When you really break it down, what are the four needs of struggling learners? I’m about to tell you, so get ready!
I’ve been getting TONS of emails lately about teaching struggling learners. And when I begin to see a pattern in email questions, I know it’s time to write a post. So, here goes…
Psst! Scroll all the way down to find curriculum I HIGHLY recommend for struggling learners!
*This post contains affiliate links.
I’ve been a struggling learner as long as I can remember. My mom said she did everything she could think of to help me understand the number patterns on the hundreds boards. It just didn’t click. I can remember being in the lowest reading group at school. {They tried to use bird names for the group names, but all I had to do was look at my group and know we weren’t the best readers in the class.}
Even into high school, I struggled. Standardized tests only made me feel dumber. I mean, how was I to chose answer A, B, C, or D if my answer didn’t match any of the choices? The SAT was a complete bust. I scored lower than any of my friends or acquaintances.
Because learning was a struggle {and can still be at times}, it’s a passion of mine to help struggling learners in any way I can. If you’ve been a reader for very long, I hope you can see my passion shine through.
If you TEACH a struggling learner and you weren’t one, the problem can be further compounded.
You may find yourself asking questions like:
- How does this learner NOT get it?
- Isn’t it obvious?
- Am I wasting my time teaching this child?
- What am I doing wrong?
Today, let’s talk about the basic needs of learners that struggle and what we can do about it in our teaching.
More Posts for Struggling Learners:
The Four Basic Needs of Struggling Learners
One quick disclaimer: This post is all about struggling learners, but these four needs are also fitting for our “normal learners” as well.
1. Struggling Learners Need Teaching that is EXPLICIT.
Explicit means it’s all spelled out.
Learners who struggle don’t usually “crack the code” or figure it out on their own. They have to be explicitly shown and taught how it works, why it works, when it works or when it doesn’t work.
Teaching fun rhymes like, “When two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking,” is honestly too broad and not very explicit when teaching learner about vowel teams. {Plus this rhyme is broken almost as much as it’s followed.} It’s simply not enough.
Instead, we must explicitly teach “ai makes the long a sound.” Then read words that have ai, read texts with ai words, spell words with ai, and point out words that have ai but don’t make the long a sound {like the word plaid or said.}
It’s the same with math concepts. I can vividly remember asking, “But why do you use this math formula here?” The reply from my teachers was often, “Because you just do.”
Um. Not very helpful.
I needed to understand why I was using this formula and not that one. I was always TERRIBLE at word problems for this very reason. I didn’t understand when to apply which operation or formula because I wasn’t explicitly taught how or why it worked.
Our Decoding Strategies for Beginning Readers visuals is a good example of explicit teaching. Instead of just saying something like, “Just sound out the word,” learners are told how to decode words in a step-by-step fashion.
It may feel like you’re over-explaining at times. That’s because a concept or skill might seem obvious to you. But to a struggling learner, it isn’t. Be explicit.
2. Struggling Learners Need Teaching that is SYSTEMATIC.
Systematic means it’s taught in incremental baby steps, with each step building off the last one.
Learners who struggle need teaching that starts with the easiest, most commonly used concepts. Each of the following lessons or skills should build on the previous lessons or skills.
In other words, you don’t jump from step one to step three without first going through step two.
Our Teaching the Six Syllable Types printables and videos are an example of systematic teaching. Lessons and concepts build off of what they know, starting with the simplest and most common syllable type and moving to the harder ones.
3. Struggling Learners Need Teaching that is MULTI-SENSORY.
Multi-sensory means the learner is involved by hearing the information, seeing the information, and physically interacting with what they’re learning.
When learners struggle, multi-sensory teaching gives them different ways to interact with and process the information they’re learning.
The more of the senses can you all at one time, the better for struggling learners.
Multi-sensory may seem overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be complicated.
You can make spelling multi-sensory just by asking learners to see the word, read the word aloud, and then use letter tiles to spell the word. If you don’t have letter tiles, simply asking learners to write the word is another way to allow learners to physically interact with it.
Our Color the Chunk Phonics Pages are another way to make learning multi-sensory. As learners see the phonics pattern, they color (or highlight) the pattern, and then read the word with the pattern aloud.
Years ago, I wrote a 5-day series on Multi-Sensory Activities for Teaching Reading. Feel free to look over all the examples for each day.
4. Struggling Learners Need Teaching that is CONSISTENT.
Consistent means it happens each and every day you can possibly work with them.
With learners who struggle, it can feel like one step forward and five steps back, even when you’re consistent! Inconsistency only compounds the struggle.
Although this one might seem to be the simplest one, it’s often times the hardest to accomplish. Teaching struggling learners can be very rewarding, but it can also the hardest work you’ll ever do.
Often times, when learners don’t “get it,” we feel like giving up. But we should be doing the opposite. Consistent teaching that is explicit, systematic, and multi-sensory is vital for our struggling learners.
So, there you have it: 4 things your struggling learners need from you. Got any more? I’d love to hear them in the comments!
Reading & Spelling Curriculum Designed Specifically for Struggling Learners:
Times Tales: Multi-Sensory Math Help
{This is how ALL my kids learned their multiplication facts!}
Enjoy teaching!
~Becky
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