Kelly Schachner: Blog #1 : Miller Chapter 1

"Children need to know that all readers struggle if they are growing in their reading." This is a make or break point for some children. They don't like to struggle and think that they think that they are weak readers when they do struggle. As teachers, we must find the right instructional focus in order to help our readers become successful. We need to find the right questions to ask as they are reading to help them grow. They need to be taught "behaviors to practice" and how to talk about what they are already doing as readers. If they are not struggling, they are not learning. If  they are not learning we are not helping them to understand that struggle leads to success. Some students tend to just want to skip over words or guess instead of trying to figure out the word or the meaning and how it pertains to the story. They move right along and never stop to question. This is where comprehension takes the biggest hit. Knowing what you DON'T know is important to know, but some of our lowest kids don't know what they don't know. This is something that we must be able to change. So, reading just to read isn't going to make a difference. We must be providing instructional practices to go along with the reading that they are attempting.