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As spring approached, a small band of pioneers set out on a journey unlike any other they had experienced. It was an exhilarating time as everyone knew this adventure was the culmination of months of planning. Along the way, their journey would test not only their preparedness but also their will and even their courage. By all accounts, their experience helped make them stronger than when they started. They learned to support each other and persevere during challenging times, and in the end, a palpable spirit of accomplishment was felt by all who bore witness to their journey.
Who were these pioneers? Surely, a reasonable mental image supporting this text could include scenes from America's Westward expansion - covered wagons, adventurous spirits and the like. Instead, this was written with different actors in mind; namely, a small group of struggling third grade readers, who, in the spring of 2005, after weeks of guided practice, launched their first peer-led literature discussion.
Hyperbole? Perhaps. But to their teacher and these children, this experience was a successful journey, one in which struggling readers were motivated to participate in the authentic literacy happenings of their classroom. For these students, participating in literature discussions and eventually leading their own peer-led literature discussâions were motivating experiences that enabled them to feel proud of their accomplishments and safe among their peers. They were no longer the only students who had to "stay with the teacher" while their more-capable peers were off enjoying independent literature discussions.
The teacher in this third-grade classroom, like many other successful teachers of children who struggle with reading, helped students become motivated, successful readers by attending to three, inter-related goals. First and most important, teachers must develop a classroom environment that focuses on purposeful and authentic reading. Within this environment, teachers must find the time to nurture students' love of reading. Finally, they must create instructional routines, like peer-led literature discussions, to support students' reading growth. In this article, we elaborate on each of these issues.
Purposeful, authentic reading programs
The orientation that frames our recommendations in this article is based on two key ideas that underlie many, if not most, theories of literacy development and approaches to literacy education: authenticity and purposeful engagement. We have long...