Another 7 yo boy reading question - speed

[emcap]

Okay, so I've been working regularly with my son and he seems more ready for it now and likes the two ten minute sessions. My problem is that this kid knows his sounds - how long have we been working on this? so it isn't like he doesn't know the sound of the next letter in the word. But when he reads it goes " guuuuuuuss droooopsss hiiiiiiiiiisss miiiiinnnntttsss" especially dragging the vowels. Will he just speed up with time? Will he become more fluent and smooth or what? I've asked him to try not to hold his vowels out so long so he sometimes will sound the word out in his head and just say it - is that better or not much of a help?

Also, a question about reading levels. To say a child is reading at a first, second, third or whatever grade reading level - does that mean the child is reading at a level comparable to an average child just finishing that grade or in the middle of it or what? ready to go into that grade? Just curious.

 

Thanks

[creekmom]

The speed will come with time and (lots of) practice. One day it will just hit him, "I know this word without sounding it out!" I told my kids to sound it out in their heads after I knew they knew the sounds. Tell him to only say the word aloud after he has sounded it out in his head. This will slow him down a little at first, but then he'll get the hang of saying each word instead of each sound.

 

I highly recommend the Victory Drill Book for helping beg. readers with speed. The first page is a list of 100 short a, 1 syllable words (hat, pass, cap, etc.). The goal in K is 30 words in a minute. Each grade level, the wpm goal gets harder. With a beg. reader, 30 words is a good goal regardless of the grade level. At first, just time him saying the first column of words. The next day, tell him, "Let's see if we can beat your score from yesterday!" Make it fun with small rewards for progress. - I have a treasure chest full of trinkets, stickers, candy, etc. that I use to reward my kids after they reach the goal for each page. In the beginning, when they are just trying to beat their time, I'll reward with 5 M&Ms for beating their "score". After a few weeks, you should see a big difference in his fluency.

 

http://www.rainbowresource.com/product/Victory+Drill+Book/000111/1285002041-1613236

Edited September 20, 2010 by creekmom

[ElizabethB]

You can sneak in a bit more practice with fun games.

 

My game makes both real and nonsense words, I have found nonsense words and spelling helpful with my struggling students.

 

You can also do games with magnetic letters, giving 1 or 2 vowels and some consonants and seeing how many words he can make in a minute. (Make sure you have at least on m, t, or p, these are all good ending consonants.)

[kalanamak]

I used Victory Drill, and had him "try" one line at a time, quickly. We started out doing a line at his speed, and then with my timer. He got excited about the racing part of this. Only a week of this, and he gave up the dragging. Now I wish he'd drag out again. He's trying to quick with 4 syllable words, and it is messy sometimes.