Using Choice Boards for Struggling Readers

Imagine this. You have to get a book from your classroom library and you immediately flush with anxiety. You've never been too big of a reading person nor a person that feels confident reading. When it's your turn to walk to the library, you go straight to the graphic novels because, for once, they haven't all been taken. However, your teacher softly guides you from the more difficult graphic novels to the easier chapter books with less than 100 pages. Your teacher didn't come right out say, "that book's too hard, get another," but she might as well have. You go to your seat with your easy book and take pains to make sure no one else notices.

Choice boards can prevent this entire scenario.

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What are choice boards?

Choice boards are, literally, a board of choices. You can use them in any subject in nearly every way, but today we're focusing on how they help struggling readers.

Choice boards include a variety of options for students when reading. They are usually organized in a chart so students can focus on the box/rectangle that applies to how they want to read that day. They can be digital or on paper. They can look like the below example.

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How Choice Boards Help Struggling Readers

To begin to understand how choice boards can help struggling readers is to focus on the word choice. Like everything in life, you're more likely to do something if you have a choice. If a book is assigned to you, as well as the method that you can show your understanding is assigned, you may not be as motivated. When you allow your students a choice when it comes to reading, learning outcomes improve. Look below for a few methods that have successfully engaged my students.

Digital Books

We are in the digital age and students are used to screen-time. I know, I know, there's a huge debate on screen time. I do agree with limiting screen time, engaging with the real-world is essential, but I'd be lying if I didn't say that digital books can support struggling readers more than physical ones.

Definitions of words: In digital books, they may have the option to hover over a word in a book and the defintion to pop up; there may even be an option to hover over a word and see a picture. Students can easily look up a word without stopping their physical book, logging into their computer, searching for the word, getting back into reading. Digital books can help with finding the meaning of unknown words.

Nice and clean: While physical books are nice, they can sometimes get sodden and dirty as students check them in and out of the library. It's possible to find jam stains, parts of slime, and writing from students. All of this could be overwhelming for a student, so a digital book allows students to read in comfort without fear of touching a dirty book.

Variety: To read a physical book, someone has to buy it before; this can be either a teacher or a librarian. Whatever number of books you buy is the literal amount of books that can be checked out. For example, if I buy one copy of "Pig the Pug," I can ONLY check that book out to one student. Well, if I have a digital book, I can check it out as many times are allowed. In fact, it's not even possible to lose a digital book.

There are many benefits of digital books, so keep them in mind when we create our choice board later in this post.

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Audiobooks

As I said above, we are in the digtial age and digital books can improve learning outcomes for struggling readers. Because of this, we as teachers, need to alter what our classroom reading time looks like to meet the needs of our students. A good way to do this is to let students read audiobooks.

This may sound backwards, listening to an audiobook, but we have to remember that some students are auditory learners; audiobooks helps them retain what they learn. We also have to keep in mind that some students struggle to read, have dyslexia, or a learning disability; being able to listen to a book instead of struggling through reading literal words can make the idea of the reading not as scary to struggling readers.

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Graphic Novels

Every teacher should understand that nearly every student loves graphic novels. I can see why, because they offer so much when it comes to literacy.

Graphic novels tell an explicit story using images, comic book panels, various text features, and many different plot points and characters. You can, seriously, teach so many skills with one book. Of course, students don't pick up graphic novels because of all of this; they choose them for more important reasons. Let me give you an example in the perspective of a student.

If I can't read a typical book filled with words, I can read a book with a variety of pictures and a few words. I can look at the pictures as I read to infer what is happening. I can use the different panels to understand text structure, as well as the text features and colors in the pictures to identify the mood/tone of the scene. I can do anything that I can do with a regular book! There are so many things with graphic novels. I hope my teacher lets me read one.

This is the goal.

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Picture Books

Picture books have a place in my 5th grade classroom, regardless of student age. Now, before I can continue, I want to preface with the fact that I don't let students read picture books as we go further and further into the school year. I do this because overtime we need more complex texts to practice essential skills and ideas. All of that being said-

Some students just enjoy picture books. For struggling readers, they can allow students to practice grade-level skills with a text that's on their level. Remember, they won't be able to read picture books the entire year, so building a foundation of learning this way can scaffold students to learning the same skills with more complex texts.

Allowing students to pick the kind of book they can read, you're allowing them the chance to avoid the anxiety of reading. Now, let's talk about strategies.

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Drawing: Struggling readers may also struggle with writing about reading. Studies have shown this to be true. Since this is the case, allowing students to showcase their learning in another way is essential. That being said, drawing allows students to be creative when showing what they comprehend from what they've read.

Canva Slide: Struggling readers are, usually, very creative. They have developed the ability to creatively navigate a text-rich environment to the best of their ability, so having them create a Canva slide about their book is a great way for students to create their own expression of what they've read. I suggest having students present when they're done with their book.

Video: Struggling readers may also struggle with writing. This is because, usually, writing is tied to a text. If a student can't read a text, they may not be able to write about it. There's also the students that understand the text, but they struggle to write down their answers. Having students record their comprehension of what they're reading allows them to use the same processing needed with writing without the pressure of writing by hand.

Lesson: All students can teach another student how to do something. It can be how to read Manga (from back to front and right to left) or even how to play soccer well. All students have strengths that lend support to other students. Struggling readers can teach what they know to young students because, even if they aren't on grade-level, there is one thing that they're confident doing and can teach someone else.

Choice boards are, truly, a great way to engage students. Why not use this post as inspiration?

-Sweet Penelope Resources