4 Signs that Students are Frustrated Readers

4 Signs that Students are Frustrated Readers and Solutions

March 3, 2025

Recognising Frustration in Young Readers

While struggling readers and frustrated readers may face similar challenges, the key difference lies in their response to difficulty. Struggling readers typically have gaps in foundational skills such as decoding, fluency, or comprehension, making reading an ongoing challenge for them. They may require explicit instruction, guided practice, and targeted interventions to build their reading abilities. In contrast, frustrated readers may have the necessary skills but struggle with motivation, engagement, or confidence. They might become easily distracted, fixate on one aspect of the text, or resist reading altogether due to past negative experiences. While struggling readers need structured skill-building support, frustrated readers benefit from encouragement, book selection strategies, and techniques to help them stay engaged and overcome reading-related anxiety. Recognising the distinction allows educators to tailor their approach and provide the right kind of support for each student.

Here are addressing four common signs that a student may be frustrated with reading, along with practical strategies to help them overcome these challenges.

1. Struggling with Vocabulary and Language

When students encounter too many unfamiliar words or complex sentence structures, they can lose track of meaning and become frustrated.

Signs of frustration:

Skipping over difficult words without trying to decode or understand them
Reading in a monotone voice, indicating a lack of comprehension
Frequently stopping or giving up on challenging texts

Solutions:

Pre-teach key vocabulary: Introduce difficult words before reading and provide definitions, examples, or visuals.
Encourage context clue strategies: Teach students to look for hints in the surrounding text to determine word meaning.
Use audiobooks and read-alouds: Hearing fluent reading can help students develop a better grasp of language patterns.
Break down complex sentences: Guide students in rephrasing long or tricky sentences into simpler language.
Provide a glossary or word bank: Having access to word meanings can boost confidence and comprehension.

2. Focusing on One Detail from the Book

When a text is too complex or a student is unsure about what they’ve read, they may fixate on a single detail and keep bringing it up in discussions. While making connections to prior knowledge is a valuable skill, true reading comprehension requires understanding the full text. Reading is a lifelong skill—students will need to comprehend contracts, medical reports, and other important documents in the future. If they consistently talk about what they know (and not details from the text), it’s a sign that they need support.

Solutions:

Acknowledge the behaviour: Say something like, “I see that you have a lot of knowledge on this topic, but let’s focus on what the text is saying.”
Guide them back to the text: Ask, “Is that something you already knew, or can you find it in the text?” Encourage them to locate information within the reading. If they can’t, suggest re-reading for better understanding.
Model active reading: As an adult reader, show how you connect what you already know to what you’re reading. Read aloud and think aloud, saying things like, “What this book is telling me is…”
Encourage re-reading: Many students believe re-reading is only for struggling readers, but it’s actually a powerful strategy to deepen comprehension.

3. Getting Distracted

This can come from a lack of understanding so students will turn to devices, distractions or fidgeting if the reading is challenging. What can we do about this?

What to do:

Normalise the challenge: Acknowledge that reading can be difficult but emphasise the importance of sticking with it.
Address distractions in the moment: If a student starts fidgeting or avoiding the task, ask, “What’s challenging for you right now?” This allows you to offer immediate support. This works best when working with small groups.
Provide scaffolding: If they’re struggling with decoding, try reading the text together and pausing to discuss difficult parts.

4. Saying, “I Don’t Have Anything to Read”

Matching books to student interests is crucial. Some students struggle to find engaging material and need guidance in selecting books.

Solutions:

Try the ‘Book Introducing’ strategy with a variety of recommended reads. Share that when you choose a book, you do the following: you look at the front cover, read the blurb on the back, read a paragraph in the first 3 chapters.
Taking the time to find their interests and also help them how to find a good book.
Try a book scavenger hunt – this encourages learners to look for features, titles, phrases or illustrations in books to gain a better overview of a book.
Foster excitement around reading by making book selection a fun and engaging process. We want them to get excited about reading.

Frustrated readers are not necessarily lacking in skill but often struggle with confidence, engagement, or comprehension. By fostering a positive reading environment, teaching effective strategies, and encouraging persistence, we can help students move past frustration and develop a lifelong love for reading.