How Do You Help Students Read Difficult Texts?

Dec 24, 2021 12:57:00 PM
How Do You Help Students Read Difficult Texts?

Hi Literacy Lovers,

Happy Holidays! This week we bring you an answer to a listener’s question, along with a rerelease of an episode that touched on the same topic. That topic is: complex texts! Complex texts can be… well, complex. High quality materials provide complex texts, but it can often feel tricky for students to engage in productive struggle and text-related tasks. We’re so glad you’re here to learn with us! 


Listen to This

In Episode 88: Complex Texts in the Classroom, we discuss an inquiry from a listener: What are ways students can access complex texts? What does the research say? What are practical ways to apply it? How could this look in the classroom? The first part of the episode is a discussion between about our listener’s question.The second part is a rerelease of David Liben’s episode, where he discusses why old habits die hard, the impact of knowledge and vocabulary on comprehension, and why we’ve shifted away from leveled text for core instruction. We hope this provides practical application alongside expert input. 

Print This

We’ve previously shared this super easy to use Scaffolding Text Complexity resource from our friends at UnboundED. It’s also linked on our website under We Recommend. Try using it to support students’ access to complex texts before, during, and after reading. Let us know how it goes!  

Read This

Who's Right about Text Complexity, You or the Institute of Education Sciences? Tim Shanahan’s thoughtful response to this question is thought-provoking. It illuminates the nuances around text complexity.

 

Over 100 Episodes

Melissa & Lori have over 100 podcast episodes available now on your favorite streaming service. Listen now as they discuss new ways to think about teaching reading and writing with educators and experts in the field.