After nearly two decades instructing both students and teachers, Jennifer Throndsen has identified three key tools to scaffold literacy instruction for developing readers: active reading, background knowledge activation, and peer-assisted learning. Below are six common strategies she recommends drilling down on that first one—active reading. For more information on why and how to use all three approaches, read her May 20, 2025, essay “Want Students to Read on Grade Level? These Strategies Can Help.”