Published in winter 2024 edition of the Chalkboard Newsletter for the Oregon Council of Teachers of English.

Kirsten briefly struggled with the word “companies,” so I told her to “read through it.” When faced with the word a second time in the passage, she read it perfectly. Without any reference to that particular word, I asked her how she felt about her reading. Her response, with a big smile of accomplishment, “I got that word, didn’t I?” She successfully figured out the word without having to sound it out.

Kathryn struggled with several words throughout the passage she was reading. Because she was well practiced in the Read Through It Strategy, she spent little effort sounding out the troublesome words. When she completed the passage, I asked her how she felt about her reading. She replied, “I messed up, but I got it,” and she confidently and successfully completed the comprehension questions.

Confidence First

By focusing on the correctness of reading words, we risk interrupting the process of comprehending ideas. More importantly, however, we also risk discouraging them from further engagement with the text and in other classroom activities associated with the text.

By the time students who have struggled with reading reach middle school, they have already experienced years of evidence that they are “poor readers.” They do not need additional reminders. An alternative to “sound it out” is to find ways to get past the struggles that they have and focus on the successes that they are having. Build their confidence.

For secondary students, the ideas in the text are far more interesting than the individual words, and struggling students are often capable of participating in discussion and other activities about those ideas when given the opportunity. The Read Through It Strategy provides a systematic process for providing access to those ideas for the students who struggle with reading. They are thus more willing to participate in classroom activities that will further enhance their comprehension of the concepts.

When we ask students to focus on individual words with strategies like “sound it out”, we disrupt the influence of context on their process of comprehending ideas. The Sound It Out strategy is still available when necessary, but for secondary students the first priority should be to bring them into the discussion about ideas in the text. Demonstrate confidence in them with belief that they can understand ideas in the text. Sound It Out reminds them of their struggles rather than their strengths.

Mindful Reading

Encouraging students to be mindful of the ideas presented in a text requires explicit intentional effort. We must ask students to practice skills that focus on their interaction with the ideas in the text. Make no mistake, this is a skill and thus it requires repetition and practice.

In this article, I will introduce two of the four components of the Read Through It Strategy and its focus on building confidence and encouraging engagement.

Positive Errors

The first skill to develop is one of learning to ignore errors that do not significantly influence meaning. I call these Positive Errors. Karen read the word “little” as “small.” Clearly, she understood the concept of smallness even though she misread the word. Karen’s mind created the necessary understanding. The mind is powerful and can compensate for most errors if we allow it to work as it can.

Hunter faced this phrase in a passage about Ben Franklin, “he attached a wire to act as a lightning catcher.” Hunter read aloud, “he attached a wire to catch the …..”, and then he stopped. He had been taught to correct the mistakes he made. Instead, I asked him what he was going to say. He said he was going to say, “he attached a wire to catch the lightening.” Clearly, he understood the author’s intended message. Unfortunately, Hunter’s habit interrupted his forward progress. His habit eventually changed as his confidence and reading skills grew.

We all make mistakes as we read, but most mistakes do not need correction. We can teach students to bypass troublesome words and phrases. Sometimes the meaning of the words become clear and sometimes a particular word is not needed for comprehension. If they have confidence, they will go back when needed; without confidence, they give up. Incomplete comprehension with encouragement and empowerment to continue is always better than giving up from frustration.

Idea Units

Comprehension exercises typically ask the student to focus on either words individually with vocabulary activities or on entire paragraphs. These units of comprehension are too small and too large.

Focusing on individual words disregards context, when context allows the students to discern enough meaning to carry on with the activity. When instructed to “Read Through It,” Savannah replied, “You mean I don’t have to correct my mistakes?” I gently shook my head. She went on to read much more proficiently with much better comprehension.

Focusing on entire paragraphs, can be overwhelming and discouraging. Students who struggle with reading will face too many unknown words or too many challenges within a full paragraph to absorb the richness of the ideas.

The English language has natural pauses within a sentence that allow the brain to absorb meaning within a context. Read that sentence again noticing the pauses. The English language has natural pauses [pause] within a sentence [pause] that allow the brain to absorb meaning [pause] within a context [pause].

By teaching Miguel to exaggerate these natural pauses he went from reading 90wpm (which he knew was slow) with 70% comprehension to 160wpm with 75% comprehension. More importantly, he came to believe that college was a legitimate option for him. He learned to trust his mind and became a successful rather than a discouraged student.

The Read Through It Strategy

The Read Through It Strategy is more than these two components, Positive Errors and Idea Units, but they provide groundwork for teaching reading skills to struggling readers that empowers them to engage with the text.

By changing the habit of “sound it out” to “read through it” we are more likely to communicate a message of confidence to our students. Students will still make mistakes and need assistance. With confidence, however, students will engage in the other classroom activities that improve their comprehension.