How can I help my son improve his critical reading skill?

[Catherine]

He is 15, a tenth grader, and has never struggled to read. However, as I came to TWTM late, his childhood was saturated with too much twaddle. As a result, he has not learned, and I've not known how to teach him, how to read more difficult works. For example, I am teaching him US history this year (his choice). He's not particularly engaged in this material, but when I assign him a chapter to read, he retains very little. When we try to read something challenging, like The Federalist, he just doesn't seem to have the stamina to struggle with the material enough to get something out of it. I've tried getting him to outline, and the result is he HATES outlining, and still doesn't retain much. I've also thought about assigning him one essay from The Federalist per week, to read daily for five days, and then explain\teach it to me.

 

Tried reading How to Read a Book with him, got through a lot of it, but he's just not implementing the methods it recommends. Help!!

[Anna]

I've tried getting him to outline, and the result is he HATES outlining, and still doesn't retain much.

 

 

Hate to be the bearer of bad news but he really does need to learn some type of outlining skills especially if he plans to attend community college or university.

 

Does he know how to outline a text? If not, find a text that is a few reading levels below his and have him practice on it. Right now you are teaching him two skills:

 

1. how to read more challenging texts

2. how to outline what he reads

 

Learning two skills at one time may be overwhelming for him. First teach him the outlining using simple texts that are easy for him. Once he gets outlining down pat with simple texts, then you can move him up to a higher reading level and have him practice with the more challenging material.

 

Teach one skill at a time, kwim?;)

[Gwen in VA]

For a different point-of-view --

 

My kids all learn VERY differrently from each other. I have one who can't / won't outline, I have one who outlines constantly, I have one who reads and retains, I have one who reads and doesn't get it until he has worked through most of the chapter questions -- which he now does even when I don't assign them!

 

Outlining is a useful skill, but if his brain doesn't "do" outlining, find a different method! Try a different route to cover and review the material.

 

1) Have him answer the general questions at the back of the chapter looking up everything he is unsure of, and then see if his retention is significantly improved.

 

2) Ask him questions at the beginning of the chapter (yes, this involves you pre-reading the material). Ask him to just scribble down notes as he reads, and then go over the material orally. If this method works, gradually switch to HIM pre-reading the material and coming up with the questions and then answering them. This isn't "outlining" per se, but kids can learn just as much this way!

 

(I have found that I deal with ds's biology text best using this method!)

 

3) Ask him to narrate back the chapter to you -- allowing him free access to any scribbles that he makes along the way. Again, it's not outlining, but it's much less intimidating than outlining and really teaches the same skill --- sorting the wheat from the chaff!

 

(This is the method that we use a lot with non-textbook texts like The Prince.)

 

As you are trying these different approaches, make sure that you are trying them with books that are below his reading level! Learning to draw out important material from a text is a hard skill to learn. We let kids practice reading on books that are "too easy" for them, so we should also let them practice learning how to read a text on material that is "too easy" for them.

 

So go slow and easy......

 

Best wishes!

 

~Gwen (who has two kids who gave up outlining in 7th grade and are doing well academically!)

[LoriM]

The only way to learn how to read critically is to have someone who understands the material at least as well as you do discuss it with you intelligently afterwards. I use the jumping off questions SWB lists in WEM for many discussions, but without fail, the only way my kids really read deeply and weigh and consider what they read in order to discuss it with me is when I do the same thing. I have to read it. And not just "skim it" or "recall it" from when I've read it in the past...I have to READ it, with a notebook and a pen and a nice list of page numbers, and lots of questions *I* have carefully answered. I have to bring ME to the table, and then we all read better. Don't dismiss twaddle. I have to bring *ME* to the table when I discuss the twaddle with them too! "Yeah, that was a good book" was okay when they were little, but even then, we had to follow it with "why?" and "what did you like best?" and "did you think she made the right choice?" even when we were talking about Junie B.

 

I don't know about you, but that's the hardest part for me. I have to acknowledge that my children *do* read some books I don't. And then, we can't discuss them. They can tell me about them, and I can coach their summarizing skills (LOL) because I don't want to hear every detail...but I can't really expect CRITICAL thinking from them unless I'm there to be critical right back at 'em. When I am just not able to be that critical backboard, I enroll them in coops or discussion groups with peers. And eventually, I let the college literature courses take my place. But while I was the main source of learning how to read critically, then we read. Together, out loud. Stopping to discuss and dissect. Chapter by chapter. Over dinner. First thing in the morning. Driving to the orthodontist.

 

I agree with Gwen that outlining may or may not work. Notetaking takes many different forms. (Even today, my older daughter takes her sermon notes with little cameo cartoons. It's so frustrating to me, but she can draw an idea faster than I can outline it! LOL!) But reading is hard work, and it will probably come more easily to him when it does it right alongside you. One paragraph at a time, if necessary.

 

Sure, it's easier when you start with Junie B. than The Federalist (grin!) but it's never too late. Instead of assigning him one essay per week, why don't you each take one? You teach him one, and let him teach you one. Of course, that means you have to prepare *two.* Yours and his. It really bites being the teacher. GRIN.

[Anna]

I suggested that you teach your ds to outline his texts because he will need that skill in college. Better to practice and learn it in high school.

 

I have 2 in college and there are times when they are assigned to read 50-75 pgs or more from a college text which has no questions in it and they must be ready to discuss at the next class time. I can't imagine how one could read that much from a text and be able to discuss it in class if they haven't, in some fashion, outlined while reading.

 

I have one dd who prefers to do the traditional outlining (ie, Roman numerals, letters and numbers). My learning challenged dd outlines her reading by pulling out important info and writing it in phrase and/or sentence format.

 

What I'm trying to say---

 

High school is the time to make sure they know some type of outlining method so they will be able to use it easily in college when they're reading texts which have no questions. College students have better success when they know how to outline with some type of method, how to take good lecture notes and how to establish a good systematic way of studying.

[Cindy in WA]

You can be the best teacher in the whole world, but if the student doesn't want to, progress is going to be minimal.

 

At 15, some young men (and young women) see no reason to apply themselves to seemingly boring and painful tasks such as outlining or critical reading.

 

He needs to take ownership of his education. He may do that now, or he may not until college.

 

Do the best you can do, but know that ultimately this is his education. Sometimes it takes the school of hard knocks to see the benefit of "boring" skills.

Cindy

[Moni]

suggested that you teach your ds to outline his texts because he will need that skill in college

 

Then again, there are many of us who went to college and/or grad school and never outline a textbook, so . . . . . :001_huh:

[Anna]

Moni, some students can retain and learn challenging material well without outlining, like in your case. I only posted what I did because Catherine (her words below) can't get her ds to retain what he reads.

 

Btw- Catherine, you didn't mention which outlining method your ds tried. Since you said he hated it, try another outlining method. When a person struggles to retain what they read, engaging more senses in the study process usually increases retention.

 

... he has not learned, and I've not known how to teach him, how to read more difficult works. For example, I am teaching him US history this year (his choice). He's not particularly engaged in this material, but when I assign him a chapter to read, he retains very little. When we try to read something challenging, like The Federalist, he just doesn't seem to have the stamina to struggle with the material enough to get something out of it. I've tried getting him to outline, and the result is he HATES outlining, and still doesn't retain much.

[Nan in Mass]

Maybe he'd rather make spider webs? Or trees? Or fish? (depending on the way the info has to be organized) Or use the Cornell method? Personally, I'd rather do something more graphic than an outline. Mostly, rather than outline, I underlined the important bits in the book with coloured pencils. Reading aloud and telling me the gist of each paragraph has helped my son. Something as simple as me saying, "Not quite. Read it again." really increases my son's understanding. Sometimes, if he is doing it on his own and it is something hard to read, he rewrites the gist of each paragraph or section in the margin in his own words. When he really struggles, he has to rewrite each sentence in his own words and then reread it. Usually it is a matter of not knowing the definition of all the words, or not being able to make sense of unusual grammar structures. Sometimes it is a matter of having to read it so slowly that you can't string it all together and get the overall meaning later on. Rewriting each sentence helps both of those, provided you use the glossary or a dictionary. One of mine is good at picking out the overall meaning and the implications, and one of mine really has to work to see the big picture. I made sure he knew to read the chapter title first and keep it in mind, and then read all the section headings, and THEN read the sections. Reading the summary at the back of a chapter (if it has one) helps sometimes. Sometimes it is just a matter of wanting to understand, or reading it in a quiet place with no distractions so you can keep track of it, or reading at the beginning of the day when you aren't so tired, or in the middle when you've had a chance to wake up, or whatever. Listening on tape can be a bridge to reading it on your own because the reader sort of does the grammar part for you by putting the pauses in the right place and emphasizing the right words. If he's really struggling to make sense of each sentence, though, and you are sure that it isn't just a matter of practice answering textbook questions or wanting to understand it, then probably you are going to have to resort to vocab and grammar. I think, anyway.

 

-Nan

[MaryM]

My ds balks at outlining too but his critical reading skills have developed over time and are now excellent. What I attribute this to is a combination of things. First, LOTS of reading. The more you read, the more opportunity you have to develop your skills. Read for school and read for pleasure. Then, discuss it. This doesn't have to be formal at all. Ask general questions, just like a previous poster mentioned. They can be the same questions for every assignment at first too. Read newspapers, online articles, comic books as well as the classics. But read lots.

 

Secondly, writing several essays every week on the assigned material has greatly contributed to critical reading. If you know you are going to have to put together a cogent piece then you will naturally read more closely the first time through! Besides, writing and reading go hand in hand, imho. You can't truly begin to think critically about what you read till you are forced to put pen to paper. The mental process of crafting an essay helps you distill what you have read. Sometimes I use a paper topic as the initial discussion and then have him write the essay.

 

Thirdly, I think that as the reader grows he can benefit from a more formal critical reading approach. I've posted this before but it is still useful: How to do a close read:

http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~wricntr/documents/CloseReading.html

 

Lastly, if you want to start simply and also gain some ground for standardized tests, do daily one of the SAT or ACT critical reading parts.

 

No doubt you will get more professional advice but this is what I have learned, so far!

 

 

 

Mary

Edited October 20, 2008 by MaryM
spelling

[Catherine]

I agree absolutely that outlining of some kind is needed. I also agree that I need to teach and review everything we do. He is capable of outlining, and does do it. It's more that it doesn't seem to be very effective in helping him to retain the material. What I'm hoping for is to find a way to help him to retain, and resources to improve his critical reading skills. Any other methods that are out there, besides what we are already doing? I do read what he reads, and we discuss, but maybe not enough for him to really retain well. Thanks all!

[Carol in Cal.]

Maybe a word roots program would be good.

 

Also, have you supplemented with Teaching Company videos or something like that? Maybe his learning style would be better suited to a lecture approach.

[Catherine]

And his retention of the material is no better with video than with reading. I am teaching him how to outline as he listens and this is going well. Thanks for the thoughts though!

[Anna]

He is capable of outlining, and does do it. It's more that it doesn't seem to be very effective in helping him to retain the material.

 

Catherine,

 

My LD 18yo still struggles some with critical reading and comprehension. She does sentence/phrase outlining when she reads and then she has to study her outlines on a daily basis. Writing weekly essays also helps her to step up these skills.