Curricula ideas/advice

[Alison in KY]

Does anyone have suggestions (curricula or just plain old advice) on the best way to help out one of those kids who struggles with reading comprehension? The kind of kid who isn't unintelligent, but just appears to lack common sense...or maybe just doesn't understand how things work? She panics when asked to read instructions and do things, but when I explain and show her, she does better. She just doesn't pick up on things very quickly. She hates to read and after reading a chapter, says she doesn't know anything about what she read. Now, when I question her, I can pull something out of her...so she is getting a bit, but it's hard to measure how much. She's even tried to explain it to me, asking me if when she reads if she's just supposed to read the words, or if she's supposed to always understand what they are talking about. She's quicker on math...except for those pesky word problems :)

 

Now that she is getting older, I'm wondering what high school will look like for her, and maybe the best approach for her...shorter reading segments, etc. Thanks for any ideas.

 

Alison

[kerenlynne]

Both of my sons struggle with reading comprehension and the oldest has severe dyslexia. We do a lot of reading out loud, audible books, and videos when possible. If there are no Learning Disabilities I would think you could do some short reading comprehension activities to help her get used to reading for understanding. Timed readings and then practice answering questions. I just did a quick google and here is a link that gives some free practice exercises. Might be a place to start. Good Luck!

http://www.englishmaven.org/Pages/Reading%20Comprehension.htm

[ElizabethB]

I would rule out reading problems first with a reading grade level test and my New Elizabethian Test and the MWIA.

 

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

 

Here is the MWIA, I need to update my links:

 

http://www.donpotter.net/pdf/mwia.pdf (pages 7 and 8, time each page and write down any mistakes. An older student should not make more than 1 mistake on each page of the MWIA, and a good reader will generally not miss a single word.)

[Mom22ns]

Outlining, or taking notes while you read aloud.

 

My dd comprehends fine and can answer questions about things she is interested in. However, she just doesn't learn from a textbook. We have found the best route for her is if I read and she takes notes. It also works for her to read and outline. It wasn't a popular strategy to implement here, but it really made a big difference.