Remembering What's Important

I recently read a great article (you'll love the title), "I Know There Ain't No Pigs with Wigs: Challenges of Tier 2 Intervention." I began reading thinking that it would be about word study or comprehension strategies and how to teach them to our struggling readers. What I read was such a refreshing surprise that I was in tears by the end of it. (I do break into tears easily, but this is a pretty wonderful article.)

The article is about reading intervention model, but unlike ones I'd heard of before. This team of authors (1 university professor, 1 district administrator, and 10 teachers) began by naming their beliefs about reading. This turned into the "What Matters for Readers" list below.

1. Understand that reading is meaningful.
2. Believe in their ability to make sense of texts.
3. Consider reading a pleasurable event.
4. Self-monitor spontaneously and consistently.
5. Have the knowledge, skills, and strategies to problem-solve to ensure meaning.
6. Use this information flexibly.
7. Use this information independently.
8. Use this information with increasingly sophisticated texts.

They used this list to develop their study and to find ways to make these things happen for kids. They knew that most interventions begin with their #5, the skills and strategies. But they made a conscious decision to go through the list in order.

As we know, and as they studied quantitatively, was that the majority of their struggling readers did not have #1, 2, and/or 3 as part of the way they viewed themselves as readers. They came up with ways to help students to see that reading was meaningful, help students believe in their abilities, and make reading pleasurable. In most cases, some skills and strategies were also involved, but the concentration was on the first three points. Mostly, they concentrated on ways to build the student's confidence and love of reading. In the end, they found that the students made approximately two months of growth for every 1 month of service.

Here are a couple quotes from students who participated. 

"I am a stra-te-gic read-er now. I used to not be. But now I know it has to make sense. I used to read books that rhymed, but they didn't make no sense. I know there ain't no 'pigs with wigs.' That's what I used to read. I used to not like to read. Now I do because I am stra-te-gic."

When asked about how he felt about reading, another student said, "Different. . . . In a good way. . . . Like a family way. A really happy way. I like reading a lot! I like to read anything!

So next time you're looking for intervention strategies, think of the "What Matters" list. It helped me remember what really matters.