Whitney GalushaSPED 6002

July 21, 2010

“Thoughtful literacy is the ability to think about the ideas, events, and characters in the text, beyond just recalling details” (Allington, 2006).

For many children just calling the words is an accomplishment all on its own. However calling words is not true reading.

For a student to be a true, literate reader they must be able to read the words written and be able to comprehend the information presented.

How do we help the students who struggle with one or both of these? ◦ In order to do this we must first gather basic

information on where the student is performing and what they already know.

Phonological Awareness usually involves the awareness of words, rhymes, and syllables at the preschool and kindergarten levels.

It also includes individual phonemes during kindergarten and first grade.

For students having trouble with Phonological Awareness teachers should:◦ Emphasize blending, segmenting, and

manipulation activities that focus on individual phoneme sound

◦ This includes sounds in the initial, final, and medial positions

Students should be able to:◦ Recognize or produce words that rhyme

◦ Blend or segment syllables

◦ Blend or segment onset rhymes

◦ Recognize that two words begin or end with the same sound or different sounds

◦ Recognize that two words contain the same or different medial sounds

◦ Segment or blend a words individual sound

◦ Manipulate sounds to identify a new word when a sound is deleted or substituted in a word

Use tiles or chips to give the student something to manipulate

Ask the student to begin with an easier take (changing the initial sound of a given word) then word towards harder tasks (have the student change the ending or medial sound in a word)

Word Identification is the ability to read words quickly and effortlessly recognizing words on sight

Word identification instruction includes◦ Teaching sight word recognition◦ Teaching decoding skills

means that students are able to read a word automatically when encountering it in text or in an isolated list of words

Sight words include◦ High frequency words◦ Irregular words◦ Important vocabulary words in content-area books

Assess the students to determine which words should be targeted for interventions

Teach the targeted words that most commonly occur in text

Teach irregular words with common parts and similar sound patterns

Teach words that have visually similar patterns separately (ex. Though, thought, and through; was and saw; were and where)

Teach limited number of new words in each lesson Use flashcards, color coding the parts of the words

that need more attention (ex. Color the w in was and the s in saw green to focus on the initial sound of the word)

Review words daily at the conclusion of the lesson

If a student is not a fluent reader their reading will be choppy and broken at times, it will also interfere with their comprehension.

“Without fluency, the world of imagination, humor, and drama contained in the finest books are no more than a tangle of words.” (Blau)

Model fluent reading

Do repeated readings in class

Promote phrased readings in class

Enlist tutors to help out

Try a reader’s theater in class.

Fluent Not Fluent

Sounds like talking

Has natural phrasing and intonation

Fast with appropriate expression

Choppy , word by word reading

Sounds forced, not connected

Slow, dragging

Lots of miscues

Have students practice reading many books that are below their actual reading level, this will help them pick up their pace

Read a passage to a student and then having them read it back

Recording a students reading and have them listen to it so they can hear what you are hearing

Give the student an index card with a cut-out to frame the line they are reading right then, some students are overwhelmed by too many words on a page

When a student reads a book they are fluent with, comprehension is much more easily obtained

Reading comprehension involves the following skills:◦ Recalling word meaning◦ Using context to make word-meaning inferences◦ Finding answers to questions either explicitly or in paraphrase of

the context◦ Weaving together ideas from the content◦ Recognizing a writers purpose, attitude, tone, and mood◦ Identifying the writer’s technique◦ Following the structure of a passage

Effective comprehension teaching focuses on teaching the student to construct meaning before, during, and after reading the text

Background knowledge, or prior knowledge, helps a reader understand what has been written

Graphic organizers can assist students in comprehension

Use think alouds to model what students should be doing

Before reading:◦ Active students background knowledge◦ Teach key vocabulary words◦ Give students a purpose for reading◦ Have students preview what they will be reading

During Reading:◦ Use a variety of questioning techniques

Have student recall informationApply the information in various waysGraphic organizers can be used to help students visually depict

what they are readingShow students how to self-monitor as they are readingTeach fix-up strategies to clarify the meaning of unknown

words, concepts, and/or phrases

After Reading:◦ Use various types of questioning to determine the

depth of students understanding◦ Review vocabulary terms◦ Student should be able to summarize what has

been read◦ Graphic Organizers can be completed and

discussed

“Graphic organizers work well when students are assigned to cooperative learning groups.”

“The use of a computer software application that allows students to create graphic organizers can help foster reading comprehension in an inclusion classroom if other teacher tools and training are not available. Students needs can be met by a combination of teacher assistance in creating a graphic organizer in the most appropriate format.”

http://hubpages.com/hub/Using-graphic-organizers-to-facilitate-learning

A just right book is not to hard or too easy

It looks interesting to the reader (they want to read it)

A student should use the five finger test to check◦ put one finger up each time you come to an unknown

word, when you reach 5 fingers put the book back and select another

A reader should be able to understand what they are reading.

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more

places you'll go.”~Dr. Seuss~

Allington, R. (2006). What really matters for struggling readers. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press.

Lisa Blau http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=4367

Bryant, B. Bryant, D. & Smith, D. (2008). Teaching students with special needs in inclusive classrooms. Boston: Pearson Education, Inc.

http://hubpages.com/hub/Using-graphic-organizers-to-facilitate-learning

http://www.liketoread.com/reading_habits.php http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?

id=4367