Tips/Encouragement for a Struggling Reader :-(

[Ktede]

Hi all,

 

DS just turned 10 last month and is testing (using a couple different assessments) at a late 3rd grade level (about a year behind).  His fluency is very good, his vocabulary very good--it's the comprehension that is bringing down the overall score.

 

Also, he hates reading.  Loves being read to, but moans and groans every time I tell him to read to me or to himself (which is daily)--I even let him choose his books!

 

Anyway, I'm becoming increasingly more nervous because he is transitioning back to public school in the fall and I don't want him to be behind.  

 

I'm hoping for 2 things:

 

1) Am I right to be concerned or am I overreacting?  Is 1 year behind a big deal?  

2) tips to improve his comprehension over the summer

 

Things we've been doing (constantly, but not formally): discussing unfamiliar words, looking for context clues, discussing author's purpose, character traits, setting/plot, etc.

 

Thanks everyone :)

 

 

 

 

[OneStepAtATime]

So when he reads out loud to you he reads smoothly?  No problems with decoding and fluency at all?  No skipping of the smaller words?  What about his reading speed?

 

If he listens to an audio book or a read aloud, does comprehension improve vs. reading something on his own?

[FO4UR]

If his comprehension is a struggle when he's reading to himself, but not when he's listening to you read aloud, I would guess he has a decoding problem.  He might decode well enough to look like he's doing OK on tests, but not well enough to read with ease and for enjoyment.

 

 

2 Things - Buddy Read and Word Build with words that are coming up in his reading.

 

 

I put Companions for the Treadwell Readers together to help my struggling readers.  (In my siggie, click the homegrown resources at lulu.com) They take the tough words out from the stories and break them apart by morpheme, decode, build back up. Then when they hit these words in the story, they are familiar and the story flows.  When the story flows, comprehension comes.

 

 

[Ktede]

Yes--when he listens to an audiobook (I have him follow along), and when I read to him, his comprehension improves.

 

He reads aloud well--he does miss some of the smaller words but not very often, and he rarely stumbles over a word unless it's completely unfamiliar to him.

[Storygirl]

If he stumbles over an unfamiliar word, is he able to figure it out? Can he sound it out? Would he try to guess the word instead of sounding it out? How is his spelling? Did he do well with phonics when he was learning to read?

 

On the one hand, reading at a third grade level when you have just turned ten is not far off the mark. My daughter is just turning ten, and she just finished third grade, for example. And there is enough natural variance in reading ability that someone could be developing skills slowly but surely.

 

On the other hand, some children can read at grade level but still have an underlying reading disability. Some children become sight readers or good guessers based on context and so can read fluently while still lacking essential phonological skills. I suggest googling stealth dyslexia, not because I necessarily think your son may be dyslexic, but because that it can be helpful to learn about the ways that reading difficulties can be masked and are sometimes undiscovered until children get older and meet more challenging reading material.

 

 

 

[FO4UR]

Yes--when he listens to an audiobook (I have him follow along), and when I read to him, his comprehension improves.

 

He reads aloud well--he does miss some of the smaller words but not very often, and he rarely stumbles over a word unless it's completely unfamiliar to him.

 

 

I'd keep working on word building, and pull words from the books he's reading.

 

Have him read a page or 2 and ask him to tell back what he just read.  Do that every 1-2 pages, just taking a quick minute to narrate each time.  Then see how he does at the end of the chapter.  If it were me, I would be happy with a good oral narration from a 9yo.  Understanding that you are preparing him for PS, I'd have him do narrations like this over the summer before taking any comprehension quizzes.  Then, I'd try to coach him how to do those quick narrations in his head as he reads.  I don't think most comprehension quizzes add to the educational value of a book, so...you might take my advice with a large grain of salt.

 

I still do this as an adult; get to the bottom of a page and have to ask myself what I just read.  That is essentially narration, only adults generally do it internally rather than orally.  Children developmentally need to talk it out.

[Julie of KY]

I'd look at stealth dyslexia as mentioned above.

 

I'd also get a vision screeening by a COVD doc or someone familiar with vision therapy. It could be that he's exhausting his energy on converging his eyes and scanning the page and has no reserve left to comprehend what he's reading.

 

Keep reading at a level that is comfortable for him. Keep asking questions -- something's up, you just need to figure out what.

[Arcadia]

His fluency is very good, his vocabulary very good--it's the comprehension that is bringing down the overall score.

 

Reading detective was helpful for my DS9 in terms of reading comprehension tests. He has no issues with literature but when it comes to reading comprehension tests, there is not enough time for him to do multiple re-reads of the test passages.

Link to the 3rd grade workbook

http://www.criticalthinking.com/reading-detective-beginning.html