![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
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All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/reflectionsonteachingstrugglingmiddleschoolreaders-ivey-130618114317-phpapp01/85/Reflections-on-teaching-struggling-middle-school-readers-ivey-2-320.jpg)
![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)
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- 1. 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 Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40017023 . Accessed: 18/06/2013 12:42 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org. . International Reading Association is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Journal of Adolescent &Adult Literacy. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 134.84.217.38 on Tue, 18 Jun 2013 12:42:13 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
- 2. 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 This content downloaded from 134.84.217.38 on Tue, 18 Jun 2013 12:42:13 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
- 3. 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 This content downloaded from 134.84.217.38 on Tue, 18 Jun 2013 12:42:13 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
- 4. "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 This content downloaded from 134.84.217.38 on Tue, 18 Jun 2013 12:42:13 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
- 5. 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 This content downloaded from 134.84.217.38 on Tue, 18 Jun 2013 12:42:13 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
- 6. 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 This content downloaded from 134.84.217.38 on Tue, 18 Jun 2013 12:42:13 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
- 7. 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 This content downloaded from 134.84.217.38 on Tue, 18 Jun 2013 12:42:13 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
- 8. 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 This content downloaded from 134.84.217.38 on Tue, 18 Jun 2013 12:42:13 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
- 9. 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 This content downloaded from 134.84.217.38 on Tue, 18 Jun 2013 12:42:13 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
- 10. 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 This content downloaded from 134.84.217.38 on Tue, 18 Jun 2013 12:42:13 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
- 11. Deci, EX.,& Ryan,R.M.(1985). Intrinsicmotivationand self-de- terminationin human behavior.New York:Plenum Press. Fielding, L, & Roller,C. (1992). Makingdifficultbooks acces- sible and easy books acceptable. TheReading Teacher,46, 678-685. Hoffman,J.V.,& Segel, K.W.(1982). Oral reading instruction: A century of controversy.(ERICDocument Reproduction Service No. ED 239 277) Hunt, L.C.(1971). The effect of self-selection, interest, and motivation upon independent, instructional,and frustra- tion levels. TheReading Teacher,24, 146-151. Ivey, G. (in press). A multicase study of middle school read- ers. Reading ResearchQuarterly. Johnston, P.,& Allington, R. (1991). Remediation. In R. Barr, MX. Kamil,P.Mosenthal, & P.D. Pearson (Eds.), Handbook of reading research, Vol.2 (pp. 984-1012). New York: Longman. Johnston, P.H.,& Winograd,P.N.(1985). Passive failure in reading.Journal of Reading Behavior, 17, 279-299. Kos, R. (1991). Persistence of reading disabilities:The voices of four middle school students. American Educational ResearchJournal, 28, 875-895. Ley,T.C.,Schaer,B.B., & Dismukes, B.W. (1994). Longitudinal study of the reading attitudesand behaviors of middle school students. Reading Psychology, 15, 11-38. McGill-Franzen,A., & Allington, RX. (1990). Comprehension and coherence: Neglected elements of literacy instruction in remedial and resource room services. Journal of Reading, Writing,and Learning Disabilities, 6, 149-180. McKenna,M.C.,Kear,D.J., & Ellsworth,R.A.(1995). Children'sattitudes toward reading:A national survey. Reading Research Quarterly,30, 934-955. Morris,D., Ervin,C, & Conrad,K. (1996). A case study of middle school reading disability. TheReading Teacher,49, Paris,S.G., Lipson, M.Y.,& Wixson, K.K.(1983). Becoming a strategicreader. ContemporaryEducational Psychology, 8, 296-316. Roe, M.F.(1997). Combining enablement and engagement to assist students who do not read and write well. Middle SchoolJournal, 28(3), 35-41. Roller,CM. (1996). Variabilitynot disability: Strugglingread- ers in a workshopclassroom. Newark, DE:International Reading Association. Romine, B.G.C., McKenna,M.C.,& Robinson, R.D. (1996). Reading coursework requirements for middle and high school content area teachers: A U.S. survey.Journal of Adolescent &Adult Literacy,40, 194-198. Stauffer,R.G.(1969). Directing the reading-thinking process. New York:Harper& Row. Wasserstein,P. (1995). What middle schoolers say about their schoolwork. Educational Leadership,53(1), 41-43. Worthy,J. (1996). A matterof interest:Literaturethat hooks reluctantreaders and keeps them reading. TheReading Teacher,50, 204-212. Worthy,J., Patterson,E., Turner,M., Prater,S., & Salas,R. (1997, December). Comingto love books:Readingprefer- ences of strugglingreaders.Paper presented at the annual meeting of the NationalReadingConference, Scottsdale,AZ. Advertising in THE READING TEACHER and/or JOURNAL OF ADOLESCENT & ADULT LITERACY (formerlyJOURNALOFREADHG) A very cost-effective way to reach top reading educators with news about products and services. Forfurtherinformation, contact LindaHunter,AdvertisingManager, 302-731-1600, ext. 261 302-369-8476, FAX. 98-27 A&M8/98 44th Annual _ WritethePast C f&^^p^p^n^Hh^RJHh^Hh^HHft^**j^>^*®:™ cv^flr ^4fllH^HHH^H^HH^--^~~^~~~~~^-w^* ReadtheFuture I May 2-7 WW •; InternationalReadingAssociation ^ Reflectionsonteachingstrugglingmiddleschoolreaders m 381 This content downloaded from 134.84.217.38 on Tue, 18 Jun 2013 12:42:13 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions