WETA

Reading Rockets offers a wealth of reading strategies, lessons, and activities designed to help young children learn how to read and read better. Our reading resources assist parents, teachers, and other educators in working with struggling readers who require additional help in reading fundamentals and comprehension skills development.

Launching a Struggling Reader

Launching a Struggling Reader

With skilled instruction from teachers in the classroom and caring support at home, kids with learning disabilities can become accomplished readers and writers. October is Learning Disabilities (LD) Awareness Month. Join the Reading Rockets community in learning more about LD. Share one of our inspirational stories about parents and teachers who made a difference in the life of a child and find out how you can help a struggling reader. Visit our LD Awareness Month section.


The ABCs of LD

Nearly three million school-age children in the U.S. (about 5% of our kids) are diagnosed with learning disabilities. What is a learning disability, what are the different types, and how do we effectively teach kids with LD? Get the basics in this LD primer.

Read LD overview >

What Is This Thing Called RTI?

Response to Intervention, the three-step approach to intervention and placement, has been getting a lot of attention lately from educators especially those in special education. This article dispels common myths about RTI and provides a list of online resources for more in-depth understanding of this complex subject.

Go to RTI article >

Smart IEPs

Every public school child who receives special education services must have an Individualized Education Program (IEP), created collaboratively by teachers, parents, and school support staff. Discover what makes a strong IEP and how to avoid common pitfalls, in this series of articles from Wrightslaw developed especially for parents.

Go to IEP articles >

Q&A from Reading Rockets Parents

How can I get my child with LD motivated to read more?

Read all Q&As about learning disabilities >

Making and Keeping Friends

Children with LD often lack the social skills to develop strong and enduring friendships. Listen in as Rick Lavoie describes in detail how to plan a successful playdate for your child, in this excerpt from the PBS program It's So Much Work to Be Your Friend.



Books & Authors

Magical Imagination: Our Interview with
Mary Pope Osborne

Mary Pope Osborne

Mary Pope Osborne, author of the immensely popular Magic Treehouse chapter books for young readers, spent her childhood in a perpetual state of make-believe. "Always leave a quiet space for your imagination," she says. That, and a sense of wonder about the world keep the time-traveling adventures of Jack and Annie fresh and intriguing.

Watch Mary Pope Osborne interview >

Wit and Wisdom in the White House

If I Were President

Did you know that George Washington's famous dentures were made from hippopotamus tusks? Or that Woodrow Wilson had a pet sheep who chewed tobacco? Or what a typical day in the life of the President is really like? Learn more about the White House, its fascinating history, and the families that lived there in this collection of fiction and non-fiction books voted "best of" by our children's literature expert.

Go to book list >

The Teacher Who Changed Everything

Children's author Patricia Polacco vividly recalls the day when her teacher discovered her dyslexia.

Watch Patricia Polacco video clip >

Features

From Silence to Engagement: Encouraging ELLs to
Talk in the Classroom

Engaging ELLs

English language learners (ELLs) are often quiet during classroom discussions. Your students may have a great deal of knowledge, but need the expectation of participation and skillful, reinforcing prompts in order to participate more fully. Learn how to engage your ELL students, especially during Q&A sessions, using the "response protocol."

Go to article >

Developing and Assessing Fluency

Fluency

Review why it is essential that all students become fluent readers, how to assess the components of fluency (prosody, accuracy, and rate), how to help students build their fluency skills, and why silent reading may not be the best use of classroom time.

Go to article >

Community

Follow Us on Twitter!

ReadingRockets

Connect with Reading Rockets on our new Twitter page. You'll find links to the newest articles on reading and writing, events from the literacy calendar, video interviews with children's book authors, the daily children's literature quiz, and more.

Go to Reading Rockets on Twitter >

Featured Partner: National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD)

NCLD

The NCLD's mission is to ensure that the 15 million children, adolescents, and adults in the U.S. with learning disabilities have every opportunity to succeed in school, work, and life. Browse the website for LD resources, publications, teaching strategies, research news, and advocacy activities.

Go to NCLD website >

Tips & News from Reading Rockets

  • Reading Tips for Parents. These one-page parent tip sheets are now available in 11 languages: Arabic, Chinese, English, Haitian Creole, Hmong, Korean, Navajo, Russian, Spanish, Tagalog, and Vietnamese. NEW! Tips for parents of babies and toddlers.

  • Reading Rockets News. Take a look at the current issue of our popular monthly e-newsletter on reading.