Image of a Woman Reading a Book to Three Girls with the text "4 Things All Teachers Need to Know to be Great Reading Teachers".

Great reading teachers are hard to find and becoming one is tough! It takes time, practice, and getting to know your students. But what do you need to know to be a great reading teacher as soon as possible? Here are four things that all teachers need to know to become great reading teachers as soon as possible!

Not Everyone Reads Alike

While some of your students might have similar needs and reading styles, none of their brains work in the exact same way. They all need different things to improve and grow. To be a great reading teacher, keep in mind that some students need reading strategies to be explicitly taught. Other students have already mastered these and now have reading SKILLS! ❤️

A Great Reading Teacher Find Activities That Work for Your Kids

It is important to find Pre-Reading, During Reading, and After Reading activities that will help you and your students practice reading strategies. Find activities that will support their growth in valuable reading strategies.

Teach “How” To Read Fiction & Non-Fiction

Whether you know it or not, readers approach fiction and non-fiction texts very differently. Your brain needs to know how to read each of these kinds of text. Sure, they may be able to read the words on the page, but what should their brain be thinking about?

We’re Clouding Our Goals

Graphic organizers, fancy terminology, and standardized testing are clouding our end goals that we have for students. These are all attempts at helping students understand what they’ve read.

But are we really helping them? Are we throwing so much at them that we confuse them? Overwhelm them? Turn them off? Can we just read to enjoy a text, learn new information, or to follow directions?

Try to remember what your end goal is–Helping your students understand what they’ve read. Now, how will you get there?