Reading Success in the Secondary Classroom

Abstract

Serious reading problems exist among adolescent learners, as evidenced by declining national reading scores and increased dropout rates. Teachers can reverse this downward spiral by using the scaffolded reading experience (SRE) in their instruction. SRE is an organizational framework that secondary teachers may use to integrate the reading process into their content. SRE targets 2 instructional elements: techniques and strategies. Techniques are actions the teacher takes to ensure appropriate prereading, reading, and postreading instruction. Strategies, such as list-group-label (H. Taba, 1967), story pyramid, and summarizing, are tools that students use to comprehend information. In this article, the authors describe pedagogical techniques and instructional strategies used in SRE and give practical suggestions for achieving reading success in the secondary classroom.

Keywords:

• adolescent
• reading instruction
• scaffolded reading experience