Teachers need tools

Most middle and high school teachers have not had training in how to teach students to read, yet every year find that they have students that need it.  Where do they find material they can use that will actually help students learn to read?M  There are work-arounds, like audiobooks, which have their place but do not actually increase reading skills. Meaningful decodable texts do.  

All students deserve to learn how to read.  They deserve material that honors their intellectual ability and challenges their understanding while giving them the specific sequential skills needed for successful independent reading.

Research indicates  that decodable readers that actively engage students are vital to developing strong reading skills , giving struggling students practice, maximizing success, building self-confidence and risk-taking abilities, ultimately enabling independent reading. Bus Stop Books specializes in material specifically crafted for older struggling students that is both compelling enough in content to be considered age-appropriate yet written to be skills-appropriate?  Bus Stop Books is one source.

The vast majority of decodable texts are written for early elementary students and are appropriately simplistic. The older the student, though, the more complex the content and artwork must be to engage them. Reading material for older readers should actually be too mature for younger ones, requiring life experience to contextualize and intellectual development to engage .  

Most texts written at an early elementary level have very simplistic art for very understandable reasons, not the least of which is that good art is expensive and takes time (trust us, we know!). Metaphor-rich artwork is important to stimulating older minds. It is vital to making books meaningful and contributing to whole class discussion. Students who read at grade level can be challenged to analyze artwork for additional layers of meaning. 

Research shows that even the most advanced readers benefit from having their fundamental linguistic skills reinforced.  Students can take turns reading aloud because students with early elementary skills are able to. Voicing these texts adds richness, and students of all reading levels find entrance into the text and points of discussion. Boy and his dog mysteries do not have sufficient meat to drive a whole class conversation. Bus Stop Books do.