What to Say When They’re Stuck: A Teacher’s Secret Weapon for Reading Comprehension
Have you ever stared into the eyes of a struggling reader and thought, “I have no idea what to say right now…”?
I have been there…
Knowing how to respond in the moment — when a student is confused, off track, or feeling overwhelmed — is one of the hardest parts of teaching comprehension.
And it’s not because you don’t know how to teach.
It’s because the real challenge lies in pinpointing where the breakdown is happening —
Is the student missing connections?
Are they confused about key ideas?
Or are they struggling to draw conclusions?
Even the best teachers need a quick way to diagnose the barrier and respond with a strategy that targets the right part of the process — not just any prompt.
Personal Story:
While reading a passage from Sarah, Plain and Tall during small group, I noticed my students were struggling to connect — the historical setting and unfamiliar family dynamics were hard for them to relate to.
The sighs, the blank stares, the slouched bodies — they said everything.
We were reading Sarah, Plain and Tall, but they weren’t seeing the story — just words on a page.
It wasn’t a lack of motivation. It wasn’t disinterest.
It was a disconnect.
They didn’t know how to relate to prairie life, or why someone would leave their home to marry a stranger.
So instead of building meaning, they shut down.
That’s when I realized — it wasn’t about reading harder.
It was about helping them think differently.
They needed a way to enter the text, to find a thread they could hold on to.
This is a common barrier in the Connect phase — when students struggle to relate, they often disengage altogether.
That’s exactly why I created the Teacher Strategy Tip Cards — a printable set of real-time prompts aligned to the 3C Thinking Framework I use to help students move past those moments when they can’t connect, clarify, or draw meaningful conclusions.
🧠 What’s Inside the Strategy Cards Pack:
17 color-coded prompts for when students get stuck
Categorized by Connect, Clarify, and Conclude
Easy to keep on a ring, desk, clipboard, or small group table
Designed to build independent thinking through guided questioning
🚸 For Grades 3–5 Teachers Who Are:
Supporting students who decode fluently but don’t understand what they read
Tired of fishing for the right strategy mid-lesson
Looking for a consistent way to scaffold comprehension conversations
📥 Grab Your Set Today!
These cards can be downloaded or printed - start using right away.
They’re the kind of tool you’ll wonder how you ever taught without.
Want practical ways to support struggling readers — without guesswork or overwhelm?
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Perfect for teachers, tutors, and parents working with grades 3–5.
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Because comprehension isn’t automatic — it’s built.
Let’s help our readers not just “get through” the text…
But actually think through it.
Raising Thinking Readers