/ Effective Literacy Practices / Characteristics of Successful and Struggling Readers (Grades 6-12) (Vocabulary)
Characteristics of Successful and Struggling Readers
While seemingly effortless, good reading is made up of a set of complex skills and strategies. Successful readers actively and consciously coordinate these abilities before, during, and after reading a text.
Students in grades 4-12 begin to use reading as a tool for learning and may face growing challenges in tackling the complex informational text presented in content-area classrooms, which is very different from the texts students encountered in early elementary grades.
When older readers struggle with foundational reading skills, it is imperative teachers provide these struggling readers and at-risk students explicit and systematic instruction in phonics. See Interventions for effective strategies and practices to support struggling readers.
Successful Readers
- Are exposed to a breadth of vocabulary words in conversations and print at home and at school from a very early age.
- Have word consciousness.
- Understand most words when they are reading (at least 90%) and can make sense of unknown words to build their vocabulary knowledge.
- Learn words incrementally through multiple exposures to new words.
- Have content-specific prior knowledge that helps them understand how words are used in a particular context.
Struggling Readers
- Have limited exposures to new words.
- May not enjoy reading and therefore do not select reading as an independent activity.
- May lack word consciousness including an awareness of the complex and varied nature of words in written and oral language.
- Are unable to comprehend consistently what they read or to learn new words from reading.
- Lack the variety of experiences and exposures necessary to gain deep understanding of new words.
- Often have limited content-specific prior knowledge that is insufficient to support word learning.
Source: Bhattacharya & Ehri, 2004; Nagy, Berninger, & Abbott, 2006
Related
Find recommended instructional strategies and practices aligned with the science of reading by age/grade level and foundational literacy skill.
Evidence-based reading interventions support students who are identified as struggling with specific foundational literacy skills.
Evidence-based core curricula, interventions, and supplemental programs play a critical role in supporting students’ reading success.
Developmental benchmarks and literacy behaviors that most children display at a particular age/grade.