196 Copyright © 2018, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited. Chapter 11 DOI: 10.4018/978-1-5225-3123-4.ch011 ABSTRACT The number of English language learners is increasing rapidly in U.S schools. The academic success of these students is a national concern since ELLs lag behind their peers in reading and math, and they have high drop-out rate. Reading is one of the hardest topics for ELL students. This chapter analyzes some common reasons why ELLs lag behind their peers in reading classes, provides some solutions to overcome these challenges, and provides some implications to teach ELLs better for elementary teachers. INTRODUCTION Luis 1 was a third-grader whose heritage language was Spanish. His teacher, Ms. Keith, had substantial knowledge about teaching reading gained from her recent undergraduate coursework. She was concerned because although Luis demonstrated an exceptional ability to orally read the English-language texts used for instruction, difficulty came when the comprehension conversation occurred. Luis, said Ms. Keith, just didn’t understand what he was reading, and she wondered if he had some kind of disability. She asked me (second author) to work with Luis to try to figure out the disconnect between decoding and comprehension. She gave me a copy of the text Luis and his reading group were working with that day. It was an article in a kids’ magazine devoted to recycling, including information on the recycling of glass, such as glass jars. Teaching Reading to Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Elementary Students Nilufer Guler Avila University, USA Wendy Johnson Donnell Avila University, USA