Reading aloud problems....

[StaceyL in Canada]

My youngest son (9)reads a fair bit but when I have him read aloud, he still makes frequent errors--not in the sense of being unable to decode words, but doing things such as dropping the "s" at the end of a verb, or skipping the word "the." I haven't had him read aloud much to me this year but he still makes such mistakes when I do. How do you address this sort of issue? It's frustrating to me to listen to and frustrating to him to be corrected too often!

 

I'm also having difficulty in getting him to read/ recite poetry with any sort of expression. I've always done poetry memorization as part of our studies and although I model using expression in reading (whether poetry or other), he still recites pretty much in a monotone. I'm not looking for exaggerated dramatics here--just a little expression! Any thoughts on how to address that?

[Julie in MN]

My youngest son (9)reads a fair bit but when I have him read aloud, he still makes frequent errors--not in the sense of being unable to decode words, but doing things such as dropping the "s" at the end of a verb, or skipping the word "the." I haven't had him read aloud much to me this year but he still makes such mistakes when I do. How do you address this sort of issue? It's frustrating to me to listen to and frustrating to him to be corrected too often!

 

I work as a tutor & teach these as 2 separate skills. I often "confide" in the child that it's usually the best readers who have trouble reading aloud. This seems to make it feel like a compliment & not a criticism. Then I explain that good readers often "know" what they're reading & skip through it quickly, but when reading aloud they must learn to read very differently because their listener cannot see what they see.

 

I'm also having difficulty in getting him to read/ recite poetry with any sort of expression. I've always done poetry memorization as part of our studies and although I model using expression in reading (whether poetry or other), he still recites pretty much in a monotone. I'm not looking for exaggerated dramatics here--just a little expression! Any thoughts on how to address that?

 

I think exaggeration might be a good tool to use, especially with a boy. Make it silly & fun. I remember doing Shakespeare aloud with my daughter & exaggeration made all the difference in her understanding of what she was reading.

 

Because what it often comes down to is that there is no expression where there is no understanding. Does he have a good understanding? I find with my son that when we discuss things like poetry & art, he often has a completely different or even wrong understanding of what we're looking at. One time we were looking at several sweet, pensive girls -- he declared they were bored.

[Mandamom]

I work as a tutor & teach these as 2 separate skills. I often "confide" in the child that it's usually the best readers who have trouble reading aloud. This seems to make it feel like a compliment & not a criticism. Then I explain that good readers often "know" what they're reading & skip through it quickly, but when reading aloud they must learn to read very differently because their listener cannot see what they see.

 

I agree. The more practice the better he should become with read alouds. Yes, it can be frustrating to correct all the time but if you practice daily it should get better. When I was homeschooling I read aloud with my son until the end (8th grade. Also, I read out loud with my tutoring/school students still and the improvement over the year has been dramatic.