Need advice on remedial work in reading

[Jenny in GA]

Just had my kids take the Woodcock Johnson as an end of year assessment

 

1) My fifth grader scored at an eighth grade level for decoding/phonics/word attack. BUT she only scored at a low fifth grade level for reading comprehension.

 

That's not so terrible, but I consider her to be very intelligent and the type of kid that would be in a "gifted" program, and I feel that she should be doing better, especially if her phonics score is so high.

 

Other than "have her read more," does anyone have any suggestions how to address and improve this?

 

 

2) My seventh grader scored at a tenth grade level in reading comp and phonics/decoding, and an eleventh grade reading vocabulary. BUT she scored at a fourth grade level in "Reading Fluency" (which is where they have to see how many yes or no questions they can read and answer in 3 minutes -- so it's basically a speed thing.)

 

Again, any suggestions how to bring this up?

 

Thanks!

 

[In2why]

We had this issue as well and I got the workbook "Increasing Fluency with High Frequency Word Phrases"   We begin with a passage.on Monday.  He reads it out loud each day learning to stop at the punctuation, change inflection based on what he is reading and then for comprehension.   It could be done with something you create yourself, but it was easier for me to get it packaged.  My son needed practice making the jump from reading, to understanding.  

 

Another thing I had to do with him was teach him to find what was important in a passage.  Our science was the easiest place to start since it has a reading component and then comprehension questions.  We did this together.  First we read the Title and I asked him to think about what he thinks the section will be about.  As he read he highlights the important ideas.  We had to do this together because in the beginning he couldn't pick out important ideas and wanted to highlight everything.  Science was good because there are bolded words in the passage and he could highlight the sentence defining the.bolded word or explaining why it was important.  I would also have him find the topic sentence and conclusion.  Afterwards almost anything he.needed.for comprehension was highlighted.   After practicing this together, he began doing it on his own ad became better at knowing what to highlight and what was important.  So we read it together for words or phrases he needs help with understanding.  The second time we highlight.  The next day he reads it to himself and answers the comprehension questions.   By teaching him with Science it has transferred to other reading.  

[ElizabethB]

I would see how they do on the MWIA and my nonsense word test.

 

http://www.thephonicspage.org/On%20Reading/readinggradeleve.html

 

Report back to me their WPM scores on both. They should not miss more than 1 word on either section or they need remedial nonsense word work.

 

Then, get them to 12th grade level:

 

http://www.thephonicspage.org/On%20Reading/WellTaughtPhonicsStudent.html

 

I like the looks of CAPs Reasoning and Reading:

 

http://classicalacademicpress.com/reasoning-reading/

 

Also, teach them to read the comprehension questions first then read the passage with the questions in mind.

[Gr8tful4HisGrace]

We used Reading Detective by Critical Thinking Press and it helped me son quite a bit. After that we used a workbook series called More Reading Comprehension in Varied Subject Matter.  It was also extremely helpful. 

 

For reading speed/fluency, it really is about reading, reading, reading.  I always had my children read out loud for at least ten minutes a day, then they went off to read at least another forty minutes.

 

 

 

 

[creekmom]

"Reading Comprehension" is a lot more than just understanding a passage (for standardized tests). My guess is that she just didn't understand the terms in the question (not that she didn't understand what she read). Does she know the difference between fact and opinion? I remember being shocked when my kids didn't know! Can she make inferences about a passage? Would she be able to identify a simile or metaphor in a poem? Does she know what "author's purpose" means? How well does she draw conclusions about what she's read? These are the types of questions on a standardized reading test.

 

My advice is to buy the eBook Standardized Test Skill Builders Reading: Grades 5-6. It's on sale for $1.00 right now @ http://teacherexpress.scholastic.com/standardized-test-skill-builders-reading-grades-5-6. Don't be discouraged! I think it's possible she just needs help learning to take a standardized test, not comprehending what she's read.

[Jenny in GA]

"Reading Comprehension" is a lot more than just understanding a passage (for standardized tests). My guess is that she just didn't understand the terms in the question (not that she didn't understand what she read). Does she know the difference between fact and opinion? I remember being shocked when my kids didn't know! Can she make inferences about a passage? Would she be able to identify a simile or metaphor in a poem? Does she know what "author's purpose" means? How well does she draw conclusions about what she's read? These are the types of questions on a standardized reading test.

 

Well, the interesting thing is that this test didn't ask things like fact vs. opinion, or main idea, etc. They were sentences where you filled in the blank with a missing word. So I'm not sure what the lacking skill is or how to address it ... I guess inference? I'm thinking of trying Reading Detective with her.

 

She did great on the decoding/phonics part, so that's not the issue. What would cause a bright child to do really well on phonics, but poorly on comprehension?