NATCHEZ — Last year, 10-year-old Deishanna Davis had so much difficulty concentrating when reading she would put her head down on her desk.

Davis’ reaction may be common among students who struggle with reading, but giving up is not an option.

Natchez-Adams School District curriculum and instruction supervisor Delarious Stewart said national statistics point to what could be a troubling trend in reading.

“As I look at the numbers nationally there’s a problem with engaging students in reading,” Stewart said.

In the fall of 2014, Scholastic conducted a survey of 2,558 children and parents. The survey explored family attitudes and behaviors around reading books for fun.

Fifty-one percent of children said they loved or liked reading books for fun a lot. The number dropped from 60 percent in 2010.

Stewart said reading has to compete with outside forces, such as video games and computers.

“The issue right now is getting them hooked into reading,” Stewart said.

Susie B. West Elementary teacher Loran Scott said she’s seen some students who hate to read.

Scott said she likes to use hands-on projects in her class, such as making drawings based on things students read.

Davis, who struggled to concentrate last year, is in Scott’s class this year and liked reading “The House on Mango Street” as a class.

“I started getting books like that,” Davis said. “Big, thick books.”

Davis said the main character reminded her of herself. Having children read culturally relevant material they can connect with is one of the ways NASD is trying to engage children.

“They’re reading about things they know about, that they’re familiar with, that empower and embrace cultural experiences for them,” Stewart said.

McLaurin Media Specialist Melenese Sibley said children love things with which they can connect. But Sibley also said she encourages children to try books outside their comfort zone.

“You never know what you like until you experience something else,” Sibley said.

At the library, students can check out books for the Accelerated Reader program. The program allows students to read books in their grade level and take a test for points. Children and classes who meet point goals receive rewards.

Sibley is also in charge of the McLaurin book fair and said some children may not get to go to a bookstore. The book fair allows the store to come to them.

“We’re trying to put books in children’s hands and then give them an opportunity to explore books we may not have here,” Sibley said.

During the morning, Davis said she reads library books alongside the rest of the class.

“When we come in she (Scott) tells me to take out a book and read,” Davis said.

Literacy forms a large part of the day for students and teachers, as NASD students in kindergarten through fifth grade have a 90-minute reading block every morning. Third graders have an additional 30 minutes for writing.

The block is uninterrupted, meaning announcements and classroom visits have to wait until it’s over.

“It’s all aimed at meeting the unique needs of students and addressing their individual needs,” Stewart said.

Stewart said students could also use programs such as iReady to improve their skills.

“It’s a computer-mediated instructional tool that is teacher-facilitated, or teacher-led, to provide direct intervention and enrichment with students,” Stewart said.

iReady consists of lessons to help students learn after assessing strengths and deficiencies.

“It gives them practice in the areas they’re weak in,” literacy coach Lisa Lewis said.

Lewis serves McLaurin and West as one of two NASD literacy coaches. She provides support to teachers on the best ways to teach the five components of literacy — phonemic awareness, hearing the sounds in a word and being able to segment it; phonics, matching the letter to a sound; vocabulary, fluency and comprehension.

To help teachers help students, Lewis observes classes and meets with teachers, either one-on-one or with other teachers in the same grade level. Other times she models lessons about a standard or teaches things such as classroom management.

“We’re here to provide support not only to the teachers, but to them (students) as well,” Lewis said.

Currently, Davis is excited for West’s reading fair. She’s entering a project on “The Fabulous Life of Beyoncé,” which caught her attention because of the pictures.

“She’s a very pretty young lady and her book engaged me to read,” Davis said.

Davis’s Star Assessment data, produced by an online assessment, has also improved from the end of August to October.

“She had jumped from a struggling reader to her own benchmark,” Scott said, referring to where Davis was supposed to be.

It’s been a journey for Davis. Instead of putting her head down on her desk, Davis said she now enjoys reading in class. Scott, she said, helped her fall back in love with reading.

Sometimes, Lewis said progress could be slow, taking time for children to become good readers. But if students continue to receive help significant gains are possible.

“Rome wasn’t built in a day, but it was built,” Lewis said.