How can you teach critical reading skills to students of different abilities?

3 Provide scaffolding

Scaffolding is a technique that provides support and guidance to students as they read a text. You can use different types of scaffolding, such as pre-reading, during-reading, and post-reading activities. For example, you can activate your students' prior knowledge, preview the text features, or set a purpose for reading before they read. You can also use graphic organizers, annotations, or summarizing techniques to help your students organize and retain information as they read. You can also use discussion questions, writing prompts, or projects to help your students reflect and respond to the text after they read.

5 Integrate technology

Technology can also be a powerful tool to teach critical reading skills to students of different abilities. You can use digital texts, such as ebooks, websites, or multimedia, to offer your students a variety of formats and levels of complexity. You can also use adaptive software, such as Lexia, ReadTheory, or Newsela, to customize your students' reading experience and provide them with immediate feedback and support. You can also use gamification, such as Kahoot, Quizizz, or Quizlet, to make your reading instruction more fun and engaging.

6 Promote autonomy

Finally, you can teach critical reading skills to students of different abilities by promoting their autonomy and agency. You can do this by giving your students choices and options in their reading materials, tasks, and goals. You can also do this by encouraging your students to set their own reading purposes, monitor their own progress , and evaluate their own outcomes. By promoting autonomy, you can help your students develop a positive reading attitude, a growth mindset, and a lifelong learning habit.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?