Teaching 1st grader to read....need help

[SweetPea]

I'm using Rod & Staff Phonics with my DS(1st) and I am seeing progress. I feel like he's stuck.....only reading phonics practice readers. He is sooooo afraid to try harder books "I can't do it".

 

Any suggestions on other curriculum to use. On another note, he pretty much where he the teacher expects him to be (not me) and the math test was so much reading he had a hard time and now he says "I'm not a math person":blink: Which is so far from the truth because he totally has his dad's engineer mind.

[Roadrunner]

:iagree: on OPGTR

I love The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Reading by Jessie Wise. My dd completed the book when she was nearly 6 and could fluently read books like the Magic Treehouse series. The book isn't that expensive and is highly effective.

 

Also, I find doing read alouds of more difficult material (i.e. you read to the child) helps. We've read everything from The Wizard of Oz to Roald Dahl books. We're currently reading aloud The Mysterious Benedict Society. I really think it helps with their vocab and pronunciation skills to hear other people read to them.

 

Hang in there. It will come to him! :001_smile:

[GingerPoppy]

It's ok if they go through a stage of reading only phonics readers. It's a short-lived stage that gives them a lot of confidence because they know they'll find only decodable words in them. If you do want to try a "regular" book, I would make a promise--say that he can read every word that he wants to, and you will fill in every single word he doesn't think he can get. That relaxes kids enough to try, and I find they want to start trying more and more words, since you're right beside them to say the word (not force them to sound it out) if they can't figure it out.

 

I often take it a step further. I open to the first page and say, "Point to a word that you know," and I underline it lightly. I then ask them to point to all the other ones they know, or can figure out, and I underline them all. These can be pointed to in absolutely any order. Then, we read the page. They say all the underlined words, and I say all the others. After reading, I go back and ask if there are any more words that they know, now that it's been read through once. I underline these. Then I read again, with them on the underlined words, and me on the others. They are happy to do this, because there's no pressure whatsoever. It's even a little bit like a game. :)

Edited September 17, 2011 by GingerPoppy

[Sevilla]

I love The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Reading by Jessie Wise. My dd completed the book when she was nearly 6 and could fluently read books like the Magic Treehouse series. The book isn't that expensive and is highly effective.

 

Also, I find doing read alouds of more difficult material (i.e. you read to the child) helps. We've read everything from The Wizard of Oz to Roald Dahl books. We're currently reading aloud The Mysterious Benedict Society. I really think it helps with their vocab and pronunciation skills to hear other people read to them.

 

Hang in there. It will come to him! :001_smile:

ITAwith all of this - especially the read aoud (get books on tape from the library too or have the Kindle read books aloud to him, my DS still enjoys this! It is a robotic voice but he doesn't mind - right now he's having it read him portions of The Secret Garden that we read aloud together this summer).

[chepyl]

I loved Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. Once we finished that, I started to pick up books from the easy reader section of the library. I read every other word with DS. It was a fun game for him and helped with his speed amd fluency. After a couple of weeks I had him do a page, then I would do a page. We worked up to him reading it all aloud. At that point he started reading silently and narrating. From beginning to silent reading was about 8 months. 1 year later, at 5, he was reading Magic Treehouse books and telling me what happened.

[SKL]

With my DD1, who is just starting to embark on reading, I will read a page and then have her read it back to me. She isn't really reading half of it, but she's gaining confidence in dealing with the format of more than a few words on a page. Another thing I do is I find a "new" word that is repeated a few times in the book, go over its sounds/structure/meaning with her, and then ask her to find it on multiple pages. This helps her build confidence while providing a little more familiarity with the words.

 

I would also say, just let him play with books that are a little above his level. He will page through them and notice words he can read, and eventually find the courage to try reading them.

[smillard00]

In my experience with my rabid little readers :D they all have had a period when they knew how to decode words, but if anyone asked them if they could read, they would insist that no, they didn't know how to read. I would just smile or roll my eyes, depending on the day, when I heard them say this because I knew that they knew how to read. They just didn't know they knew how to read. Then, with each child, it was as if a switch were flipped on day and they exclaimed to me that they knew how to read and suddenly they had the courage to pick up a book and do it. Such a strange phenomenon, but it has happened three times now. So sometimes patience is all that is needed if you know that the instruction has been done and the skills are in place. Keep practicing and encouraging and it will happen. Now, if he has been through R&S and really doesn't have the skills needed, perhaps a new program is needed. But if it just needs some time to take root and bloom...

[Sahamamama]

I love The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Reading by Jessie Wise. My dd completed the book when she was nearly 6 and could fluently read books like the Magic Treehouse series. The book isn't that expensive and is highly effective.

 

Also, I find doing read alouds of more difficult material (i.e. you read to the child) helps. We've read everything from The Wizard of Oz to Roald Dahl books. We're currently reading aloud The Mysterious Benedict Society. I really think it helps with their vocab and pronunciation skills to hear other people read to them.

 

Hang in there. It will come to him! :001_smile:

 

:iagree:Yes, we used (and are still using) OPG around here, with good results. It's inexpensive, so there's not a lot of money invested.

 

Also, if your student struggles right now with reading at a certain level, keep plodding along with the primer, but really spend the most time enjoying Read Alouds. I agree with FTM, read aloud the more challenging stuff, such as chapter books and poetry. This builds vocabulary and helps students know what reading aloud is supposed to "sound like." Check your library for audiobooks, too. HTH.

[rwjx2khsmj]

I think there is a real developmental factor in reading readiness. During the summer, when we weren't doing any real reading work, my dd6 became a reader. We use OPGTTR. The phonics lessons that she struggled through in June, she now flies through and picks up books to read independently. It's a night and day difference from last June.

 

As long as you are using a strong phonics program that you like using, I'd just keep plodding along. We found "We Both Read" books at the library that were wonderful for my dd. They have a stronger story line than the early readers. Also, as others have said, keep reading and reading and reading aloud.

[SweetPea]

Thank you for all the responses. I love the idea of bringing in books on tape and taking turns reading books a level or two up. I've ordered OPGTR and can't wait to get it. We do lots of read alouds and he loves to listen, so I know there is a reader in him:001_smile:.

[jenbrdsly]

Have you tried making homemade books? The ones I have pictured on my blog would be way too easy, but you can use the same idea and make them a lot harder. Have your first grader help write the books about whatever is of interest at the time. "Larry and His Lego Jungle", or "Suzie's Day at the American Girl Cafe" for example...

[PhotoGal]

Maybe introduce some books with an easy pattern (like Brown Bear Brown Bear)? That way he can build some confidence in reading as well as learn a few sight words that can help him.

 

Are you opposed to learning sight words? If not, you could add a few flash cards for common sight words (words like "said" "where" etc.). That can help so he can read some books that aren't all phonetic.

 

Also, sometimes when I'm reading aloud to my kids, I trace under the words with my finger as I read. I know my ds would notice the words as I read (even though I never asked him to look at them).