Research has shown that reading intervention which incorporates word identification strategy instruction can help struggling students improve their reading ability (e.g., Gelzheiser, Scanlon, Vellutino et al., 2011; Scanlon, Gelzheiser, Vellutino et al., 2008; Vellutino, Scanlon, Small, et al., 2006). Since poor readers have benefited from interventions which include direct instruction of word identification strategies, my research focused on word identification strategy instruction; specifically, this study examined the types of scaffolds teachers provided to readers as they practiced being strategic word solvers while reading. This study compared the in-situ conversations between teachers using the Interactive Strategies Approach – Extended (ISA—X, Gelzheiser et al., 2019), while working with 3rd and 4th grade students identified as having reading difficulties. I examined the responses provided by teachers to student miscues while reading. Responses made by two ISA-X teachers who demonstrated average success in accelerating their students reading skills were compared to responses made by two more effective ISA—X teachers. Similarities and differences in the types of responses and the length of word solving cycles were explored. Findings suggest more effective teachers differed from average teachers in two ways, the contingency of the initial teacher response to readers’ needs and the average number of teacher responses within a word solving cycle. Potential instructional implications are discussed.