There are several characteristics which identify readers at risk. Sue Watson, a Developmental Support Counselor who is certified in Behavior Analysis and Modification, sets forth a list of these characteristics to look for. Sue suggests that students who display the following characteristics can be identified as readers at risk: - Accuracy is missing. -The child rarely reads with fluency unless the selection is read from memory. -Over emphasis on limited strategies - decoding for instant and will constantly sound out words vs use the context to determine an unfamiliar word. -Makes more guesses and gives up much more easily than most students. -Behaviors will become more negative as they continue with the reading task -Skips words, misreads words and usually you'll note more eye movement as they scan up and down and side to side of the reading selection. -When attempting to read, lacks most of the skills that successful readers use, and -Doesn't see the value in being able to read Sue suggests that encouraging a student’s confidence is the first step to helping them overcome their difficulty with reading. Encouraging, instead of embarrassing (especially in the classroom) will motivate the student to continue having an interest in reading. It is critical to promote the value of reading to students. Struggling readers can also be identified through the diagnosis of Dyslexia. Dyslexia is a genetic learning disability that affects reading levels of an otherwise intelligent person. Persons who have been diagnosed with dyslexia with often struggle with these issues while reading- letter order, letter addition, small vocabulary, and highly phoneticized spelling. While there is no cure for dyslexia, children can be very successful with specialized plans created by teachers and parents. Now that we’ve identified some of the many surface and genetic characteristics of a struggling reader, we are then compelled to ask the question- what actually makes a student struggle? I believe it is best explore to scenarios that cultivate successful readers and draw the conclusion that a child who lacks exposure to these types of learning environments plays a major part in why they struggle. Dr. G. Reid Lyon states that “if young children are read to, they become exposed-in interesting and entertaining ways- to the sound of language.” Simply put, reading to a child makes them curious. They become curious about the words, the sounds, and with little children, they become curious about the shape your mouth makes when y