Instructify

One chill Novembor afternoon, a fourth grader (let’s call him Jasper) and I stood bundled up in hats and coats on the basketball court behind the school. I threw the ball towards the basket shouting out the letter “G” for gigantic, the next word on Jasper’s spelling list for the week. Rebounding the ball in-stride, Jasper dribbled while he floundered to stretch the letter sounds in the word and figure out what came next. It was our third game of H-O-R-S-E and we had only managed to get through three words for his spelling test the next day, but slowly and surely, my jumpshot became on par with NBA greats and Jasper strengthened his reading skills.

For generations, teachers have tackled the problem of getting children to not only learn to read but to love to read. In his Minneapolis St. Paul Magazine article, The Mystery of the Struggling Reader, Mike Knight cites studies that suggest that the kids who are going to be strong readers will learn to read whether they are left to their own devices or diligently nurtured in the language arts from a very young age. This theory (though thoroughly contested by teachers unions everywhere) is quite probably accurate. Although reading should be encouraged for the big and small, and a little helpful literacy boost never hurt anyone, it is the struggling readers who may benefit most from the perseverant minstrations of the dedicated teacher, who is bound and determined to get their pupil to make reading a priority in their lives (often by whatever means necessary, including team sports).

Knight’s article serves as a fantastic resource which teachers can send to parents to clue them in to the plight of their struggling readers. It highlights the five key skills good readers need to master, suggests ways to diagnose and solve reading problems specific to each individual child, and offers a good list of literature and other resources that might motivate children to pick up a book rather than a Wii controller. Some children might be born good readers, but Knight’s accessible and informative article gives a basic introduction to any parent looking to help their the child who struggled his way through “gigantic” to come home gleeful at being able to finally read any word in the book. -TUA CHAUDHURI

The Mystery of the Struggling Reader

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