Comprehension Activities for Barton stories?

[PeterPan]

Has anybody used these?  They're terribly pricy, but I think ds might need them.  He wouldn't be able to answer those questions even if *I* read him the story.  Add in the reading, and I think the whole thing will fall apart.

 

Or, put another way, I STILL don't have the report from the psych but I know we have issues with sequencing, narration, etc., as in he can't do it.  I think the psych is giving him a language disorder label on top of the reading disorder.  That's what I'm waiting to see in the write-up.  That means I don't have the right terms to know what to start doing about it, and not like I can do everything at once anyway.  I don't know if that will mean a 2nd type of therapy or additional materials to work on expressive language or what.  Sigh.

 

I've just spent days now worried that those stories in Barton 3 will be a no go and then I saw the extra comprehension activities (for $50 a level, oy) and realized that would make a HUGE difference for him.  Otherwise he'll just finish and have no clue what he read. He also has the social delays and attention issues, and these stories may be boring (taxing the attention) and are definitely requiring social thinking to comprehend.  

 

I've known for years we were going to have issues with reading comprehension.  You can just see the writing on the wall.  He wouldn't be able to answer most questions even during read alouds.  Maybe that would be an argument in favor of doing SL with him?  But even then you're not necessarily getting questions specific to helping a person with multiple labels engage and comprehend.  My assumption was that if I plunk out for these $$$ Comprehension Activities for the stories, I'm learning a bunch of techniques I can carry over to other things, sort of getting my *own* training in it.  

 

Btw, did y'all know Barton trained on Wilson?  I didn't realize that!  She's definitely super shazam brilliant.  I just wish it didn't cost so much for those extras, sigh.

[Julie of KY]

I suppose you mean the ones by Supporting Dyslexia - I had never heard of these before today so I don't really have an opinion. However, if you think they'll be helpful then I'd get them - ultimately it's a whole lot cheaper than doing nothing and paying for it later.

[PeterPan]

I suppose you mean the ones by Supporting Dyslexia - I had never heard of these before today so I don't really have an opinion. However, if you think they'll be helpful then I'd get them - ultimately it's a whole lot cheaper than doing nothing and paying for it later.

Hmm, that's food for thought.  I also found an old post by Razarbackmama saying she had gotten them and liked them.  I just know when I watched them it was an instant yes, that's what he needs.  I'm cool with going with my gut and getting them, but I wish I had that psych write-up so I'd have some explanation of the whys behind this or confirmation it's necessary.  We have our first IEP meeting for the MFE mid-January, so I left a message asking him if he could possibly get it done by then.  We'll see.

[Julie of KY]

I think trusting your gut is always good, reguardless of what the psych report says.

 

[Lecka]

And I think I might wait for the report!  How long will it be until you get it?  

 

I would not count on those to be the right level for him.  

 

If he is going to possibly get a language disorder diagnosis, who knows if they are going to fit his current level.

 

If you can look at them and feel like they are appropriate for him, then I would go for it, they do look good.

 

If it might be that he is not ready for that level, I would wait.  Unless it is a situation where you would like to have them on hand when it is time -- then I think that can be nice, and you can be looking towards them.  

 

I think -- trust your gut that it is necessary and trust your gut that this looks like a quality program.

 

I think -- wait for the psych report to see if this is what his current level is -- maybe this is a quality program that will be a better fit for him in a couple of years -- it is possible.

 

I think you could also ask your speech therapist.  I think a speech therapist could also have an opinion on whether this is a good introductory level or if there are more appropriate things to do first, that might still be aimed at younger kids instead of at older kids.  

 

B/c this is a reading comprehension program, this is not an expressive language program.  He may need a broader expressive language program, and this may work as one part of it.  Or it may be that he would be better off broadening his expressive language base, before working as much on reading comprehension.

 

Off the top of my head ----- I would ask, is he able to do all these comprehension-type things with real-life events that he has participated in?  Can you ask him questions about things that happened at Christmas in your home or at church or in the community, etc, and can he answer those questions and show an understanding?  

 

That might be an easier level, b/c it is concrete things he has participated in.  

 

Then -- I have seen things where you start with writing concrete stories (a paragraph) for things you know the child is very familiar with.  

 

Then -- actually reading/listening to a story with new information and with more abstract information, is a higher level.  Plenty of kids start at that higher level.  

 

But plenty of kids start at the lower level, too.  

 

I think -- if you are concerned about some things that are on a more Kindergarten-ish level, it does not make sense to skip ahead to things that might be for more of a slightly older child.  Or they might be a good level for him right now.  

 

Really -- overall, I worry that this might be a higher level, and not the top priority if he turns out to have more needs with expressive language in general.  

 

I would at least e-mail and ask if there is an age level they usually start with.  I would e-mail again when you know his scores and areas of need, and ask if this program is targeted for these needs.  And then -- you may use it to target a certain area within the comprehension/expressive area.  

 

But you also might end up with some kind of program that focuses on expressive language, and includes reading comprehension, and this might be a repeat of something included in a more inclusive program.  

 

But on the other hand -- if you are doing Barton anyway, it seems like this would be a good thing to do in that way.  

 

But I think it all depends on -- when you watch the sample-lesson video, do you think "he will be able to get this/be led through this," or do you think, "I will be filling in all the blanks, but I hope he is picking something up from exposure to it."  If you are thinking he will be sitting there while you answer both sides, I might still get it to do since you are using Barton and he will be reading these stories anyway.  But I would think that is a sign he needs to have a lower level.  If you think it will be hard and non-obvious but that he will be able to be active in responding to the questions, then I think that sounds more like it is a good level.  

[Lecka]

I would be interested to know if you use anything else for comprehension, or what you end up using and liking.  

[PeterPan]

I would be interested to know if you use anything else for comprehension, or what you end up using and liking.  

I know, I'm waiting to see what happens with his report.  There seem to be glitches with how he processes stuff.  (homonyms, prepositions, be-verbs, etc)  Someone backchannel was suggesting it's the product of being very VSL, that things that don't visualize so easily are harder to distinguish and pin down.  Maybe? It was at least interesting to ponder.  I love the way Barton explores things via where phrases, did what phrases, who phrases.  It's another way to get logically into to vs. two vs. too...  

 

I have a workbook by DeGaetano the SLP recommended but I haven't tried it yet.  Story of my life, lol.  

 

I also don't think everything is language processing.  Some of the techniques seemed like the SQ4R thing, where you're asking questions to help them engage, predict, interact, and ultimately attend.  They would be good techniques no matter what the label, just unnecessary for some kids.

[Heather R]

I am looking at the Supporting Dyslexia resources now and wondered if you went ahead with them, OhElizabeth?  If so, what did you think?  Are they even close to being worth $50?

Thanks!

[PeterPan]

You know I didn't because, well because they're $50, ouch.  We're plowing through the stories for level 3, and he's having so many odd problems I finally wrote Barton again and she says get those, that they'll help.  

 

I think *in general* you could wait and see if your dc even needs them.  I get the impression they're not *typically* necessary for dyslexics, that they're more typically necessary for kids who have more issues.  We're so close to getting through level 3, at this point I'm not going to bother.  However for level 4, I'm probably going to buckle down and follow her advice and get them.  She said they include a bunch of other things that I'll need for him.  But he's not only dyslexia, kwim?  If your dc is reading the stories and it's going ok, you're ok, kwim? 

 

Adding, ask me in a week, lol.  He's struggling so much with the full page stories, I may go back and have him read them several more times.  And if I do that, I might as well get the comprehension kits.  I mean it's that crunchy for him.  His decoding is improving by leaps and bounds, but the full page reading, oy.

[PeterPan]

Ok, I went ahead and bought them.  I got the level 3 and 4 set.  Barton already told me my ds needs them, and with the price break on buying the two together I might as well.  He's so crunchy, he could stand to read through all the stories again, meaning we can try the techniques for all of them.  I'm really interested to see what they do with them and what techniques they'll bring that I can carry over to other sources.  See that to me is worth something, to learn more ways to approach this.  It's just so odd to me, this struggle.  Whatever.  I guess I'll see if they send me a link or something.  

[OneStepAtATime]

Good luck OhE!

[PeterPan]

They must personally approve them and send a link, because I've received nothing.  Just in case y'all are thinking instant gratification, lol...

[Heather R]

Good luck! I'm not expecting Thomas to need them, per se, but I plan to use Barton to teach my ESL son when he is ready to learn to read. And I think he will definitely need the comprehension help. So I kind of wondered if I should just get them now... Ugh... I wish money were no object!!

[PeterPan]

Nah, don't buy problems you don't have.  My ds has an off the charts vocabulary.  Literally, like 99th percentile.  He knows all those words (which an ESL dc might not).  His issue, I don't know.  Grammar doesn't connect, the stamina isn't there, the anxiety of approaching the page, just the whole thing together.  It honestly takes my breath away.  It's not something you're likely to have happen if the dc is neurologically intact, seriously.  I mean, we've had NOBODY here on the boards using those stories even though scads of people here use Barton.  It's just not a common scenario.

 

And yes, I know about the money.  I spent over an hour on the phone with a friend trying to sort through whether I'm doing a good job, whether I need to fight for more funding or give up, etc.  And she says you know, YOU are the important one, YOU are what he needs, that the CHARACTER he develops by being with you, the work ethic and perseverance and gentleness, will be worth more than therapy even.  She asked me what I pray for him, and I tell her I pray for God to give him what he NEEDS, since I don't always know what he needs.  I know what I wish I could give him (unfurl long list of ideas!), but I don't know what he NEEDS.  And says God already gave you your answer, and it's in the mirror.  

 

I just think there's a lot to that.  It's why I didn't buy the comprehension activities in the first place, because I really felt if we could get by without them, just using what I could do myself (I'm not exactly oblivious, lol), maybe that would be good enough.  I'm buying them because Barton said they would help our problem and because I've done everything I know how.  I clearly need something more meta, some more tools than what I have.  But I don't think that's common.  I do think our kids need us and what we give them as humans almost as much as they need any of these boughten materials and that we shouldn't underestimate the long-term power and benefit and gift of that.  

 

Good morning to you, sermon over.  :)