When Kids Can’t Read – What Teachers Can Do

Kylene Beers

Professional Development Outline

Overview:

“My students can’t read, what can I do?” is a question many teachers ask.

Kylene Beers, in When Kids Can’t Read – What Teachers Can Do, provides tools teachers can use to help answer this troubling question.

There are many reasons kids may struggle with reading. Beers provides the following categories to begin understanding why students may struggle with reading:

Comprehension

Vocabulary

Word recognition, fluency, and automaticity

Spelling

Responding to literature and finding books that interest them

Beers addresses each of these categories using her personal experiences as a teacher, relevant proven research, along with research and evidence-proven techniques.

Materials: (to be provided by the school)

Beers book

Journal/Daybook/Digital journal

Chart paper (will be used throughout the study)

Process:

Chapter 1: A Defining Moment

  • Beers dedicates this book to a former student named George
  • After reading this chapter:
  • Summarize her “defining moment” and the impact of the realization on her teaching.
  • Think of a “George” in your teaching (past or current), what defining moment did you or are you experiencing?
  • What are your expectations for engaging in this study?
  • Record ideas in your note-taking tool

Chapter 2:Creating Independent Readers

  • Beers writes a short note to George explaining what she “now gets” about his inability to read.
  • Choose a student from your past or present:
  • Use the information in this chapter to begin gaining an understanding of the child’s struggle with reading.
  • Write an analysis of the child’s struggle and how you could move them from dependent to independent.
  • Write a letter to your chosen student, using Beers’ letter as a mentor text.
  • Share your letters with your study group members.

Chapter 3: Assessing Dependent Readers’ Needs

  • The phrase, “This Kid Can’t Read” resonates in many classrooms; however, defining what this phrase actually means can be elusive.
  • Beers provides a chart for matching student “can’t reads” with effective strategies. She also provides chapters in which the strategies will be discussed in detail.
  • Think about a student in one of your classes whom you believe may be struggling with reading:
  • Use the Depending Reading Behaviors (page 24-25).
  • Complete the organizer to help you identify and name the possible struggles with the corresponding behaviors that helped you begin to identify the struggles. (organizer included)
  • Read the Underlying Beliefs (page 36-38).
  • Choose 4 of the 7 that resonate most with your beliefs.
  • Write a journal entry in which you explain why the beliefs you chose resonate.
  • Be prepared to share your entry with your study group members.

Chapters 4-14:

  • Have group members form smaller study groups
  • Use the Chapter Sign-Up Form to allow the small groups to choose a chapter to present to the group.
  • Each group will read their chosen chapter and present the information to the group.
  • Each group’s presentation should include ways for study group members to practice strategies with accountability measures to assess teacher adjustments to student reading behavior.
  • You will need to determine a protocol for how these chapters will be shared as well as how the accountability measures will be met.

Chapter 15: A Final Letter to George

  • Go back to the student you chose in Chapters 1 and 2.
  • Write this student a final letter incorporating what you learned about their reading struggles, your personal journey in this study to uncover the ways to help build their ability to read independently, and your hopes for meeting every future student at the point of struggle or independence with the hopes of moving all of them forward in their practice.

Identifying & Naming Student Reading Behaviors

Student Name / Dependent Reading Behaviors / Possible Reading Struggle / My Teaching Adjustments

When Kids Can’t Read

Small Group Chapter Sign-Up Form

Group Member Names:

______

______

______

Chapter/s: ______