When Students Get Stuck: Helping Readers Build the Confidence to Keep Going

Starting the New year prepared and ready to  create  reading habits for the year.   

We've all been there—you're in the middle of a small group lesson or conferring with a student when you hear it:

“I don’t get it.”
“This book is too hard.”
“I don’t know what’s going on.”

And it’s not just one student. It’s several. You know they can read, but the moment they hit a tricky part, their confidence drops—and their comprehension goes right with it.

So what do we do when students hit those invisible roadblocks while reading?

We teach them how to monitor their understanding and—more importantly—how to fix it when it breaks down.

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What If Students Knew What to Do When Reading Got Tough?

Imagine this: You hand a book to a reader, and instead of shutting down when they’re confused, they…

✅ Pause.
✅ Think.
✅ Go back and try again—without fear.

They might slow down, ask a question, re-read a sentence, look at a diagram, or make a quick sketch in their notebook. Why? Because you’ve taught them how to recognize when meaning is breaking down—and what strategies they can use to repair it.

Now they’re not just reading the words—they’re actually thinking about them. And that right there? That’s the shift we want.

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Teaching Strategies That Stick

In my own classroom, I found that when I slowed down and explicitly taught students how to notice their confusion—and gave them tools to work through it—everything started to change.

Students began to:

• Take ownership of their reading.
  
  

• Use comprehension strategies naturally (instead of only when told).
  
  

• Engage in deeper conversations about what they were reading.
  
  

• Show more growth on comprehension assessments because they knew how to help themselves.
  
  

And honestly, it didn’t take a whole new curriculum. It took consistency, modeling, and access to tools they could use right away—like anchor charts, response sheets, and graphic organizers that were always at their fingertips.

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It’s Not About Perfection—It’s About Power

When students have a go-to strategy bank, they don’t feel powerless in the face of a confusing text. They feel equipped.

Instead of abandoning the book, they lean in.

Instead of shutting down, they try something new.

And instead of relying on the teacher for every answer, they become their own guide.

That’s the transformation.

That’s the power of strategy-based reading instruction.
And it’s why I created a toolkit that makes this process easier for teachers who want to help their students grow—but don’t have hours to prep new lessons every week.

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Give Your Readers the Tools to Tackle Any Text

You don’t need another complicated system.
You just need a simple, sustainable way to help your readers take ownership of their learning.

And if you're ready to make that shift in your classroom, I've put together a resource that can help you get started. It’s filled with the kinds of tools and lessons that made all the difference for me—and formy students.

You can take what you need, use what works for you, and adapt it to fit your classroom.

Because at the end of the day, we’re not just teaching kids to read—we’re teaching them to think.

Join Educating Readers Email list and get tips, resources and ideas for setting up the reading classroom, small groups, progress monitoring and implementing reading workshop HERE.