Listen below:
Supporting struggling readers can feel especially challenging when you have a classroom full of students with completely different needs. You might have a handful of students who need intensive phonics intervention, a few students reading well above grade level, and everyone else somewhere in the middle.
So how are you supposed to meet all of those needs without spending your entire literacy block running from one small group to the next?
The good news is that meeting every student’s needs doesn’t mean giving every student the exact same support.
In this episode of The Stellar Teacher Podcast, Sara is breaking down what supporting struggling readers can actually look like within a busy upper elementary classroom. You’ll learn how to provide targeted intervention to the students who need it while still making sure the rest of your class is engaged in meaningful, appropriately challenging literacy instruction.
Fair Doesn’t Always Mean Equal
One of the biggest mindset shifts Sara shares in this episode is that different students need different types of support.
Think about going to the doctor. Every patient doesn’t walk into the office and receive the exact same treatment. The doctor considers each person’s symptoms and needs before determining the appropriate treatment.
Our classrooms aren’t that different.
One student may need explicit phonics intervention. Another might need additional fluency practice. A student who is already reading above grade level may need opportunities to think more deeply about complex texts. Giving students different support isn’t unfair. It’s responsive teaching.
Strengthen Tier 1 Before Adding More Intervention
When we think about supporting struggling readers, it’s easy to immediately think about pulling more small groups. But before adding another intervention group to your schedule, take a look at your Tier 1 literacy instruction.
Explicit, high quality whole group instruction can provide struggling readers with valuable support before intervention even begins.
Sara shares ways teachers can strengthen Tier 1 instruction so students receive clear modeling, guided practice, and opportunities to apply important literacy skills. She also explains how structured partner routines, including RallyCoach, can give struggling readers additional support while providing stronger readers with opportunities to explain their thinking and deepen their understanding.
What Does Everyone Else Do?
Of course, there’s another challenge: What is the rest of the class doing while I’m teaching intervention?
The goal isn’t to keep everyone busy. It’s to give students meaningful literacy work they can complete successfully and independently.
And it’s okay if your intervention students and the rest of your class are working on completely different assignments.
Your struggling readers don’t need extra work piled on top of intervention, and your stronger readers don’t need unnecessary practice simply because everyone else is doing it.
In This Episode, You’ll Learn:
- Why meeting every student’s needs doesn’t mean giving everyone identical support
- Why not every student needs to meet with you in a small group
- How strong Tier 1 instruction supports struggling readers
- How partner routines can support a wide range of learners
- A simple five-day framework for reading intervention
Ultimately, supporting struggling readers isn’t about doing more or trying to create the perfect small group schedule. It’s about identifying what students actually need and using your instructional time intentionally.
Resources for Supporting Struggling Readers in Upper Elementary:
- Join The Stellar Literacy Collective – If supporting struggling readers while meeting the needs of your entire class feels overwhelming, the Stellar Literacy Collective can help. Get access to ready to use, research based literacy resources that strengthen Tier 1 instruction, make differentiation easier, and help you provide meaningful literacy practice for every reader—without feeling like every student needs to be in a small group.
- Have students who need more targeted support? The Stellar Reading Intervention Toolkit makes supporting struggling readers more manageable with assessments, targeted lessons, and repeatable 15-minute routines. Instead of piecing together intervention activities or wondering what to teach next, you’ll have a clear, systematic path for identifying skill gaps and providing the focused instruction your students need to grow.
Connect with me:
- Join my newsletter
- Shop my TPT store here
- Instagram: @thestellarteachercompany
- Facebook: The Stellar Teacher Company
The Stellar Literacy Collective (SLC) is a membership designed for upper elementary teachers who want strong, effective literacy instruction… without spending hours planning every week.
Inside SLC, you’ll find ready-to-use, research-aligned lessons for reading, writing, and word study that work together to create a research-backed framework. From whole group comprehension lessons and vocabulary routines to small group supports and writing instruction, everything is built around consistent systems that support real classroom implementation.
Click HERE to learn more!
The Stellar Teacher Podcast is here to help you feel more confident supporting struggling readers in upper elementary and supporting students who still need foundational reading instruction. Each episode is filled with actionable strategies for upper elementary teachers, from phonemic awareness and decoding to fluency, comprehension, and targeted reading intervention. When you better understand phonics in upper elementary, you can identify skill gaps and provide the explicit support struggling readers need to make progress. Be sure to subscribe so you never miss an episode filled with practical strategies that make phonics in upper elementary feel more manageable and effective.
Leave a Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.