podoba01 Posted September 20, 2013 Share Posted September 20, 2013 Hi, Starting next week I will be working with high school students at an alternative charter school for at-risk students. I will be working one-on-one with a student who probably reads at about a 5th or 6th grade level. The program has asked me to think of a warm up game to start the reading session, bring an article or book of interest to the student, and work through the reading material with the student, helping with unfamiliar words, comprehension, and fluency. The program doesn't have a set curriculum to follow. I need to come up with some games. The only game I can think of is scrabble. Does anyone else have any ideas--books, online resources, android apps, etc.? Does anyone have any advice on how to help with fluency and comprehension? I have a five-year-old daughter, so I haven't had to address these reading issues yet with her. This program is just starting, so I can't ask an experienced tutor for advice. Thanks! Sherry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura in CA Posted September 20, 2013 Share Posted September 20, 2013 No ideas, sorry, but I'll be watching this thread -- I tutor an adult (non-native speaker) and could really use some ideas, too! And it sounds like an interesting position you'll have! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purplelily Posted September 20, 2013 Share Posted September 20, 2013 http://www.amazon.com/McCall-Crabbs-William-A/dp/0807755486 Pick the level below where they are to help them get up to speed, then transfer them to a higher grade level. Another option: That is similar to the above. http://eps.schoolspecialty.com/products/details.cfm?series=600m Educator's Publishing Service has other comprehension books. Also, find out what their interests are, and get books that in that subject area. You may want to pick a short passage and have them write down the key words, and have them tell it back to you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiewindmomma Posted September 20, 2013 Share Posted September 20, 2013 Activity idea for an artistic struggling reader: drawing pictures for words they are unfamiliar with (envisioning words) Are these kids receiving any O-G method based instruction? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted September 20, 2013 Share Posted September 20, 2013 Bananagrams might be easier to bring around than Scrabble. Hangman is another game that is easy as a warm up game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
podoba01 Posted September 20, 2013 Author Share Posted September 20, 2013 Activity idea for an artistic struggling reader: drawing pictures for words they are unfamiliar with (envisioning words) Are these kids receiving any O-G method based instruction? I know they are receiving some type of phonics instruction, but I don't really know what method they use. I am using All About Reading with my daughter, so I might sneak some of those methods into the lessons once I am more proficient. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
podoba01 Posted September 21, 2013 Author Share Posted September 21, 2013 Bananagrams might be easier to bring around than Scrabble. Hangman is another game that is easy as a warm up game. My daughter really wants that game, so it might be a good excuse to buy it :hurray: Thank you for the suggestion! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
podoba01 Posted September 21, 2013 Author Share Posted September 21, 2013 http://www.amazon.com/McCall-Crabbs-William-A/dp/0807755486 Pick the level below where they are to help them get up to speed, then transfer them to a higher grade level. Another option: That is similar to the above. http://eps.schoolspecialty.com/products/details.cfm?series=600m Educator's Publishing Service has other comprehension books. Also, find out what their interests are, and get books that in that subject area. You may want to pick a short passage and have them write down the key words, and have them tell it back to you. I might have to try this. I will add these links to my favorites, but I have a feeling I won't be getting the same student because the school has attendance issues. I will try having them identify key words. Thank you for all the help! Sherry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barbara H Posted September 21, 2013 Share Posted September 21, 2013 It is hard without knowing more about the reading level or interests of the student. Comics can be good with some older readers - Peanuts, Calvin and Hobbes, etc. If the kid is into sports, the sports section of the newspaper can be a good place to start. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2bee Posted September 21, 2013 Share Posted September 21, 2013 I say print some articles about something that the student likes. Video games, movies, TV shows--wikipedia of Wikia fansites are a good place to get a lot of information about one topic/show/character/fictional world. I There are many word games besides just scrabble, but I am blanking on them. Have you tried Amazon? They recommend similar products. There are companies that publish simplified news papers and high interest, low level books for reading comprehension. Google Adult literacy education. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted September 21, 2013 Share Posted September 21, 2013 If the school is not providing you more information and suggestions I'm going to bet they don't have a good phonics program in place. I'd test these kids in phonics to see what you are dealing with. I use Alpha-Phonics, but there are many programs that are just as good. Here is an interesting testimonial about a teacher using Alpha-phonics to remediate high-school students. The general method could be applied to many other phonics programs. http://www.donpotter.net/pdf/pauls-alpha-phonics-testimo.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ks-sunflower Posted September 22, 2013 Share Posted September 22, 2013 You might try Educational Publishers website http://eps.schoolspecialty.com/# There are plenty of phonics workbooks, leveled readers in varied subject matter, the "Reasoning and Reading" series is excellent for struggling readers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElizabethB Posted September 25, 2013 Share Posted September 25, 2013 I would use my phonics concentration game, the nonsense words are very helpful for identifying and fixing phonics problems. The only age group it does not go over well with is middle school, older kids and adults enjoy it and my young elementary kids love it. http://www.thephonicspage.org/On%20Phonics/concentrationgam.html I have tutored older children and adults for 19 years, the main things I have learned and what I use are here: http://www.thephonicspage.org/On%20Reading/howtotutor.html http://www.thephonicspage.org/On%20Reading/remedialstudents.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CyndiLJ Posted September 25, 2013 Share Posted September 25, 2013 We are working with older (14-15 year old) language learners, and I think you may be shooting too low with some of these resources, considering you are saying they are probably at a 5th or 6th grade level. I would think phonics work would be largely unnecessary with many, but that fluency and vocab development would be more in line, or breaking bad habits of word guessing, etc. I would search the internet for nonsense words to print out and use each day of they are working on fluency and breaking bad habits. That has really helped with our older readers, and is not insulting but can be funny. What about http://www.marieswords.com ? These are an AMAZING tool for developing higher level vocab, as they are SAT words, presented in a visual format. We are using them, and they are indeed high level vocab but presented in such a way that all five of our kids are absolutely remembering them, and able to use them. We do five words at a time, every few days, and after 20-30 words, we have a challenge to see if we can create a one page story using every single word appropriately. We had SO much fun with this! Also, using a newspaper such as USA Today, which is written at a lower level but is for adults, can be very helpful as well. You can bring one in, have them read it for a few minutes and find a story they are interested, then have them practice retelling it to you in their own words, making sure they include all the important info like who, what, when, why, where, how, etc. You also might check out Walch Publishers, who has actual Daily Warm Ups for a variety of subjects. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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