Do you have tips for scaffolding a reluctant reader into a strong reader during middle school?

[HappyGrace]

Ds is a rising 6th grader who has never enjoyed reading, doesn't read for pleasure, etc. I haven't pushed it, but I am seeing gaps now that he's entering middle school that older older dd (strong reader) didn't have. He doesn't have the core knowledge base that an experienced reader would have built, plus he reads slowly and gets overwhelmed with more difficult books, long descriptive passages, etc. He is an engineer type-lol.

 

It is so hard for me to know what to do for this, as I was born with a book in my hand, and my only other student was too!

 

He has no problem with the mechanical part of reading-can physically read any word just fine .

 

But how do I scaffold him in all areas of reading (comprehension, fluidity, etc.) to get him able to read tougher books over these next couple years before high school?

 

Also, is there a curriculum or book that could maybe help with this?

 

 

 

 

xpost

[Lori D.]

(copy-pasting my response from your x-post  :laugh: )

 

Honestly, we just read aloud together, every.single.day from first grade up through high school. DS#2 has mild LDs -- stealth dyslexia that more affected writing, spelling and math, but he was also a delayed reader and has ALWAYS had the tendency to guess rather than slow down and sound out longer words. He has always been very selective in what he reads for pleasure, and never did tons of reading for pleasure -- many other activities he would choose first before reading.

 

By reading aloud together, popcorn style ("You read a page, I read a page"), we were able to tackle books just a touch above his comfortable reading level to stretch him, and by alternating pages, he was able to keep enough of the sense of what was happening in the first chapters to get him over the hump of getting used to each new book's style, sentence structure, and vocabulary choices. We were also able to stop and discuss in the midst -- define vocabulary in context, clarify something that confused DS, do some literary analysis. What a time saver! And honestly, very enjoyable for me to share reading of good books (my personal passion) with him, in spite of him not being that fond of reading.

 

And, reading together was just more enjoyable for DS -- we were sharing a "chore" which lightened the perceived "burden" of reading to him. And he would get MUCH more interested in the book by us doing it together, than if I had sent him off to read it on his own.

 

I know that's a time-consuming way to do middle school/high school Literature -- and esp. difficult if you are the mom of many -- but it was REALLY worth the time investment, to carve out 30-40 minutes a day, 4x/week to do the reading and literary analysis together. Another idea: is there a sibling fairly close in age that you could do it all 3 together? Doubling up means less work for you...

 

 

Another thing to "prime the pump" for those harder classics is to listen to books on tape or you read aloud for a family read aloud of older works with more Victorian style of writing. You may find other ideas in these past threads:

- Where do you start with a high school boy who has never read classic lit?

- Great Books question (how does your family read the books)

- Which 20 books help prepare for the Great Books?

 

BEST of luck! Warmly, Lori D.

[HappyGrace]

Answered you on other board, thanks! :)

[FO4UR]

My struggler is the same age, and we are doing what Lori describes.  I give him audiobooks. We read together every single day.

 

Reading a book that has been listened to on audio a few times is working well b/c it's already familiar to him.