Boost 8th grader's reading comprehension

[Garga]

I gave my son a standardized test this week (Stanford 10). I checked the answers for myself (though I will send it back to the company to get the offical results from their scantron machine), just to see what he got right or wrong.

 

I was a bit surprised at how many reading comprehension questions he got wrong. He usually does fine on those.

 

And then when I checked the math word problems, science, and social science questions, he got a number of those wrong, too. Grammar, vocab, and spelling were great.

 

When I went over the wrong answers with him (not changing his answer sheet), the refrain kept being, "Oh! Duh! I read the question wrong!"

 

He's 13 and his voice has recently started changing and he's getting fuzz on his lip. Puberty has kicked into high gear.

 

I don't know whether this reading comprehension issue is because of hormones. If it is, then I know we just have to ride it out.

 

But if he's struggling for real with reading comprehension, then what can I do to help? I can't necessarily just wait a couple of years and hope for the best, since I don't know for sure it's hormones. It could be something else. He's never been a big reader. He reads for pleasure very, very rarely. He's a listener--listens to podcasts quite a bit.

 

I believe there are reading comprehension workbooks out there. Are they effective? Anyone else try to bolster an 8th grader's reading comprehension? We're heading into adult classics next year (not kid classics). Plus he'll be reading his biology text and world history text entirely on his own. Well, that was the plan. This is a terrible time for his reading comprehension to falter!

Edited April 27, 2016 by Garga_

[Tess in the Burbs]

my kids needed some extra help after testing last year.  They are doing Reading Detective from Critical Thinking Co.  It's varied in the types of things they read, but the questions are good.  You have to often find a sentence that would imply something.  So reading into the meaning of conversations and such.  And this year, the reading comprehension section was easier for them.  And they did better.

[Garga]

my kids needed some extra help after testing last year. They are doing Reading Detective from Critical Thinking Co. It's varied in the types of things they read, but the questions are good. You have to often find a sentence that would imply something. So reading into the meaning of conversations and such. And this year, the reading comprehension section was easier for them. And they did better.

This post makes me feel better about the test and handling this issue. Your kids were close to the age/level he is now, it appears. Yes, there were a few questions where I wondered why he didn't get the implication of things. There were some questions where the answers were all "correct" but you had to pick the "best" answer. He was somewhat at a loss with those. He couldn't quite see the subtle differences that would make one correct answer better than another correct answer. Like for one, it asked what would make the best thesis statement on a report about exercise. He chose, "Exercise is really good," over "Exercise benefits every system in the body." Both were "correct" but the second one is clearly better. Well...clearly to me. Not to him!

 

And some things were where he just flat out wasn't really paying attention. Like, if he was asked to list numbers from greatest to least, he did them from least to greatest.

 

Thanks for the response and suggested book.

Edited April 27, 2016 by Garga

[Arcadia]

After oldest did worse at reading comprehension section of the Stanford 10 in 4th grade, he did Reading Detective and Jacobs Ladder. Before he took the ACT this year in 6th for talent search, he did four sets of ACT practice tests as test prep. It did pay off as his reading comprehension percentile on standardised tests keep going up. (ETA: low 80s percentile in 2nd to mid 90s last year)

 

Both my kids need test prep to choose the answer the examiner is looking for. Else they lose marks on choosing the second best answer.

 

ETA:

He did A1 and B1. A passage daily

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

 

He did the Jacobs ladder for 5/6th grade

http://www.prufrock.com/Jacobs-Ladder-Reading-Comprehension-Program-Level-3-Grades-5-6-P354.aspx

Edited April 27, 2016 by Arcadia

[madteaparty]

Listening in because my kid who tests "gifted" on verbal areas also performs less than expected on reading comp. it's always because he rushed through...ugh

[Arcadia]

. it's always because he rushed through...ugh

Test prep is all about pacing, which is vital for my slow reader. I'll see how my speedster fare for SAT in June. He is more careless but no penalty for wrong answers in the new SAT.

 

The 5 steps to 5 books are useful for my slow reader.

[mom31257]

For some strange reason, my almost 13 yo boy forgot that apostrophes exist.

 

I'm following this to hopefully put my mind at ease!

[BlsdMama]

Looking beyond the test, how's his spelling?

[Paige]

I think there's nothing better, even at 13, than reading out loud, together, something hard. Alternate pages, chapters, or paragraphs- whatever works best, and pause every once in a while to talk about what's going on, his thoughts, what he should be understanding or picking up on, and double checking vocabulary. My DS hated it because he felt it took twice as long, but I saw a huge improvement in his reading comprehension. 

[OnMyOwn]

I like the EPS books.  http://eps.schoolspecialty.com/products/literacy/comprehension/reading-comprehension/about-the-program

[Miss Mousie]

My son benefited from 501 Reading Comprehension Questions (free, and linked in this thread:  http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/406968-reading-comprehension-and-grammar-review-ideas-needed/?hl=%2B501+%2Breading+%2Bcomprehension+%2Bquestions&do=findComment&comment=4110517). 

 

 

[ElizabethB]

I like this:

 

https://classicalacademicpress.com/product/reasoning-reading-level-two/

 

I would also check his reading grade level and get him up to the 12th grade level before next year if possible if he is below that.

 

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

 

I also like the 1879 McGuffey readers for building up vocab and comprehension.

Edited May 2, 2016 by ElizabethB

[HomeschoolingHearts&Minds]

My son benefited from 501 Reading Comprehension Questions (free, and linked in this thread:  http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/406968-reading-comprehension-and-grammar-review-ideas-needed/?hl=%2B501+%2Breading+%2Bcomprehension+%2Bquestions&do=findComment&comment=4110517). 

The link in that thread is old and now redirects to a corporate home page.  Does anyone know if this ebook is still available somewhere on the web?  

[HomeschoolingHearts&Minds]

Ah, perhaps this is it? http://english.a222.org/wp-content/uploads/501_Reading_Comprehension_Question.pdf

[Miss Mousie]

The link in that thread is old and now redirects to a corporate home page.  Does anyone know if this ebook is still available somewhere on the web?  

 

I'm sorry - I should have checked before posting.

 

The one you linked doesn't look exactly the same, but it's definitely the same idea - and still free.  :)

[gstharr]

            I've posted before that reading comprehension is full of test tricks and traps, especially painful for the overconfident.  Spent a considerable amount of time and practice test with my rising 6th grader.   Had to teach him the testing strategy.   Simply cannot read the passage once, then go answer the five questions.  No, must re-read/skim the passage again for each question.  Then, the last question is usually the "inference" question--- if the passage was on bird wings, for example, the wrong answer is the one that summarizes that bird wings come in many shapes and sizes.  The correct answer is something like birds adapt to their environment.

 

On fill in the blank(s), must read carefully for the answer clues in the sentence.  Then watch out for the modifiers in the sentence,-- the  but, however, since, alll, eventhough etc, that could reverse the answer.  On multiple blanks in a sentence, have to check that the other word makes sense using the clues and watching out for those modifiers.  

 

My son did a practice passage or two every week  from old isee, psat , sat test materials.  It took him a while to get the knack of  test taking.  Now, he has exceptional performances.   good luck. 

[gstharr]

            I've posted before that reading comprehension is full of test tricks and traps, especially painful for the overconfident.  Spent a considerable amount of time and practice test with my rising 6th grader.   Had to teach him the testing strategy.   Simply cannot read the passage once, then go answer the five questions.  No, must re-read/skim the passage again for each question.  Then, the last question is usually the "inference" question--- if the passage was on bird wings, for example, the wrong answer is the one that summarizes that bird wings come in many shapes and sizes.  The correct answer is something like birds adapt to their environment.

 

On fill in the blank(s), must read carefully for the answer clues in the sentence.  Then watch out for the modifiers in the sentence,-- the  but, however, since, alll, eventhough etc, that could reverse the answer.  On multiple blanks in a sentence, have to check that the other word makes sense using the clues and watching out for those modifiers.  

 

My son did a practice passage or two every week  from old isee, psat , sat test materials.  It took him a while to get the knack of  test taking.  Now, he has exceptional performances.   good luck. 

[gstharr]

I've posted before that reading comp is full of test tricks and traps.  I spent a considerable amount of time teaching my rising 6th grader the test taking strategy.  First, simply cannot read the passage once, and then go on to answer the five questions.  Must re-read/skim for each questions.  Then, on the last question which is usually the "inference" question must stop and think.  For example if the passage was on bird wings, the wrong answer is the one that summarizes that bird wings come in many shapes and sizes.  The correct answer is something like birds adapt to their environment.

 

On fill in the blank questions, look for the answer clues in the questions.. They are there.  Then watch out for the modifiers ---the all, some, but, however, since, etc, --that negates the most obvious answer.  On multiple blanks question, one word will be perfect, but the other word makes no sense.  Must check that each word works, by reading the sentence back with the fill in words. .  Most of the time the correct answer is not the one with the perfect word.

 

We practiced for several months with a passage or two each week from isee, psat, sat and kaplan materials.  This is now the cruise part of the exam for him. good luck.

[fourisenough]

Another vote for the "...Detective" series from Critical Thinking Company. We've used Reading, Science, and will use World History Detective next year. I think they are great for improving reading comprehension strategies and also for exposure to content areas (if you use the science or history books). The straight reading covers fiction and non-fiction reading selections.

[LauraBeth475]

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