assisting special education students with reading difficulties

By: Brigitte Staigl

Slides 3 – 6 - Important Steps to Teaching Reading –For Students with reading Difficulties

Slides 7 – 9 - Reading Strategies for Holidays

Slides 10– 12 - Helping Struggling Readers

Slide 13 - Conclusion

Students With Reading Difficulties

Have children identify different parts of words to create new words.

Using compound words to help a student break downsyllables.

Examples Say snowman, now say it again and don’t say snow,

say it again and don’t say man. Say cupcake, now say it again and don’t say cup, say

it again and don’t say cake.

Encouraging the students to listen closely to the soundsof each letter.

Trying to help them identify what letters make whatsounds.

Selecting a book of the child’s interest and reading levelis key!

Reading can be difficult for some children. Trying to find ways to simplify is key. For instance, breaking words down into syllables, makes it easier for the child to sound it out.

Also , trying to find the right book for each child is very important. Just because everyone may be in the same grade, does not mean they are reading on the same grade level. Making sure that all students are comfortable is the teacher’s priority.

Helping Struggling Readers on Holidays

Practicing a new word each day.

Build their vocabulary.

Read their word list frequently.

Put words from a past or present book on flash cardsand review often.

Ask the child to write an ending to a story, play or movie.

Build their imagination.

Asking the child to make a prediction from the wordsand the pictures.

Holiday breaks are great, but they can also put some students behind. I think a few easy ways to stay ahead of the game is to continue reading throughout the holiday break. For examples, bring your current book home and continue to read it. Make some flashcards with some difficult words and practice them each day. By doing this you will build your vocabulary.

Summer and Holiday Strategies

Help students to put common sounds together.

Examples (Pl) is used for the words play and also please. (Sh) is used for the words shake and should.

Reread easy to read and predictable books together todevelop confidence.

Children need to learn independent fluency.

Exposure to the same book for memorization, becauseit will make them feel successful.

Some advice for struggling readers, is to remember how certain syllables sound together, and what letters made those sounds.

Children also like to win. This gives them confidence. By doing this, we let students re-read a book until they know all the words cover to cover, before beginning a new one. This way, they can read, predict, and use their imaginations to predict the ending.

Reading is an everyday part of life. I work every single day with 7th and 8th grade students who can not read. I believe by showing children simple site words they see everyday, will build their vocabulary and be successful readers someday. As teacher’s, it is our job to find the child’s strength’s and weakness’s so they can build their confidence. We want our children to persevere and move through their hardships, and not look back on the triumphs and failures!