- Grade Levels K - 2
- Grade Levels 3 - 5
- Grade Levels 6 - 8
- Grade Levels 9 - 12
- Kinesthetic Learner
- Visual Learner
- Auditory Learner
- Technology Integration
Instructional Techniques for Struggling Readers 2
|
Offer a Wide Range of Reading Materials When choice is offered, the reluctant reader feels empowered to determine material with which he or she is comfortable, and the teacher feels confident that the student is gleaning the required content from an alternative, appropriate source. If a student is reading below grade level, there are specific steps the content teacher can take to make the textbook accessible, and repetition of these steps is integral to success.
|
|
|
Use Pre-Reading Techniques
First, teach students the structure of the textbook. Usually, the paragraphs in a textbook begin with the main idea, subsequent sentences are details, and the final sentence is a summary. Teachers who repeatedly model the structure of the text for students give them access to the text. Activate prior knowledge in students before asking them to read. Ask leading questions to force students to determine what they already know about a subject; this provides a mental framework upon which new information can be hung. Additionally, provide pre-reading questions to students. Such questions are essential for comprehension in these students.
Finally, encourage students to pre-read the assignment by examining the photographs, bold words, headings, and key terms. While these steps may seem time-consuming, such interventions are crucial to making the text accessible to reluctant or remedial readers.
|
|
|
Incorporate Large-Print Materials
Whenever possible, use large-print materials. Reluctant and remedial readers are often intimidated by small print; subconsciously they feel overwhelmed by the sheer number of words on the page. Consider the font size, pictures, and sentence structure of lower-level materials, and reformulate difficult text as frequently as possible to mimic the large print, applicable pictures, and subject/verb/object structure found in lower-level materials. Transforming text is time-consuming, but the reward is students who are confident about reading. |
|
|
Engage Multiple Modalities
Involve varying modalities in reading assignments. Careful observation of a reluctant or remedial reader will reveal his or her most effective learning modality. Some students who are baffled when asked to read an assignment silently reveal remarkable comprehension when they listen to the same passage. When varying modalities are included in reading assignments, the odds are more favorable for comprehension. For example, ask struggling readers to complete a map while reading about specific regions, to build a graphic organizer while reading about cell structure, or to create a mathematical equation with magnetic numbers while reading a word problem. Reading assignments that combine tangible and intangible activities engage students of varying learning styles, and this aids comprehension.
|
|
|
Teach Important Vocabulary
Be sure reluctant readers understand essential vocabulary. Struggling readers are accustomed to experiencing frustration when reading, and some of this frustration is relieved when students do not have to decode the same words repeatedly during a reading assignment. Organize and teach high-frequency, essential vocabulary before each reading assignment. Teach students to make flashcards with the word and pronunciation on the front, and the definition and an illustration of the definition on the back. Show students how to use each side of the card to visualize the information contained on the reverse side, and encourage students to maintain their cards for immediate review. |
Read more about it…
Motivating Low Performing Adolescent Readers
http://www.indiana.edu/~reading/ieo/digests/d112.html
ERIC Digest Prepared by Norma Decker Collins
This article discusses "motivating the low performing adolescent in a remedial reading or subject area classroom. The premise is that students who are disengaged from their own learning processes are not likely to perform well in school."
ERIC Clearinghouse on Reading, English, and Communication
This ERIC Web site provides a wealth of information for teachers, including research papers, lesson plans, Web resources, digests, online activities and a family information center.
The most important mathematical skills and concepts for children in grade two to acquire are included in Macmillan Mathematics: use place value to 999; compose and decompose numbers; recall basic addition and subtraction facts to 18; regroup two-digit numbers; join and separate equivalent sets; and read and write time.
|
|