Reading & Reading Comprehension Strategies for Teaching Struggling Readers

The following is a list of ways you can help your struggling reader. These teaching strategies may be implemented in a school, a home or a homeschool setting. Reading the words from left-to-right can be a difficult task for struggling readers. Often, the words appear to move around, or the space between words is unclear. It helps to use a finger or a card underneath the words to help your eyes "track" and focus on each word and letter you are sounding out. This will train your eyes to focus on the word you are reading instead of skipping around, looking for other clues to simply guess at the word. Reading Strategies for the Struggling Reader - readers often have many amazing strengths, such as building things; putting puzzles together; abilities in art, drama, and music; and they are very creative. Make sure to focus on those strengths and allow them experiences and success in those areas. In order for someone to improve fluency, reading must become automatic. This happens when the struggling reader is able to see the word and quickly identify the patterns and sounds. This can be accomplished by teaching the person the patterns of English (the Five Phonetic Skills) and how these patterns affect the vowels; the more they work with these patterns, the more they will develop this automatic orthographic reading ability, and their fluency will increase. When you approach a word you do not know, it helps to look through it, identify the vowels, and decide what they are saying before you sound out the word (this helps if you know the phonetic skills to prove the vowels). Once you know the vowel sounds, the hardest part is done! Then, sound out the word from the beginning all the way to the end, without stopping or guessing a couple of times, and you will get it! One of the best reading comprehension strategies is to make connections with what you are reading. Can you relate to any of the characters or to the story? If you make a connection to yourself, it is called a text-to-self connection; if you make a connection from the story you are reading to another story you have read, it is called a text-to-text connection; and, if you make a connection to something you have seen on the news or to an experience someone you know has had, it is called a text-to-world connection. Helping a struggling reader involves encouraging them to make as many connections as they can. The more connections they mae, they better they will remember and comprehend the story. Asking questions is another great reading comprehension strategy. If you ask questions about what is happening in the story, a character's feelings, or wonder what will happen next, you will be engaged in your reading, and that will help you understand on a deeper level. When you are sounding out a word and you are having a hard time, check to see if there are any Cs or Gs followed by an I or an E. Remember that those vowels change the sound of C and G to their soft sounds, as in the words city, cent, gentle, and giraffe. If your struggling reader recognize a word on one line and not on another, this could be an indication of a phonological weakness known as dyslexia. The best thing to do is to observe your child and see if this is a pattern that happens often when they reads. Be patient. It is just as frustrating for them that they don't recognize the word as it is for you. Help them sound it out and look for the vowel sound(s) and patterns in the word. Remember, someone who has dyslexia must see a correct representation of the word almost 30 times more than the average reader in order for it to be stored into long-term memory! As a struggling reader encounters a new word, one reading strategy is to look up the meaning of that word. If you attach meaning, then you are more likely to remember it and to be able to decode it. After you decode the word, practice writing it and using it in a sentence. Many people who struggle with reading have low self-esteem and feel stupid. They may have been called "stupid" or "lazy." All research has been conclusive in proving that difficulty with reading has nothing to do with intelligence. If you know people who feel this way, let them know that their reading struggles have nothing to do with their intelligence and they simply need to be taught in the way their brains learn. This can be one of the most empowering pieces of information they ever receive. "That's the real problem with kids who struggle with learning. ... Some kids feel like they're stupid. I want them to know that they're not. They just learn differently. Once they understand that and have the tools to learn in their individual way, then they can feel good about themselves." "Automatic word recognition, which is dependent on phonics knowledge, allows readers to attend to meaning; likewise, slow belabored decoding overloads short-term memory and impedes comprehension." One strategy is to say the word you are writing out loud two times as you are taking spelling tests. This enables you to feel the sounds you are making in your mouth and voice box, and you will catch all of the phonemes that you might miss by simply hearing the word spoken. Those who struggle with reading and processing language also have a difficult time with organizationand processing spoken directions. One of the best strategies is to encourage the person to make up checklists outlining each step of a particular task. This is why a phonics program must be systematic and simple — it must progress logically for the learner in order to have it make sense and to help them retain the information. If you are working with struggling readers who have a processing disorder such as dyslexia, remember that they often need more time to complete tasks. It takes a great amount of effort for them to concentrate so intensely when reading and processing language — allow them the time they need, and be patient. There is a buzzword in education called "invented spelling," which basically means that children are not required to spell correctly but are allowed to express themselves freely and creatively, unencumbered by spelling rules. It comes with the best intentions: "When a first grader picks up a pencil and musters the courage to write his very first sentence, you’re not going to harp about the misspellings." But allowing this freeform spelling method for right-brained children, beyond the beginning stages of reading and writing, can have disastrous consequences. Because right-brained children have such a good visual memory, they may have difficulty relearning the correct spelling. There must be a balance, and giving them a strong phonetic and spelling foundation will help ensure future reading success. Struggling readers are often also easily distracted. They are highly sensitive to stimuli and change their attention with each new sound or movement. It is best if they sit away from high-traffic areas, such as doors leading out of the classroom or near the teacher's desk, where students are constantly coming and going. The front of the room is optimal, so that they are as close to the teacher as possible in order to help eliminate interference when trying to listen to instruction. Reading is an intense activity for some and requires them to create their own stimuli to help increase brainwaves to match up with the task at hand. Students often do this by wiggling around, bouncing their foot, or tapping their fingers. Let them. It actually helps their concentration for the task instead of hindering it. "Children with high ability typically are independent, self-directed, willful, dominant nonconformists. These children are not passive – they are often difficult to be around, because they want to 'run the show.' Yet this same quality also makes them most interesting and stimulating to be around."

Reading Comprehension Activities

While almost all of us can read, the speed with which we can read and comprehend what we are reading is very important. Hence, as a teacher, it is very important that you ensure that the students in your class take up reading comprehension as an important subject early on so that they do not face problems as they grow older. Here are some reading comprehension activities that you can use in your class to help increase the interest of the students in the subject. Book Reviews I feel that this is one of the best reading comprehension activities. Here, a student is asked to pick and read a book of their choice. After reading, they have to present a review of the book to the entire class. The review can contain a small recap of the story, but other than that, the students have to speak on their own as to how they felt the book was. They have to provide inputs as to why they felt the book was good or why was it not up the mark. They can also be asked to justify why they would recommend this book to a friend and also if they have learned something from the book. The advantage of this activity is that only the students read the book, they are forced to read it to understand and talk about the book. They have to talk about the book and not about what is in the book. This will also help increase their communication skills and will also provide them the confidence to address their classmates or a gathering. These days, with the advent of the Internet, students belonging to a higher grade can be asked to post their reviews on Amazon or GeoCities. This will help increase their sense of accomplishment. Secret Story Words I read a very interesting activity that was submitted by Janice Roehr to a newsletter. After reading out a story to the class, she writes down names, place and vocabulary words from the story on small pieces of paper and pins them on the backs of the students. The students then wander around the class and ask for clues as to what is pinned on their backs from fellow students who can respond to an answer in either yes or no. Once a student has identified the word, they have to return their seats and write down the significance of the word in the story. This is a brilliant idea that will compel students (the younger the better as they will be more enthusiastic) to listen to every detail in the story. For the students in higher grades, you can select a difficult story with a large number of characters and difficult words. Title Predictions Another interesting activity was submitted by Donna Florek to a newsletter. Before reading out a chapter to the class, she reads out the title of the chapter and encourages the students to predict as to what is going to happen and what questions will be answered in the chapter. The teacher records these on the blackboard and crosses them individually as and when they the predictions come true or the questions are answered. At the end of the chapter the students can discuss as to why some of the predictions did not come true or why some questions were unanswered. For this activity to be a success, it is very important that none of the students have read the book or are aware of the story. This is a great activity that will help ensure that the students are in tune and totally engrossed on the story. This activity can also be followed with the 'Alternative Endings' activity described below. Alternative Endings Another activity that you can introduce in the higher grades is to ask students to come up with alternate endings to a story that they have read with reasons to justify the proposed ending. These will help students focus on the story and also use their imaginations to come up with alternate endings. At the end of the class, you can ask the students to vote if they preferred the alternate ending proposed by a student or were satisfied with the author.

Reading Strategies for Struggling Readers

Are you having problems reading? Is your speed just not fast enough? Well then you need some steps to improve your reading speed. - reading strategies for struggling readers. Have you ever come across a non-reader? Maybe you have heard of phrases like "I hate to read, it's very boring.' or 'I never touch a book that's gargantuan to begin with.' And you probably don't think about it again, relegating it to the simple theorem - 'To each his own'. Let's look at this from the reader's point of view. Do you know that there are some people who struggle with even simple reading, let alone speed reading? You might have experienced this in your school life - students in class who would absolutely struggle through their reading tests. If they were asked to stand up and read in class, they would get nervous and then drag through the piece with a lot of 'umms' and 'errs' much to the annoyance of the teacher. They were left to wonder how it was possible, that while they struggled through the first paragraph of the page, others had finished the entire essay. Now here's what the thing is - people who struggle with their reading have not developed the 'reading strategies' that other 'readers' have, without even realizing it. Therefore there is a need to have effective reading strategies for struggling readers. The good news is that it is possible to have and teach these. Some of the best reading strategies have been developed over the years, and that is what we will be discussing in this article. Reading Strategies - After it is learned that a person (usually a child), has a problem while reading, the most important thing that a parent can do for him/her is to start teaching him these reading strategies as soon as possible. This is because these strategies are most effective when taught at a young age. The degree of difficulty in learning these increases with age. Thus it is most effective when reading strategies are taught and applied at a young age. Reading strategies for the struggling readers can be divided into two parts: Decoding Strategies Comprehension Strategies Decoding Strategies This involves teaching the student phonemic awareness. Which means teaching the students the literal pronunciation of words by breaking them down into bits and pieces. By learning the bits and pieces that make up a whole word, it is possible for readers to be able to pronounce words that are difficult, unfamiliar and long-because they have good phonemic awareness. When a reader skips words or 'fades out' words or uses a wrong pronunciation, or avoids reading completely - there is a need to teach him phonemics. Thus teaching readers the 'sound' of a language (phonemes), becomes very important. After this has been taught, they need to be coached in their use and made to practice. Teaching the students the sounds of the letters helps tremendously when teaching them phonemes. They learn how to pronounce several combinations of these letters and also learn the fact that letters aren't always pronounced the way they look. Readers also compare words that they don't know with familiar words to understand the difference. Thus it is necessary to have a lit of simple and difficult words to 'look' and learn from. One can also use chunking as one of the effective strategies. In this the reader can chunk unfamiliar words. Chunk together parts of a word and then try to pronounce them in parts. Once the entire word has been read in chunks, then try and club the different chunks of the word together to pronounce the entire word. This needs a lot of practice. Comprehension Strategies Comprehension means understanding something. While reading a text, a good reader will subconsciously use comprehension skills, so that when you ask him what the text was about, he will be able to answer it. But a struggling reader does not read to understand, he will simply read a text to get it done with, so when he is asked about the text, he will rarely be able to answer in deep. Comprehension strategies include teaching the stragglers to re-read a text. Not to be confused with simple reading a text again but rather making a deliberate attempt to understand it. This can be made easier if the reader reads the text with a goal in ind-he has to find the answer to a question. So when he reads with an objective, he will pay more attention and learn to read better. Also rephrasing and then stating a text will help them to read better. When a reader who struggles, reads a text and then relates it back in his own words, his entire concentration is on understanding the text to rephrase it. Other Strategies Use different strategies like videos and audio tapes to teach the student phonemes. Let him read a very simple text to a younger class so that he becomes confident. Provide him with a partner who can help him read. Form a 'readers play', where readers will come together and read/perform their texts. They'll make it more interesting by adding costumes, different voices etc to it. Struggling leaders work best when they have one to one training - so try to find a coach for them. Give positive feedback whenever possible and reward them when they are successful, this will help the stay motivated. Make them write out the words and pronounce out loud so that you can correct if wrong. They can also make a note of the word if it looks different and is pronounced different, for better understanding. Start using the decoding and comprehension strategies in daily life, when they learn to use it in daily life, they'll no longer have a block towards them and will learn faster. Even if you know a struggling readers who would probably have difficulty reading through this article, (rather ironic, isn't it?) be sure that it won't be a problem for long. After you've taken tips from these reading strategies, there will be no looking back. So read well and teach better.

Boys' barriers to learning and achievement

Looking for the root cause of many boys' underachievement and subsequently the simple answer or 'Quick Fix', has become something of a preoccupation over the past few years. Here, School Improvement Officer Gary Wilson explains why he believes that neither of these particular tasks can ever bear fruit With barriers to boys' learning ranging from a lack of independence prior to starting school, to the perception of many boys that reading is a female province – not forgetting the fact that most boys are significantly less developed linguistically – boys in the early years of schooling already face several major barriers. Early years There are many messages for parents that need to be expressed very clearly in order that, for example, we no longer see boys standing arms akimbo in the cloakroom at the end of their first few days in school, waiting to have their coats put on! Early language development often manifests itself, as one reception teacher told me, 'If he wants something from another pupil and he can't talk he can't negotiate, if he can't negotiate then he can't get what he wants. If he can't get what he wants then he grabs it.' The fact that girls, we are told, have superior listening skills even in the womb, and the fact that they use between ten and thirty times as much language in their play, doesn't just mean that they beat boys hands down from the foundation stage to English A level, it impacts in many other ways too. Writing skills and learning outcomes A significant barrier to many boys' learning, that begins at quite an early age and often never leaves them, is the perception that most writing that they are expected to do is largely irrelevant and unimportant. How can this possibly be, you may protest? Well, the NUT study in recent years that highlighted the fact that up to 60% of writing done in schools is copied from boards or from books could be a contributory factor. As indeed might the now well-understood need for boys in particular to know the big picture. Why are we writing this? What is the purpose and what is the audience? As with virtually every other classroom-based activity, clear learning outcomes for boys are absolutely vital. As a colleague of mine (Wendy Bradford, co-author of Getting it Right for Boys and Girls) says, 'Boys are the best barometers of good teaching.' Very often, if a boy doesn't see the sense and purpose in doing something then he blooming well won't engage with it at all. Moreover, if he doesn't have the opportunity to talk through and share ideas before he puts pen to paper, he will find the task extremely difficult. Gender bias Gender bias in everything from resources to teacher expectations has the potential to present further barriers to boys' learning. None more so than the gender bias evident in the ways in which we talk to boys and talk to girls. We need to be ever mindful of the frequency, the nature and the quality of our interactions with boys and our interactions with girls in the classroom. A potential mismatch of teaching and learning styles to boys' preferred ways of working continues to be a barrier for many boys. Of vital importance in this area is engaging boys in dialogue about how they learn, as well as ensuring that a balanced approach is incorporated in the classroom. It is not just about simply stereotypically labelling all boys as kinaesthetic learners and attempting to teach them all that way. Reflection and evaluation The process of reflection is a weakness in many boys, presenting them with perhaps one of the biggest barriers of all. The inability of many boys to, for example, write evaluations, effectively stems from this weakness. Opportunities for reflection need to be created throughout any lesson. 'Multiplenaries', as I choose to call them, are important for all learners, but absolutely vital for boys. Self-esteem issues Low self-esteem is clearly a very significant barrier to many boys' achievement in school. If we were to think of the perfect time to de-motivate boys, when would that be? Some might say in the early years of education when many get their first unwelcome and never forgotten taste of failure, being taught to read and write, when they are far less ready than the girls in their class. Others might say Year 7 or 8 might be a good time... bang them in sets for at least half the week! Create sink groups of boys then pretend to them that they have a real chance of moving upwards through a 'flexible' system. They might believe in the system... and themselves, for a while, but not for long. Addressing issues of self-esteem are vitally important and yet not a regular feature of many schools' daily activities. Peer pressure Peer pressure, or the anti-swot culture, is clearly a major barrier to many boys' achievement. Those lucky enough to avoid it tend to be good academically, but also good at sport. This gives them a licence to work hard as they can also be 'one of the lads'. A cracking sense of humour can also help. I find manifestations of this culture, endemic in most of our high schools for many years, now appearing as early as Year 2 in schools. To me one of the most significant elements of peer pressure for boys is the impact it has on the more affective domains of the curriculum, namely expressive, creative and performing arts. It takes a lot of courage for a boy to turn up for the first day at high school carrying a violin case. A major concern indeed, as it is precisely these areas of the curriculum that help us to create a more caring masculinity. Turning out decent young men really ought to be at least half of the focus of the work we do with or for boys. Finding ways of dealing with peer pressure, through for example, peer befriending, peer mediation, and through policy and practice, has to be a top priority in schools. Talk to them! There are many barriers to boys' learning (I'm currently saying 31, but I'm still working on it!) and an ever-increasing multitude of strategies that we can use to address them. I firmly believe that a close examination of a school's own circumstances is the only way to progress through this maze and that the main starting point has to be with the boys themselves. They do know all the issues around their poor levels of achievement. Talk to them first. I also believe that one of the most important strategies is to let them know you're 'on their case', talking to them provides this added bonus. Teaching Expertise magazine, Issue 9 Autumn 2005

Reading and Writing at home

Which will your child learn first: to read or to write? Most children develop these skills at the same time. The following are some things you can do to help your children become readers and writers: Read aloud every day. Set aside a regular time for reading that your children can count on. Find other times to read; for example, when you're waiting at the doctor's office. Read aloud the items you use in daily life: food labels, directions for baking a cake, and birthday cards. Listen to your child pretend to read a book from memory. Have plenty of children's books around your home. Keep books where children can reach them. Go to the library regularly. Look for secondhand books at yard sales and thrift shops. Encourage family and friends to give books as gifts. Stock up on writing and drawing supplies. Store things to write on: paper, pads, and a chalkboard. Store things to write with: crayons, markers, pencils, and chalk. Store supplies for making books: cardboard, a stapler, a hole punch, and laces. Save items to cut and paste: junk mail, catalogs, coupons, and old magazines. Keep magnet letters on the refrigerator. Store alphabet stamps and a stamp pad. Let your children see you read and write. Read aloud a favorite poem. Read the caption under an interesting photograph in a newspaper or magazine. Read aloud the words on food packages, menus, signs, and billboards. Write important dates on the calendar. Ask your child to help you make up a shopping list or write a letter. Source: Reading Is Fundamental.