How to Teach a Struggling Reader
This page is designed for parents, caregivers, and educators seeking evidence-based guidance on how to support a child who is struggling to read. The information below aligns with the science of reading and reflects practices used in effective classroom and intervention settings. Teachers, please do not have your struggling readers, or any readers, round robin or popcorn read. Try Different Ways to Read instead!Table of Contents
Identifying the Source of Reading Difficulty
A child’s reading difficulty may involve one or more of the following areas: Each area is explained below, along with suggested supports. Consider informally assessing your child using these free literacy assessments.Phonological and Phonemic Awareness
Phonological awareness is the foundation of phonics. Phonics is the understanding that letters represent sounds in spoken language. Phonemic awareness is the ability to hear, identify, and manipulate individual sounds (phonemes) in words. There are approximately 44 phonemes in English. Phonemic awareness is one of the strongest predictors of reading success.A child with strong phonological/phonemic awareness can:
- Blend and segment sounds
- Substitute phonemes
- Count syllables
- Rhyme
- Spell by sound
- Represent sounds using blocks or counters
- Play sound and word games
If these skills are weak:
- Teach explicit phonemic awareness skills (rhyming, isolating sounds, blending, segmenting, and manipulating sounds). Blending and segmenting are the most important, as they directly correlate to reading and spelling.
- Keep activities fun and engaging.
Word Decoding and Phonics
Decoding is the ability to apply letter–sound relationships to read words accurately. Phonics instruction teaches these relationships explicitly.Strong decoding skills include the ability to:
- Match letters and sounds
- Read unfamiliar words
- Spell phonetically
- Recognize common phonics patterns
- Attend to all letters in a word
- Apply vowel patterns correctly
- Write words phonetically
If decoding is weak:
- Teach letters and sounds explicitly.
- Connect school learning to real-world print.
- Sort objects or pictures by sound.
- Apply phonics instruction to writing.
- Use manipulatives such as magnetic letters.
- Teach irregular and sight words.
- Use structured computer programs to reinforce skills.
- Noah Text (free decoding app)
- Free decodable passages—you must teach reading using decodable passages. The passages should correlate with the phonics concept the child is learning.
Practical Decoding Support Strategies
Before reading:- If there are pictures, do a picture walk to activate background knowledge and set a purpose for reading.
- Discuss what the story might be about and make predictions.
- Echo reading: The adult reads first, usually sentence by sentence, and the child reads it back.
- Choral reading: Read together at the same time.
- Partner reading: Take turns reading pages or paragraphs.
A Critical Note for Parents
If your child is a struggling reader—or is just learning to read—it is essential to teach them to sound out words using decodable texts. Please do not rely on predictable or leveled books as a primary method of instruction. These texts follow repetitive sentence patterns such as“I like to dance. I like to climb. I like to hike.”In these books, children are often guessing from pictures, not reading the words. Words such as dance, climb, and hike contain advanced spelling patterns that beginning readers have not yet been taught. Decoding the letters means reading. Systematic phonics instruction using decodable texts allows children to sound out words accurately and build true reading skills.
About Guided Reading
One commonly used approach to teaching reading is guided reading; however, research indicates it may be less effective when decoding skills are not yet secure. Guided reading encourages children to rely on pictures and context clues. Current reading research indicates that children must first learn phonics so they can break words into sounds and blend them together. When a child is stuck on a word, the most effective strategy is to sound it out.Vocabulary Development
Vocabulary knowledge includes listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Vocabulary knowledge strongly supports reading comprehension, and most vocabulary is learned indirectly.Strong vocabulary skills include the ability to:
- Understand grade-level word meanings. See expected vocabulary knowledge in grades K and 1, 2 and 3, and 4 and 5.
- Use precise language
- Make connections among words—antonyms, synonyms, homonyms, and homophones.
- Select appropriate books
- Retell stories using sequence words
- Use nonfiction text features
If vocabulary is weak:
- Teach vocabulary explicitly before reading.
- Revisit words in multiple contexts.
- Teach context clues.
Fluency
Fluency is reading with accuracy, speed, and expression. As reading demands increase, fluency becomes critical for academic success.A fluent reader can:
- Read at benchmark rates
- Read aloud smoothly
- Use expression and phrasing
- Chunk text meaningfully
- Track print
If fluency is weak:
- Confirm decoding is secure.
- Practice repeated readings with an independent-level text.
- Track words read correctly per minute (WCPM).
- Read along with recorded models.
- Practice expressive reading.
Words Correct Per Minute (WCPM)
To calculate: (Total words read correctly ÷ total seconds) × 60 = WCPM Example:-
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- 207 words read correctly in 205 seconds
- 207 ÷ 205 = 1.0 × 60 = 60 WCPM
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Accuracy Levels
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- 95–100%: Independent level
- 90–94%: Instructional level
- Below 90%: Frustration level
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Reading Comprehension
Comprehension involves understanding, interpreting, and thinking deeply about text. It depends on decoding, fluency, vocabulary, and reasoning skills.A child with strong comprehension can:
- Identify main ideas
- Explain outcomes and causes
- Infer character motivation
- Sequence events logically
- Extract key facts
- Visualize text
- Use notes and organizers
If comprehension is weak:
- Teach visualization. I use a modified version of Nancibell’s Visualizing/Verbalizing approach by teaching the student to form mental pictures as they read, starting with word-by-word, then whole sentences, then whole paragraphs, and finally whole pages. Start with the noun in the first sentence—for example, dog. The dog ran. Have the student thoroughly describe what they visualize for the dog. Ask the student questions about the dog’s size, color, shape, mood, background, time of day, and sound. Tell the student, “Your words help me visualize… Please describe what the running looks like.” When the student becomes proficient in word-by-word visualization, progress to larger chunks, such as sentence visualization, paragraph visualization, and page visualization. The student must be very descriptive. Ask about what they visualize: size, color, shape, mood, number, background, time of day, sound, and perception.
- Teach narrative and informational text structures.
- Ask open-ended questions.
- Teach summarizing and note-taking. A useful summarizing strategy is SWBST. The child states the “somebody,” what they “wanted,” “but” what happened, “so,” “then.”
- Use graphic organizers.
- Encourage rereading when meaning breaks down. The child should state who/what each paragraph or page was about.
- Picture walks and previewing
- Activating prior knowledge
- Visit Reading Comprehension Strategies and Reading Strategy Prompts.
Did You Know?
- Struggling readers often read less than their grade-level peers because they are frequently asked to read aloud one at a time.
- Daily reading practice contributes directly to the development of accuracy, fluency, and comprehension.
- The goal is reading proficiency. Students must learn to recognize when comprehension breaks down and apply appropriate strategies.
- Good readers are good thinkers. They actively decode, monitor meaning, and adjust strategies when text becomes challenging.
This page was last updated on December 29, 2025.
