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Tackling Tough Texts: A Research-Based Guide to Scaffolding Learning in Grades 6–12
Filling a crucial need, this book provides concrete ways to support all students in grades 6–12 as they engage with rigorous grade-level texts in English language arts, science, and social studies. The authors offer fresh insights into adolescent reading and what makes a given text "tough"--including knowledge demands, text structure and complexity, vocabulary, and more. Research-based, step-by-step strategies are presented for explicitly scaffolding these challenges in the context of purposeful learning activities that leverage students' individual strengths and interests. The book includes planning tips, text selection guidelines, sample text sets, and vivid case studies from culturally and linguistically diverse classrooms. Fourteen reproducible forms and handouts can be photocopied or downloaded for use with students.
203 pages, Paperback
Published November 29, 2024
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
March 27, 2026
👩🏫This has a lot of great, practical strategies to support and scaffold difficult texts across any content area.
👩🏫My favorite bit of new learning was the discussion of Lupo’s research that adjusting text complexity down actually doesn’t improve comprehension outcomes.
👩🏫Not the most important thing, but I loved all the Ohio examples and Great Lakes shoutouts.
👩🏫The possible passages strategy is similar to things I’ve done in the past, but it had a new twist that I’m excited to try out.
➖I wish the chapter about what the reader brings to the text had been less culturally responsive teaching content and more leveraging the data and infortmation we have about a student to select the best strategies and scaffolds. Some of the points raised were useful, but it was repetitive and missed the opportunity to connect to kids’ needs and data.
👩🏫My favorite bit of new learning was the discussion of Lupo’s research that adjusting text complexity down actually doesn’t improve comprehension outcomes.
👩🏫Not the most important thing, but I loved all the Ohio examples and Great Lakes shoutouts.
👩🏫The possible passages strategy is similar to things I’ve done in the past, but it had a new twist that I’m excited to try out.
➖I wish the chapter about what the reader brings to the text had been less culturally responsive teaching content and more leveraging the data and infortmation we have about a student to select the best strategies and scaffolds. Some of the points raised were useful, but it was repetitive and missed the opportunity to connect to kids’ needs and data.
Displaying 1 of 1 review