STRUGGLING READERS ARE NOT ALL THE SAME

     The longer students are in school, the wider the range of reading levels. With that in mind, we have to provide these students with appropriate materials. For example, seventh grade struggling readers may be reading at second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth grade levels. To help these students, we need the necessary range of materials.

      At the beginning of the school year, students may come to reading classes from different elementary schools within or outside the school district.  There are reading tests available that teachers can administer that yield immediate and helpful results for quick placement of students in the appropriate level of reading materials.

      Fortunately, there are many materials available for middle grades teachers to use with their struggling readers.  School offices usually have a variety of publishers’ catalogs that provide information about programs.  These include the following:  AGS Publishing,  Charlesbridge Publishing, Continental Press,  Curriculum Associates, Educators Publishing Service, Globe Fearon, Jamestown Education,  Modern Curriculum Press, Newbridge, New Readers Press, Options Publishing, Phoenix Learning, Scholastic, Sopris West, SRA/McGraw-Hill, Steck-Vaughn, Sundance,  Teachers College Press, J. Weston Walch, and Zaner Bloser. 

      The companies all have Web sites and feature displays at the annual International Reading Association Convention. Most of these companies have provided materials available for teachers to examine their middle grades reading collections at Ball State University, Indiana State University, Indiana Purdue Fort Wayne, Indiana University Southeast, Purdue University North Central, University of Evansville, and University of Indianapolis. 

For details about locations and availability of the collections, see

<http://mgrn .evansville.edunetwdwW2001.htm#nine>. 

            Middle grades school libraries can also provide high interest/low vocabulary books written at third, fourth, or fifth grade levels to support the work of reading teachers.  For a list of books recommended by Indiana middle grades reading teachers and school librarians, go to:   <http://mgrn.evansville.edu/5fall2005.htm>.