
strugglingreaders,andI discoveredsome of the
obstaclesto learningforstudentswho havenot
learnedto readstrategicallyandpurposefullyby
sixthgrade.However,I also saw manystudents
learnto love reading.Now, as a universityinstruc-
tor,I amdevelopinga sense of whatconcerns
preserviceandinserviceteachersaboutteaching
readingto middleschool students.
Throughallthese experiences,alongwithmy
recentresearch,I havereflectedon whatit takes
formiddleschool studentswithpersistentreading
difficultiesto become successful,engagedreaders.
Throughoutthese reflectionsarerecurringthemes
thathaveled me to formsome workinggeneral-
izationsaboutteachingstrugglingmiddleschool
readers.
Mypurposehereis to sharetheseworkinggen-
eralizations.Inthe remainderof thisarticle,I will
elaborateon these themes,not becauseI think
theyareunique,butbecauseI thinktheywill be
recognizableto othermiddlegradeseducators
who havereflectedon how to help young adoles-
centsbecomereaders.Althoughyoung adolescent
readersdo representa wide rangeof abilitiesand
habits,those of us who workcloselywiththem
arebeginningto solve the puzzleof who they are
as a groupby identifyingsome importantcom-
monaltiesacrossstudents.The ones I mentionin
thisarticlearefroma varietyof U.S.classroomsin
threedifferentstates,andI have knownthemat
differentpointsin my 10yearsas a readingeduca-
tor,buttheirexperiencesandvoices revealwhat
theyhave in common.
Recurringthemei
Strugglingmiddleschoolreadersliketoreadwhenthey
haveaccesstomaterialsthatspanthegamutofinterestsand
difficultylevels.Numerousstudieshave reported
thatby the timestudentsreachthe middlegrades,
theyhavebecome uninterestedin reading(Ley,
Schaer,&Dismukes,1994;McKenna,Kear,&
Ellsworth,1995).However,I agreewith Bintz
(1993),who suggestedthatmanysecondarystu-
dents"donot lose interestin readingper se"(p.
613),butinsteadtheylose interestin the kindsof
readingthey aretypicallyrequiredto do in school,
such as readingtextbooksandcertainteacher-
selectedtexts.Worthy(1996)discussedthe impor-
tanceof makingavailableinterestingmaterialsthat
"hook"reluctantreaders,andin my experience,
gettingthe rightbooks intomiddleschool stu-
dents'handshas madea worldof differencein
theirinclinationto read.
One of the firstbooks to convinceme thatin-
terestingmaterialscan inspireotherwisereluctant
readerswas WalterDeanMyers'sScorpions(1988).
Duringmy firstyearof teachingTitleI classesI
boughtsix copies of thisbook at a localbook-
store.Severalof the seventh-gradeboys were
drawnto it becauseof itsinterestingcover,which
portrayedtwo AfricanAmericanteenagersatthe
frontstepsof an urbanapartmentbuilding.My
studentswere fascinatedby the story,which is
abouta boy theirown age who reluctantlyjoinsa
gang.However,theylikedthe book mostlybe-
causeit strucka chordof familiaritywiththem.
Studentscouldrelate,forexample,to the follow-
ing excerptin whichJamal,the maincharacter,is
being harassedby Dwayne,his nemesisat school:
"Yo,Jamal,whatkindofsneakersyouwearin?"...
"Whydon'tyoushutyourmouth?"Jamalsaid.
Therewereonlyfifteenminutesofschoolleft,and
hedidn'twantanygarbageoutofDwayne.
Reflectionsonteachingstrugglingmiddleschoolreaders |f 373

"AllI did was ask a question,"Dwayne said,
lookingin the directionof BillyWare."Whatkind
of sneakersyou wearing?"
"Noneof yourbusiness,"Jamalsaid.
"Theylook like Brand X sneakers to me,"
Dwaynesaid.
"Ithinkyou got a BrandX face,"Jamalsaid.
"Hey,Billy,I thinkhe got them sneakersfrom
the SalvationArmy."
Billygiggledandlookeddown atJamal'ssneak-
ers.(Myers,1988,p. 21)
The boys continue to tauntJamal, and at the end
of the scene, Myerswrites that "Dwayne made
Jamal feel small inside" (p. 22). This scenario was
not new to my seventh-gradestudentswho, like
manyotheryoung adolescents,witnessedandex-
periencedmanysimilarreal-lifesituationsdailyin
school. Real-lifelanguageandincidentslike these
keptmy studentsreadingScorpions,whichwas,
forsome, the firstchapterbook theyhadever
readfromcoverto cover.Humorousbooks, such
as RoaldDahl'sTheTwits(1980)andJon
Scieszka'sTimeWarpTrioseries(e.g., Knightsof
theKitchenTable,1991),have also been popular
choicesforstudentswho have not previouslyread
an entirechapterbook.
Oftenpicturebooks arethe key to motivating
middleschool studentsto read.Charlie,a sixth-
gradestrugglingreader,proclaimedWillythe
Wimp(Browne,1984)the "bookof the year,"and
his sentimentswere sharednot only by the other
studentsin TitleI, but also by some of my home-
roomstudentsidentifiedas giftedwho chose to
readthe book duringSustainedSilentReading
(SSR).Whilespendingtimein a sixth-gradeclass-
roomduringa recentstudy(Ivey,in press),I read
aloudto the class OfficerBuckleand Gloria
(Rathmann,1995).Afterthe readingmanystudents
electedto readthatbook duringindependentfree
readingtime,andotherssubsequentlycheckedit
out fromthe school library.Othermiddleschool
favoriteshavebeen Buz (Egielski,1995), The
GreatWhiteMan-EatingShark(Mahy,1989), The
StinkyCheeseManand OtherFairlyStupidTales
(Scieszka,1992),MeanwhileBackat theRanch
(Noble, 1987),andPrinceCinders(Cole, 1987),to
namea few.
Thematterof interestpertainsnot only to reluc-
tantreaders,butalso to avidandsuccessfulmid-
dle school readers.Casey,a sixth-gradestudent
who is a capableandhighlymotivatedreader,
wrotethisnote to herteacher:
I used to love to read.Butthisyearit'snot as en-
joyable.I don'tknow why but I plainlydon'tlike
it anymore. I guess it is because I have better
things to do. Anotherreason maybe thatI can't
finda book in the librarythatinterestsme. I mean
the schoollibrarywouldbe the onlyplaceI could
getbooksrightnow. Ihavealreadyreadmybooks
athome.
I can relateto those people who sayreadingis
boringnow. I guess afteryou readso muchyou
justget tiredof it.
Readingis kindof likea boy. Youlike(him)or
readingfor a long while. Then afterso long you
justdon'tlike(him)orreadinganylonger.
I thoughtyou were suppose to enjoy reading
as you got older.Butit'sjustthe oppositeforme.
As I get olderreadingis startingto interestme the
leastlittlebit.
A few weeks later,Casey found a new series of
books to read, and she reported that she liked
reading again. Thus, regardless of ability or gener-
al inclination to read, interesting materialsare
needed to develop and sustain engaged middle
school readers.
Instructional-levelmaterialshave similarimpor-
tance. In order for students to get better at reading,
theyneed manyopportunitiesto readmaterials
theycanreadwith95%accuracyin wordrecogni-
tion(e.g., Betts,1954).Formiddleschoolstudents
who maybe 3 to 4 ormoreyearsbehindtheir
peersin termsof readingability,thismaypresenta
problemgiventhe difficultmaterialstypically
foundin theirclassrooms,butthisneed notbe the
case.FieldingandRoller's(1992)makingdifficult
booksaccessibleand easybooksacceptableprinci-
ple shouldapplybeyondthe earlygradesandinto
the upperelementaryandmiddlegradesin order
to give allstudentswhattheyneed.
LoriAnn,a sixth-gradestudentwho scoreda
first-gradeinstructionallevel on an informalread-
ing inventory,hadexperiencedonly embarrass-
ment,frustration,andfailurewiththe grade-level
textsshe was askedto readyearafteryearin
school.Whenshe discoveredTheMagicFish
(Littledale,1986),an easy-to-read,predictablepic-
turebook in hersixth-gradeclassroom,she expe-
riencedfluentreadingforthe firsttime,andshe
374 ( JournalofAdolescent&AdultLiteracy 42:5 February1999

askedif she couldtakethe book home to read.
Lawrence,a seventhgraderwhose instructional
readinglevelwas secondgrade,movedfromfrus-
trationto successwhen he completedallthe
books in Marshall'seasy-to-readFoxseries(e.g.,
Foxand HisFriends,1982;Foxon Wheels,1983).
Preserviceteachersoftenask, "Aren'tmiddle
schoolstudentsembarrassedto readeasy books in
frontof theirpeers?"Mytypicalresponseis consis-
tentwithwhatWorthy,Patterson,Turner,Prater,
andSalas(1997)reportedaboutstrugglingreaders
in theirafter-schooltutoringprogram.Likethe
middleschool studentsI haveknown,these read-
ers "approachedthe readingof easy textswith
pleasureanda sense of relief,"andtheyreadeasy
books "withgustoandnot a hintof embarrass-
ment"(p. 5).
Still,some strugglingmiddleschool readers
wantto readtextsthataredifficultfarbeyond
theircomfortlevels.Brock,forinstance,my for-
mersixth-gradestudentwho readmostcomfort-
ablyin third-gradematerials,wantedto readmore
challengingandsophisticatedbooks such as
CarolynReeder's(1989)Shadesof Gray.Because
highinterestin a book'stopiccanoftenhelp stu-
dentstranscendtheirreadinglevel (Hunt,1971),
studentslikeBrockcan accessthe thingsthey
wantto read,especiallywithsome supportfroma
teacheror a peer.
Transitionalchapterbooks areappropriatefor
middlestudentswho arejustslightlybelow their
gradelevel in readingandforthosewho arequite
capableof reading,butwho areinexperiencedor
reluctantto read.Bookssuchas PatriciaReilly
Giff'sTheKidsof the PolkStreetSchoolseries
(e.g., TheSecretat thePolkStreetSchool,1987),
BetsyByars'sBeanson theRoof(1988),andClyde
R.Bulla'sShoeshineGirl(1975)areparticularlyap-
pealingbecausetheyarefairlyshortandeasy to
readso thattheydo not overwhelminexperienced
readers,andtheyalso bridgethe gap between
picturebooks andchapterbooks. Elizabeth,a sev-
enth-gradestudentin a learningdisabilitiesre-
sourceclass,readRoaldDahl'sTheMagicFinger
(1993)withina 24-hourperiod,andwhen she re-
turnedthe book to me, she reportedproudlythat
itwas the firstbook she hadread.
Allington(1994)discussedhow limitedexperi-
ence in readingis commonlymisperceivedas lim-
itedability.Itmayseem shockingthatstudents
who havebeen in school for6, 7, or 8 yearscould
be inexperiencedwithprint,butthey cannotbe-
come experienceduntilthey actuallyengage in
sustainedperiodsof reading.Thiscanbe facilitat-
ed onlywhen studentsareprovidedtimeto read
andaccessto books theyreallycan read.
Strugglingmiddleschoolreaderswantopportunitiesto
sharereadingexperienceswiththeirteachersandtheir
classmates.Ifyou imagineda classroomscene in
whichthe teacheris sittingon a stool or in a rock-
ing chairreadingalouda storyor picturebook,
with studentssittingallaroundon a rugor on big,
comfortablepillowsorbeanbagchairs,you might
assumeit mustbe an earlyelementaryclassroom.
I have come to believe thatthisis a perfectlyap-
propriateanddesirablescene formiddleschool
classrooms.
Successfulenvironmentsforstrugglingmiddle
school readersinvolveinteractionamongstudents
andinteractionbetween studentsandteachers
duringliteracyactivities.One of these activities,al-
ludedto previously,is the teacherread-aloud.
Thereis no doubtthatreadingaloudto studentsis
a powerfulpracticeforpromotingliteracyappreci-
ationanddevelopment,butI havefoundthat
read-aloudshave specificbenefitsforstruggling
middleschool readers.
Introducingbooks andreadingaloudto the
classgives teachersa chanceto show students
thatteachersthemselvesvaluethe books they
bringto the classroom,thusgivingstudentsthe
impressionthatreadingis pleasurableandworth-
while. Fartoo often,teachersreveala lackof en-
thusiasmforschool readingmaterials,as Casey,a
sixth-gradestudent,aptlyobserved:"I'vehad
teachersbeforethatjust,like, hatedto read.It's
like 'Uhhh,here'sthe new book we'regoing to
readtoday,class.'Andthatmadeit even boring-er
becauseyou cantellthatthey'renot interested,so
you'renot going to be interested"(Ivey,in press).
Whenteachersreadaloudinterestingbooks
anddemonstratetheirown enthusiasmforread-
ing, however,theirzeal maybecome contagious.
Thepreserviceteachersin my literacydevelop-
mentmethodscoursearebecomingconvincedof
thisphenomenon,as one student,Jamie,wroteaf-
terreadinga storyaloudto a groupof fourth-
gradestudentsforthe firsttime:"Ibegantelling
the classthatthisbook was one of my favorites,
Reflectionsonteachingstrugglingmiddleschoolreaders jj 375

andas soon as I saidthatsome of the girlswere
like, If it'syourfavorite,then it'smyfavorite,too.'
Itwas reallyfunny,butI toldthemto waitand
discoverif theylike the book themselves."Later,
she added,"Itreallymademe smileinsidewhen
the storywas overandstudentsaskedto borrow
the book."
I havealso observedthatwhen middleschool
teacherssharebooks regularly,studentsbecome
inspiredto do the same.Dora,a sixth-grade
teacher,foundthatsoon aftershe honoredone or
two students'requeststo sharebooks fromhome
andthe school library,she hadto createa waiting
listforstudentsto readaloudto theirclassmates.
Thebooks they sharedrangedfromchildhoodfa-
vorites,such as TheGivingTree(Silverstein,1994)
and TheJollyPostman(Ahlberg&Ahlberg,1986)
to all-timemiddleschool favorites,such as Scary
Stonesto Tellin theDark(Schwartz,1981).Still
some studentsintroducedtheirclassmatesto less
familiargenres,such as collectionsof Greek
mythology.
Sharingfavoritebookswithpeersis especially
appealingto less successfulandreluctantreaders
whose priorexperienceswithpublicreadingcon-
sistedmainlyof whole-class,round-robinreadings
of textsthatwere eithertoo difficult,uninteresting,
orboth.Whenstudentshavea chanceto choose
thebookstheywill shareandto rehearsebefore
theyreadaloud,theycanfeel likecompetent,
valuedmembersof theirclassroomliteracycommu-
nities.Forinstance,Joshua,a frustratedseventh-
gradestudentin a learningdisabilitiesresource
class,hadseverelylimitedwordknowledgeand
hadneverreada book on his own. Needlessto
say,hisoralreadingexperiencesin schoolhad
been torturous.Whathe desperatelyneededwas
plentyof supportedreadingin simpletexts,since
therewas probablyno book he couldpickup and
readon his own.
WhatworkedforJoshuawas echo andchoral
reading.Forexample,in an echo readingof the
predictablepatternbook Hattieand theFox(Fox,
1986),the teacherstartedby readinga shortsec-
tionof the text,andthenJoshuareadthe same
lines,andthey continuedin thismanneruntilthe
end of the book. AfterJoshuagainedsome confi-
dence throughecho readingthe book in itsentire-
ty severaltimes,theytriedchoralreading,in
whichJoshuaandhis teacherreadin unison,with
the teachertakingthe leaduntilJoshuafeltcom-
fortableenoughto do so. Aftera coupleof choral
readings,Joshuarequestedto readit aloudto his
class,an incidentthatigniteda patternbook read-
aloudfrenzyamonghis classmateswho were also
extremelyinexperiencedas readersin the seventh
grade.
A sixth-gradestudent,Ronnie,who I hadas-
sumedwas uninterestedin allthe readingand
writingactivitiesin his class,askedme to listento
himreadPrivateI. Guana:TheCaseoftheMissing
Chameleon(Laden,1995)in the hallwaybeforehe
readit to the class.I jumpedto the conclusion
thatthisoftenmischievousstudentwas usingthis
opportunityto get out of the classroom,buthe
provedme wrongwhen afterpracticinghis read-
ing on severalpages he announcedthathe felthe
was readyto share.He went backintothe class-
room,took a seaton the stool atthe frontof the
class,andreadthe storyto his classmates,cover
to cover.
Sharedreadingtimesarealsogood opportuni-
ties forstudentsto learnfromtheirteachersand
classmatesabouthow to seasontheiroralreading.
I have oftennoticedstudentstryingto mimicthe
way the teacherreads,usingdifferentvoices for
differentcharacters.A sixth-gradeboy once told
me as I readaloudJohnnyAppleseed(Kellogg,
1988),"Whenyou read,it'slike a story."After
hearinghersixth-gradeteacherreadaloudElbert's
Bad Word(Wood,1988),Allisondecidedto read
the book on herown, andshe announced,"I'm
going to tryto readthiswithexpression."One of
my preserviceteachersreflectedon how herread-
ing styleaffectedthe fifth-gradestudentswho lis-
tenedto her:"AsI readthe book, I noticedthat
the kidsreallylikedto heardifferentvoices and
charactersthroughoutthe story,whichI thought
was funto do andalso seemed to help linkthe
characterswith a persona."
Equallyimportantto strugglingmiddleschool
readersareopportunitiesto readone-on-onewith
a peer or a teacher.Formanystudentswho strug-
gle withreading,individualizationhasmeantgo-
ing to a remedialreadingclassandworkingalone
to completeskillsheets,withthe teacherrarelyin-
terveningwith explanationsor instructionalsup-
port(McGill-Franzen&Allington,1990).Thereare
obviousinstructionalbenefitsto one-on-oneread-
ing times,such as impromptulessonson word
376 gj JournalofAdolescent&AdultLiteracy 42:5 February1999

identificationandcomprehensionstrategies,but
perhapstheirfundamentalvalueis thatthey are
sharedliteracyexperiencesthatarebothpersonal-
ized andindividualized.Ifstudentswho struggle
withreadingareto become betterandmoreen-
thusiastic,theyneed manyopportunitiesjustto
enjoythe literateexperiencewithpeersandteach-
erswhen theyarenot alsobeingmonitored,cor-
rected,ortested.
Strugglingmiddleschoolreadersneedrealpurposesfor
reading.Whensurveyedabouttheirmostmemo-
rableschool assignments,one groupof middle
schoolstudentsratedhands-onscience andinde-
pendentresearchprojectsas theirfavorites
(Wasserstein,1995).Althoughreadingandwriting
were scarcelymentionedas favorites,studentsdid
not complainaboutreadingandwritingwhen
theywere used to accomplishsome meaningful
task.Itis not surprisingthatmiddleschool readers
need realpurposesforreading,giventhatmotiva-
tionis highestwhen studentsengage in tasksfor
theirown intrinsicreasons(Deci &Ryan,1985).
Formiddleschool studentswho strugglewith
reading,havingauthenticpurposesis especially
crucial.Unfortunately,the remediationprograms
providedto strugglingreaderswhen theywere in
the elementarygradesmayhavefocusedon spe-
cificskillsandothernonacademicactivitiesrather
thanon readingformeaning(Johnston&
Allington,1991),andstudentsarelikelyto en-
countera similarskill-and-drillapproachin the
middlegrades(Becker,1990).
Round-robinreading,a practicethatpersistsin
schoolsdespiteuncertaintyaboutthe originof its
popularity(Hoffman&Segel,1982),is especially
problematicforstrugglingmiddleschool readers.
Manystudentsmaysharethe sentimentsof
Allison,a sixth-gradestudentwho avoidsoral
readingbecauseof herlimitedwordidentification
skills:"Ithink[otherstudents]be staringatme and
stuff"(Ivey,in press).Ryan,a fairlyfluentsixth-
gradereader,senses the frustrationof less able
readersin his classduringround-robinreading,
andhe explainedwhy he volunteersto read:"I
raisemyhand'causeI wantto readandget it
done with 'causethe slow people read,andit
takesthemforeverto get it done"(Ivey,in press).
Ifstrugglingreaders'agendais to avoidbeing
calledon to readduringround-robinreadings,
Children'*booki
Ahlberg,J.,&Ahlberg,A.(1986).Thejollypostman(ill.
A.Ahlberg).NewYork:Little,Brown.
Andersen,H.C.(1975).Thelittlematchgirl"(ill.B.Lent).
Boston:HoughtonMifflin.
Browne,A.(1984).Willythewimp.NewYork:Knopf.
Bulla,R.C. (1975). Shoeshinegirl. New York:
HarperCollins.
Byars,B.(1979).Goodbye,ChickenLittle.NewYork:
Harper&Row.
Byars,B.(1988).Beansontheroof.NewYork:Dell.
Cole,B.(1987).PrinceCinders.NewYork:G.P.Putnam's
Sons.
Collier,J.L.,&Collier,C.(1974).MybrotherSamis
dead.NewYork:Macmillan.
Dahl,R.(1980).TheTwits(ill.Q.Blake).NewYork:
Bantam-Skylark.
Dahl,R.(1983).Revoltingrhymes(ill.Q.Blake).New
York:Bantam.
Dahl,R.(1993).Themagicfinger(.I Ross).NewYork:
Puffin.
Egielski,R.(1995).Buz.NewYork:HarperCollins.
Fleischman,P.(1988).Joyfulnoise:Poemsfortwovoic-
es.NewYork:HarperCollins.
Fox,M.(1986).Hattieandthefox{.P.Mullins).New
York:Simon&Schuster.
Giff,PR.(1987).ThesecretsatthePolkStreetSchool'(ill.
B.Sims).NewYork:Dell.
Kasza,K.(1987).Thewolf'schickenstew.NewYork:G.P.
Putnam'sSons.
Kellogg,S. (1988).JohnnyAppleseed.NewYork:
Morrow.
Laden,N.(1995).PrivateI.Guana:Thecaseofthemiss-
ingchameleon.SanFrancisco:Chronicle.
Littledale,F.(1986).Themagicfish(ill.W.P.Pels).New
York:Scholastic.
Lobel,A.(1980).Fables.NewYork:Harper&Row.
Mahy,M.(1989).Thegreatwhiteman-eatingshark(ill.J.
Allen).NewYork:Dial.
Marshall,E.(1982).Foxandhisfriends(ill.J.Marshall).
NewYork:Dial.
Marshall,E.(1983).Foxonwheels(LJ.Marshall).New
York:Dial.
Myers,W.D.(1988).Scorpions.NewYork:Harper&Row.
Noble,T.H.(1987).Meanwhilebackattheranch(ill.T.
Ross).NewYork:Dial.
(continued)
Reflectionsonteachingstrugglingmiddleschoolreaders §§ 377

Children'*book*(continued)
Noyes,A.(1981).Thehighwayman(ill.C.Keeping).
Oxford,England:OxfordUniversityPress.
Peterson,J.(1991).Mysteryinthenightwoods(ill.C.
Szekeres).NewYork:Scholastic.
Rathmann,P.(1995).OfficerBuckleandGloria.NewYork:
G.P.Putman'sSons.
Reeder,C.(1989).ShadesofgrayNewYork:Avon.
Rylant,C.(1987).HenryandMudgeinthegreentime
(ill.S.Stevenson).NewYork:Macmillan.
Schwartz,A.(1981).Scarystoriestotellinthedark(.S.
Gammell).NewYork:HarperCollins.
Scieszka,J.(1991).Knightsofthekitchentable(ill.L.
Smith).NewYork:Puffin.
Scieszka,J, &Smith,L.(1992).Thestinkycheeseman
andotherfairlystupidtales.NewYork:Viking.
Silverstein,S. (1994).Thegivingtree.NewYork:
HarperCollins.
Wood,A.(1988).Elbert'sbadword{.A.Wood&D.
Wood).NewYork:HarcourtBrace.
andfluentreaders'agendais to "getit done,"the
ultimatepurposeforthe reading,to activelycon-
structmeaning,mustbe lost to mostof the class.
Inmy experience,strugglingmiddleschool
readersenjoyoralreadingactivitiesthatculminate
with a performance.Forinstance,Allison,the
sixth-gradestudentmentionedpreviously,vehe-
mentlydislikedtraditionaloralreadingactivities
suchas round-robinreading.However,aftercol-
laboratingwith a classmateon an originalpoem
patternedafterselectionsfromJoyfulNoise:Poems
for TwoVoices(Fleischman,1988),she voluntarily
readit aloudto the class.Whatmadethe differ-
ence forAllisonin thissituationwas the factthat
she was ableto rehearsethe poem atleasta
dozen timesbeforeperformingit, or,as she putit,
"Igot to practice"(Ivey,in press).Moreover,shar-
ing somethingshe hadwrittengave heran au-
thenticpurposeforreading.ReadersTheatre
performancesof a wide rangeof texts,including
poetry(e.g., RevoltingRhymes,Dahl,1983),ex-
cerptsfromnovels (e.g., GoodbyeChickenLittle,
Byars,1979),andshortstories(e.g., Fables,Lobel,
1980),provideopportunitiesforstudentsto prac-
tice readingtowarda goal. Inthisactivitythe text
is readaloudas a script,witheach studentassum-
ing the role of a characteror some otherpart.
I havealso come to believethatstrugglingmid-
dle schoolreadersdo findtheirown purposesfor
reading,butnot necessarilyforin-school,teacher-
assignedreading.Forexample,Allison,who said
she "hatesto read,"readJetmagazineregularlyat
home andoftenreadaloudto heryoungerbrother.
Daisy,a sixth-gradestrugglingreader,checkedout
books on cookingfromthe schoollibraryandex-
perimentedwithbrowniebakingathome.Joey,a
sixth-gradesportsfanatic,countedon me to bring
the morningnewspaperto schooleachdayso that
he couldborrowthe sportssectionduringSSR.
RickyandTimreadbooks on how to drawand
makepaperairplanes.Giventhe importanceof
students'personalpreferences,out-of-schoolread-
ing interestsoughtto be welcomedintothe class-
roomandintegratedintothe readingcurriculum.
The stronginfluenceof self-selectionon moti-
vationto readmakesa good case forfree-choice
reading,especiallyforstrugglingmiddleschool
readers.Still,forease of dealingwithcomprehen-
sion instruction,promotingliterarydiscussions,
anddevelopingcontentknowledge,teacher-
selected,whole-class,commontextsaresome-
timesnecessaryin middleschool classrooms,so a
balancebetweenteacher-selectedandstudent-
selectedreadingmustbe maintained.However,
manystrugglingmiddleschool readersmaysuc-
ceed atreadingteacher-assignedtextsonlywhen
teachershelp themset purposesforreadingand
supporttheirreadingby showingthemwaysto
become active,strategicreaders.I havefoundthat
DirectedReading-ThinkingActivities(Stauffer,
1969)help less successfulreadersbecome en-
gagedin readingtextstheywould not necessarily
choose forthemselvesbecausepredicting,based
on clues fromthe book andtheirpriorknowl-
edge, alongwithmonitoringtheirhypotheses,
gives themthe purposetheyneed to keep read-
ing. Still,though,materialsforguidedreadingand
discussionmustbe on students'instructionalread-
ing levels.
Strugglingmiddleschoolreaderswanttobeandcan
becomegoodreaders.Ingeneral,students'attitudes
towardreadingmaydeclineduringthe middle
schoolyears,andtheymaychoose to readless
378 I JournalofAdolescent&AdultLiteracy 42:5 February1999

thanin previousyears(Ley,Schaer,&Dismukes,
1994).Forstrugglingmiddleschool readers,in-
creasinglynegativeattitudestowardreadingare
even morepronouncedthanforaverageand
above-averagereaders(McKenna,Kear,&
Ellsworth,1995).However,theirpessimismtoward
readingmaybe causedby feelingsof helplessness
andhopelessness(e.g.,Johnston&Winograd,
1985)ratherthanby a generaldislikeof reading
(Kos,1991).
Conversely,I havesome lastingrecollectionsof
sixth-,seventh-,andeighth-gradestudentswho,
despitesignificantodds andlow expectations,ac-
tuallybecamewilling,skilledreadersduringthe
middlegrades.Antoine,a frustrated,reluctant
seventh-gradereader,beganthe school yearread-
ingon the second-gradelevel, mainlydue to his
limitedwordknowledge.A spellinginventoryre-
vealedthatAntoinewas in thewithin-word-
patternstageof development(Bear,Invernizzi,
Templeton,&Johnston,1996).Hisinstructional
programwas multifaceted,butit includedtwo
mainfoci:wordstudyandindependentreading.
I taughtAntoinewithina smallpull-outgroup
forjust40 minuteseach day,so roughly30 min-
utesof thattimewas devotedto a combinationof
thosetwo activities.Antoine'swordstudygroup,
whichincludedthreeorfourotherstudents,be-
ganthe schoolyearby examininglong vowel pat-
terns,one vowel ata time(e.g., vase, train,way),
throughconceptualwordsortingactivitiesand
games(see Bear,Invernizzi,Templeton,&
Johnston,1996).ThebooksAntoinechose forin-
dependentreadingwere mainlyeasy-to-readpic-
turebooks,suchas HenryandMudgein the
GreenTime(Rylant,1987).AsAntoine'sword
knowledgedeveloped,he beganto readmore
challengingtitles,suchas the shortnovel Mystery
in theNightWoods(Peterson,1991).Themost
convincingevidenceof his growth,however,was
his mother'shappyandtearfulreportthatshe
camehome fromworkone dayto findAntoine
readingto his preschool-agedsister.
Therewere manystudentswho blossomedas
readerslikeAntoinedid,buttherewere alsothose
who didnot.Buteven myfailureto findwhat
workedforthesechildrendidnot destroytheirde-
sireto becomemoreliteratenordidit diminishthe
valuetheyplacedon whattheycoulddo as read-
ersandwriters.I remembervividlyDarryl,who
was in myTitleI classforsixthandseventh
grades,butwho was placedin a specialeducation
programforhis eighth-gradeyearandcouldnot
receivebothservices.Although,despiteourefforts,
he hadnot madetremendousprogressin reading
andwritingby eighthgrade,he stillhadthe desire
to improveandthe desireto readandwrite,which
he demonstratedoftenby skippinglunchto read
picturebooks andto writepoems on the computer
in myclassroom.I amconvincedthathelping
Darrylwithhis persistentreadingproblemwas my
responsibility,andthathe was fullycapableof be-
cominga skilledreaderif he hadbeen provided
withappropriateinstruction.I canonlyhope that
now, 7 yearslaterandmuchmoreknowledgeable
andexperiencedas a readingeducator,I would
know how to help Darrylmatchhis motivationto
readwithgood readingskills.
Perhapsthe mostcompellingstoryI have read
withrespectto strugglingmiddleschool readers
chronicledone sixth-gradeboy'sgrowthfroma
second-gradeinstructionallevel to a fourth-grade
instructionallevel during2 yearsof tutoring
(Morris,Ervin,&Conrad,1996).Instructionfor
thisstudentincludedcomprehensionpractice,
wordstudy,fluencypractice,andwriting,butall
were balancedwithinthe contextof interestinglit-
eraturehe couldreadandwantedto read.Morris
et al. (1996)attributedthissuccessstory,in large
part,to the factthatthe tutorwas well trainedand
knowledgeableaboutteachingreading.Ifwe
placedstrugglingmiddleschool readersin class-
roomswhere theycouldexperiencegood teach-
ing, I believe theirpotentialto improveandtheir
motivationto be literatewould become increas-
inglyapparent.
Inmy experiences,strugglingmiddleschool
studentsdo wantto become betteratreading,but
thishappensonlywhen theyexperienceinstruc-
tionalenvironmentsthatfosteroptimismforim-
provement.I believe the mostbeneficiallearning
contextsforstrugglingreaders,whethertheyare
regularclassrooms,pull-outprograms,or one-on-
one tutoringsessions,arethose thatpromoteboth
skillandwill (Paris,Lipson,&Wixson,1983)and
combineenablementandengagement(Roe, 1997)
forreadingandwriting.
One barrierto providingstrugglingmiddle
school readerswiththe instructiontheyneed is
the wide rangeof readingabilitiesin anyone
Reflectionsonteachingstrugglingmiddleschoolreaders jj 379

middleschool classroom.Inorderformiddle
schoolteachersto see the potentialof struggling
readersto improve,theymustreconceptualize
how the reading/languageartsclasslooks, both
physicallyandinstructionally.Roller(1996)de-
scribedhow a workshopconceptcanfacilitate
readingandwritinggrowthforallstudentswithin
the regularclassroom.The organizationof a work-
shop classroomis particularlyappropriatefor
strugglingreadersbecauseit is groundedin the
notionthatindividualchildrenwithinthe same
classroomcan do a varietyof literacyactivitiesat
once, thusaccommodatingvariabilitybetween stu-
dents.Readingandwritingskillscanbe taughtin-
dividually,in smallgroups,or in whole-class
minilessonswhile studentsarereadingandre-
spondingto self-selected,personallyinteresting
children'sliteratureon theirindependentor in-
structionalreadinglevels. Froma teachingper-
spective,I valuethe workshopdesignbecauseit
allowsme to workin close proximityto small
groupsof studentsand,mostimportantly,to indi-
vidualstudents.
A secondorganizationalplanthatallowsfor
strugglingreaders'needs to be metin the regular
classroomis the circle-seat-centerformat(Bearet
al., 1996),withstudentsplacedin one of threero-
tatinggroupsbasedon theirinstructionalneeds.
Duringcircletime,the teachermeetswitha small
groupof studentsforinstructional-level,guided
readingandwordstudyactivities.Atseattime,stu-
dentspracticewhatthe teachermodeledortaught
in a previouscircletime.Forinstance,students
mightworkindependentlyon wordstudyactivities
(e.g., wordsorts,wordhunts,writingsorts)dealing
withwhateverspellingpatternor concepttheyare
studying,ortheymightreadbooks on theirinde-
pendentreadinglevel. Centertimemightconsistof
writingprojectsstudentscanworkon individually
orwithpartners.Althoughdevelopmentalgroup-
ing shouldnot be the onlyway of groupingstu-
dentsduringthe school day,strugglingreadersin
particularbenefitfromdevelopmentallyappropri-
ateinstructionthatis difficultto accomplishin a
whole-class,heterogeneousformat.
finalthoughts
Myworkinggeneralizationson teachingstruggling
middleschool readersarenot intendedto over-
simplifythe veryseriousandcomplexproblemof
childrenreachingthe middlegradeslackingthe
basicskills,confidence,andmotivationtheyneed
to learnfromthe increasinglydifficultanddiverse
materialstheyareexpectedto read.Morriset al.
(1996)calledforimprovedandmoreintensive
trainingforreadingspecialistsandlearningdis-
abilitiesteacherswho workwithstrugglingread-
ers.I would extendthatrecommendationto
includeregularclassroomteachersin the middle
school. I believe middleschool languagearts
teachersoughtto be knowledgeableabouthow
literacydevelopsfromthe earlyyearson, and
only thenwill theyunderstandstrugglingreaders'
historiesandwhattheyneed to progresstoward
independencein reading.
Do currentteachereducationprogramsprepare
new middleschoolteachersto be good teachersof
strugglingreaders?Probablynot.Westillhavea
longway to go in offeringadequatereadingmeth-
ods courseworkin generalforpreservicemiddle
schoolteachers(Romine,McKenna,&Robinson,
1996).WhatI hope myworkinggeneralizationsof-
ferto new andexperiencedmiddleschoolteachers
is a placeto startwithstudentswhose situations
seem otherwisehopelessor,atbest,extremelydif-
ficult.ThemoreI learnaboutmiddleschoolread-
ersthe moreI amconvincedthatallof them,even
thosewho havestruggledwithreadingsince
kindergarten,canbecomesuccessful,engaged
readerswiththe rightkindof instructionandwith
teacherswho areattunedto whattheyneed.
teachesreadingeducationcoursesat
Ilvey
RutgersUniversity(GraduateSchoolof
Education,10SeminaryPlace,NewBrunswick,
NJ08901,USA).
REFERENCES
Allington, R.L.(1994). The schools we have. The schools we
need. TheReading Teacher,48, 14-29.
Bear,D.R.,Invernizzi,M.,Templeton, S., &Johnston, F.(1996).
Wordstheirway: Wordstudyfor phonics, vocabulary,and
spellinginstruction.Englewood Cliffs,NJ:Prentice-Hall.
Becker, HJ. (1990). Curriculumand instructionin middle-
grades schools. Phi Delta Kappan, 71, 450-457.
Betts, E.A.(1954). Foundations of reading instruction. New
York:American Books.
Bintz, W.P.(1993). Resistantreaders in secondary education:
Some insights and implications.Journal of Reading, 36,
604-615.
380 Ij JournalofAdolescent&AdultLiteracy 42:5 February1999

Deci, EX.,& Ryan,R.M.(1985). Intrinsicmotivationand self-de-
terminationin human behavior.New York:Plenum Press.
Fielding, L, & Roller,C. (1992). Makingdifficultbooks acces-
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678-685.
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Johnston, P.,& Allington, R. (1991). Remediation. In R. Barr,
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Romine, B.G.C., McKenna,M.C.,& Robinson, R.D. (1996).
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school content area teachers: A U.S. survey.Journal of
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Wasserstein,P. (1995). What middle schoolers say about their
schoolwork. Educational Leadership,53(1), 41-43.
Worthy,J. (1996). A matterof interest:Literaturethat hooks
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Worthy,J., Patterson,E., Turner,M., Prater,S., & Salas,R.
(1997, December). Comingto love books:Readingprefer-
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meeting of the NationalReadingConference, Scottsdale,AZ.
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