Reading Comprehension Strategies Struggling Readers: Reading Strategies For Elementary

Reading Comprehension Strategies Struggling Readers: Reading Strategies For Elementary

This article discusses how chunking, monitoring, and listening strategies help improve reading comprehension.

Chunking means to to break up text that may be too long or difficult for a child, into manageable sections or "chunks." Chunking helps students organize information, making it easier for them to pull information together for a better understanding of the main idea of the text.

Let's look at examples of how to use chunking to improve comprehension. First I will show you a regular text passage, then explain how to use chunking, and show you examples of chunked text.

Regular Text Passage:

Michael's birthday party was on Saturday. He got so many presents he didn't know what to do. His toy chest, closet, and drawers were already all filled up and he didn't know where to put his new toys and clothes. His new stuff was all over his room and his mother kept coming in and telling him to find a place to put it. Michael was so frustrated that he decided to take a break and look through his old baseball cards in the garage. While he was out there, he saw some of his toys from when he was in preschool. That was when he got his big idea. Michael asked his mom if he could donate his old toys to other children who did not have a lot of toys. She said "Yes." Now he would have room for all of his new toys and clothes.

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How to Use Chunking

Break the passage into separate sections. After the student reads each section have them monitor their own comprehension by asking questions about what they don't understand, explaining or writing the passage in their own words, and making predictions about what will happen next.

After practicing several times with you, encourage them to try these strategies on their own. When they first start using this technique independently, chunk the text for them. While they read each chunk of the passage, have them jot down questions they have so they can ask you later, look up words they don't know, rewrite or say the passage in their own words, and make predictions about what will happen next. Once they get the hang of using these strategies, encourage them to to start making chunks on their own with future passages. As you notice considerable improvement in reading comprehension, have the child take on more difficult, longer passages.

Example of Chunking

Chunk 1:
Michael's birthday party was on Saturday. He got so many presents he didn't know what to do.

Chunk 2:
His toy chest, closet, and drawers were already all filled up and he didn't know where to put his new toys and clothes. His new stuff was all over his room and his mother kept coming in and telling him to find a place to put it.

Chunk 3:
Michael was so frustrated that he decided to take a break and look through his old baseball cards in the garage. While he was out there, he saw some of his toys from when he was in preschool. That was when he got his big idea.

Chunk 4:
Michael asked his mom if he could donate his old toys to other children who did not have a lot of toys. She said "Yes." Now he would have room for all of his new toys and clothes.

You might be asking yourself, "How do I make these chunks?" There are several methods you can use. If you can write in the book itself, you can draw lines in between sections, highlight sections different colors, underline sections, or circle sections. If you cannot write in the book you can photocopy the pages and use these same methods. If you are a parent and do not have access to a copy machine, you can ask your child's school if they are able to make copies for you. If none of the options are doable, or if you just want another chunking method, you can cover up the chunks with a blank piece of paper or index card, only exposing the ones you are reading or have already read.

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Side Note* Children who have significant difficulty sounding out new words or automatically recalling familiar words often lose meaning when reading. If you are working with a child who has significant difficulty reading words, you may want to try very small chunks to help with comprehension. Below is an example of very small chunks, using an excerpt from the passage above:

Michael's birthday party - was on Saturday.
He got so many presents, - he didn't know what to do.
His toy chest, closet, and drawers were already all filled up - he didn't know where to put his new toys and clothes.

Here are some questions you can have the child answer after reading each chunk:

Michael's birthday party - Who had a party?

was on Saturday - When was the party?

He got so many presents - What happened?

he didn't know what to do - How do you think he feels?

His toy chest, closet, and drawers were already all filled up - What is Michael's room like?

he didn't know where to put his new toys and clothes - What problem is Michael having?

Once your child or student gets the hang of answering these types of questions, teach them to ask themselves and answer similar questions when reading small chunks in future passages. Have them practice coming up with questions and answering them in front of you until you are confident that they have the hang of it.

Listening

Another excellent strategy to help students develop their comprehension skills is listening to someone read while they read along. Listening while reading helps with comprehension because students who struggle to understand text, are often able to understand the same information when it is spoken. Studies show children often learn better when taught using different modes at the same time. This is called multimodal teaching. In this example the two modes are auditory - hearing the words, and visual- seeing the words. This strategy can also improve a child's ability to recognize words automatically (sight-word recognition).

Pay Close Attention Here-

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Within our current education system we are often so focused on 'child based learning' and on constructivism (an established theory of knowing and learning rather than a theory of teaching) and teachers often do not realise that there is a serious lack of supporting evidence for its effectiveness in teaching children to read. Unfortunately this 'method' of teaching reading- the 'whole-language' approach to teaching and learning - reflects this philosophy of learning, and has been the predominant approach for early literacy teaching and learning throughout English - speaking countries (Pearson, 2000; Westwood, 1999, 2004). This approach assumes that children are inherently active, self-regulating learners who construct knowledge for themselves, with teachers needing to give little or no explicit decoding instruction.

While this may be OK for many children there are around 20 - 30% who will fail. In Queensland (Australia) for example there are estimated to be around 20% of children who aren't reading to the expected level by the age of 10 according to NAPLAN testing. This group of around 20 - 30% of our children also include those who are from disadvantaged backgrounds who often do not have rich phonological knowledge and phonemic awareness upon which to base new learning. Being taught using this 'whole language' method has the effect of compounding their disadvantage once they begin school. This is particularly the case for children from non-English speaking backgrounds, including Indigenous children where English may be their second or third language. So why do so many people advocate their method- and use it? Results show over and over again that this does not facilitate literacy development and achievement for ALL children.

The 'Your Baby Can Read' product is based on this method of teaching reading. It is advertised around the world with their video series having been run on cable television for years. Recently however the Federal Trade Commission received a complaint arguing that the product amounts to deceptive marketing.

On a basic level the Federal Trade Commission will look to the program name- and it's promise 'Your Baby Can Read!'

According to the World English Dictionary- 'baby' - means ' a newborn or recently born child; infant ' Most would describe a baby as a child under the age of one- and a toddler thereafter- generally when they start to 'toddler' around on their feet. So it is not developmentally possible for a 'baby' to 'read'.

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The program also does not appear to clearly define what they consider 'to read' to actually mean.

Teaching very young children, who are already talking (ie older than 'babies') to recognise whole words is not something new. Even very young brains have the capacity to memorize whole words - as is the main component within the 'Your Baby Can Read' (YBCR) program, and to link them with meaning ie see 'wave' and do the action. However this does not directly correlate with learning to 'read' and certainly not to develop the skills required to 'spell' words which is interlined with literacy development. It could do more harm than good for many if parents are encouraged to push children into something they are developmentally not ready for. We don't expect them to start running at the age of 6 months- so it would be laughable to buy trainers and start manually moving their legs back and forth quickly in a quest to develop an Olympic runner. Moving legs back and forth in the air quickly isn't running- and memorizing words isn't 'reading'.

Children need to learn to speak before learning to read- ie our spoken word recorded on paper in text. Babies begin to develop language/ speech at different rates however when young enough to be called 'babies' they are not yet talking. They are developmentally unable to say the words on the 'YBCR' flash cards. The name of the product is being investigated for deceptive advertising, and a recommendation will probably be that the name be changed to more accurately convey what is achievable ie indicating that the product may help toddlers to memorize the shapes of words.

According to the National Institute of Child Health Human Development: only 5% of children learn to read effortlessly, 20 - 30% of children learn to read relatively easily once exposed to formal instruction, and for the remaining 60% of children, learning to read represents a considerable challenge. For at least 20 - 30%, learning to read is one of the most difficult tasks they will ever encounter during their school years. 74% of the children who have reading problems in the 3rd grade, continue with the problems into the 9th grade.

According to National Assessment of Educational Progress, approximately one-third of all poor performers in fourth grade have college-educated parents. Fortunately, 90% - 95% of poor readers can greatly increase reading skills through prevention and early intervention programs that focus predominantly on teaching children about the alphabet code using synthetic phonics. We must teach these children explicitly and directly using (synthetic) phonics if we are to help them before they completely 'switch off'. The problem is that many don't recognise who these children are until already failing- with 'phonics' being used as some type of remedial program. Why not just teach all to 'de-code'- and to develop phonological awareness from the very beginning? This is something that is not included within the 'YBCR' program.

Parents should not despair- they can help their children themselves for free, and potentially help them far more in the short and long term. Parents can start listening for sounds in words very early on with children- alongside their individual language development. When they can say the word 'cat' they can also learn to hear the sounds in cat ie c+a+t (sounds not letter names) Start looking for the pictures of those sounds in their environment and in words when sharing books- ie the picture of the sound 'buh' looks like this b (focus on lower case) In the early years children need to learn that we read words from left to right, and that the sounds in the words correspond with the sounds we make with our mouths when saying them aloud. Listen for how many sounds there are in words- and what phonemes/ digraphs etc are used to represent them.

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Ask children listen to words 'sounded out' slowly (ie blending) and we manipulate sounds. (what word would be say if we took the 'r' out of 'frog' etc. ) Basically developing phonological awareness- teaching using synthetic phonics- amd making it meaningful as it relates to the words they are speaking. So (other than their name) the first words parents could teach are words that they can de-code- using a small number of sounds. Within the Jolly Phonics program for example the sounds ''s,i,n,p, a, t' are introduced because the children can learn to reading and spell numerous words using those sounds. It doesn't have to be those sounds though. What is important here is that the child is learning at his own pace- and that is it fun. Yes, I have taught many very young children to read and spell- based on learning the 'code'. Teaching and learning strategies need to be developmentally appropriate - and not at the cost of other types of learning.

What is 'reading' and 'spelling'?

We could perhaps describe the main concepts being:
* that the words we speak are made up of sounds.
* that these sounds can be represented on paper - and together become 'words'. Words can then be used to form sentences and so on- with the text used for a number of reasons- to tell a story, to record information etc
* that sounds are represented on paper from left to right
* that we form pictures of sounds/ letters on paper in ways that makes writing easier (and will be quicker and neater) - ie from top to bottom and flowing across the page
* that some sounds in spoken language can be represented using more than one letter, and in different ways ('f' could be ph, ff etc)
* that some sounds on paper can be spoken in different ways depending on the other sounds in the word - eg 'ow' as in cow or as in 'tow'
* that some words can't be de-coded and must be learnt (eg yacht)

If children learn 'the code' then they don't need to rely on memory, as happens within the 'YBCR' program. Children can therefore learn to not only be confident, fluent readers but also proficient when spelling nonsense and unfamiliar words. In fact this is recognised as being so important that 'non words' are now included within the UK, within National Curriculum spelling tests. In the early stages learning to read and spell words actually has far more to do with the mechanics of the alphabet code than the meaning of the words. Ensuring that 'nonsense' words are included sends the message that synthetic phonics is important. Children taught using a whole language approach - as in YBCR- will struggle as they haven't had chance to learn the words. Children taught using phonics can read and spell any word that is de-codable- which is most of the English language. It would seem far more logical - and helpful-to give them those skills instead.

Yes, some children will learn to read using sight words-combined with other skills- ie the whole language approach put forward within YBCR however if they can learn in this way then they can learn in any way and won't have difficulties later on. Studies show that children can start to learn to read and spell later on and still be at the same level as others. In many countries with excellent academic standards children don't even start school until the age of seven. The Cambridge Primary Review is the biggest review of primary education for more than 40 years. Within the review formal schooling is not recommended until at least six years of age. There is no 'window of opportunity' for learning to read, as there is for learning language - as the creator of the program claims. My approach is to start early and instill a love of learning - and to create an effective partnership with child, parent and then teacher. The confidence that comes with early achievement is far more likely to help that child continue to do well in school.

Good early years educators start developing phonological awareness and a love of the written word early on- being careful to make sure they are working at the child's level, that learning is meaningful, and that he is having FUN. They offer play opportunities to create learning. The focus is on helping children to become effective and motivated learners- however they are also aware that learning to read is something most children need to actually be taught explicitly. Parents don't necessarily trust that their child is going to have fantastic teachers, so why not teach them to read and spell even before school if ready? And this is why so many turn probably to the 'YBCR' program. They don't see this as pushing their child but more as a preventative measure. They do have a valid concern that not all teachers have the knowledge they need, in order to teach ALL of the children in their class to read and spell with confidence.

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Literacy is different to most subjects - the children who will find it difficult need direct, explicit instruction in the alphabet code. However trying to do this as early as possible isn't the answer. We need to teach parents what they can do- and also how to know if their child is ready. The children who will struggle in school won't 'just pick it up' - they won't 'just catch' up. If this was the case literacy achievement wouldn't be so poor in so many schools and in so many countries.

What is worrying for society is that delinquency and poor literacy achievement are known to be so interlinked; with several US prisons actually predicting future intake on year 3 and 4 reading scores! We are failing too many children, even though we know that if we use a preventative approach and teach children directly and explicitly in the early years, with a focus on phonological awareness, then we could change this. So we need to arm parents with the best information. My concern with this program is that it doesn't send out the best information- especially if they have a child who is going to have phonological processing difficulties and poor phonological awareness.

Of course there are benefits to using the 'YBCR' product as it encourages parents to become actively involved in their child's learning. Many children will love the attention they get when adults cheer and clap their 'success'. And many may develop a love of the written word because of this positive attention- if, of course, they succeed. The reality though is that YBCR can not only confuse many children but give them the wrong message about what reading and spelling is. It sends out the wrong message to parents who are only looking for ways to help their children- and can inadvertently do just the opposite.

How, as adult readers, do we 'read' unfamiliar words. As these are not words you use daily you will go back to your ability to 'de-code'. You will start from left to right and sound out the word- looking for 'sounds' or smaller words- and putting them together. For example in the word 'multitudinously' you would probably read 'multi' first and then sound out the rest- tu (chew) or tud followed by 'in and then 'ously' (as in enormously) You may have done it differently. If asked to spell the word 'fasorta' you will realise there are more than 10 ways you could 'spell' this word based on your knowledge of the alphabet code. If having to learn whole words you would not know how to spell this word as you hadn't be taught it specifically.

Bottom line, children deserve to be taught in ways that will work for the highest number. Teaching them to recognise whole words - the crux of this product- - is not something that will work for all children and will actually confuse them as to what reading and spelling actually is. Why risk starting out on the wrong foot? Parents can prevent reading difficulties by helping their children in the early years- but should be doing so in ways that are supported by modern research and empirical studies and more likely to help the greatest number of children. 'Synthetic phonics' is possibly our best weapon in the fight against literacy difficulties and anything does not use this at the centre of their teaching should be carefully reviewed and ultimately discarded.

There has been considerable research into early literacy development over the past few decades, and this has been cited within government reports such as the Rose Report (UK) and the AU Inquiry into the Teaching of Literacy. All recommending that early programs focus primarily on systematic, explicit and direct teaching in phonics. The YBCR includes no phonics work (the development of phonological awareness and the link to our alphabet code) So in addition to 'babies' being developmentally unable to read using any method, there are also valid issues relating to whether the 'Your baby Can Read' program can be effective for older children. As a result this investigation by the Federal Trade Commission is highly likely to be upheld.

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One of the biggest problems that many teachers have struggled with is how to keep a child's attention during their lessons. However, as a parent who has selected to home school your child, you fortunately don't have to entertain an entire class, only one or two, maybe three children at one time.

When you are home schooling your child you have flexibility and choice on your side. For these reasons there are quite a few ways to keep your child's interest during your lessons. Here we will briefly cover three.

1. Teach your child when their energy is highest

A school generally has to start at a certain time in the morning and finish at a certain time in the afternoon. Yes, there are schools that have afternoon classes and even evening classes, but in general school starts in the morning and ends in the afternoon.

In a home school environment however, you have the luxury of being able to conduct your lessons any time you wish. You can therefore take advantage of this and teach your child when their energy is highest.

Your child might be a morning person who wants to get their lesson out of the way so that they can play for the rest of the day. Or your child might want to play in the morning and work in the afternoon.

Another option is to spread their lessons throughout the day, in this way you are ensuring that your child gets plenty of rest in between and because lessons stay short, boredom is prevented.

2. Make your child's lessons relevant, interesting and exiting

Your child already has many interests. Mine for example is into sharks, bugs, snakes and all kinds of weird creature like trolls and werewolves. By linking his lessons to his interests we are able to keep him interested in his lessons and he even comes to us with ideas for his lessons.

He is only 5 but he already knows over 13 shark species, 71 underwater creatures and 43 snake species to name but a few. He knows how to read all their names, knows what each and everyone's diet consists of and can show you on a map in which countries of the word they are found.

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In this way, not only have we taught him how to read, but have also included biology and geography into his lessons as well and he hasn't even noticed. In fact he loves his creatures so much that he wants to learn more and more about them.

I only mention my son to highlight that by making your child's lesson relevant to his interests you can "sneak" more information into each session without your child noticing. A reading lesson becomes a history, geography, science or biology lesson as well, without any effort at all.

Not only will you keep your child's attention you'll have a little genius on your hands too!

3. Use Accelerated Learning methods

Never heard of Accelerated Learning? Well in actual fact it's all the rage with scientists and scholars these days.

Accelerated learning is any method that allows your child (or you) to learn a given subject faster than they would have done without it. An accelerated learning method for example can be using a rhyme to remember a sequence of words or numbers, something that will stick in your child's head.

It can also be used to feed your child large amounts of information without much effort on their part. I used an accelerated learning method to teach my son to read, learn Spanish, and also to memorize the numbers from 0 to 100 in less than 10 days, when he was barely 4.

There are some interesting accelerated learning methods available that can firstly, speed up your child's learning process, and secondly, make that learning process so much fun that they learn without even knowing it.

Accelerated learning may not be for everyone, but as a parent home schooling your child it may be worth your while to look into it and see if it suits your teaching and your child's learning style.

With a little creativity and by following these three very simple points you will most certainly grab and keep your child's attention for much longer periods during your home school lessons. And not only will your child be more attentive, you'll have the added bonus of them learning a whole lot more without even knowing it.

Many in-service teachers are not knowledgeable in the basic concepts of the English language. They do not know how to address the basic building blocks of language and reading. - This is NOT a statement that we are making, rather, this is a finding from a study done at the Texas A&M University. Their study was aptly titled "Why elementary teachers might be inadequately prepared to teach reading." To discover the scientifically proven methods, that will enable you to teach your child to read, and help your child become a fast and fluent reader, visit Approaches to Teaching Reading

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Creating language experience stories is a great way to teach that reading, writing and talking are related. It helps learners to understand that what they think about and say can be written down and what is written can be read. There are many variations on how to create the stories and experiences to use as a basis.

Here are some guidelines to follow when you create a language experience approach to teaching reading.

Group Language Experience Stories

When working as a group write the story on a chalkboard or whiteboard. This makes it easy to edit as you go along. Ask the learners to begin to write the story themselves as they progress in their reading and writing skills.

1. Organise a language experience activity to inspire the learners.
2. Invite learners one by one, to dictate a sentence about the experience
3. Write down exactly what they have said.
4. Read the story back and ask the learners if any changes need to be made.
5. Read and re read the story together tracking as you read. Tracking means following along and pointing out the words in the passage as it is being read. It can be done with a pointer or a finger.
6. Ask the learners to begin to write the story or some of the words themselves as they develop.

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Individual Language Experience Stories

1. Ask the learner to dictate an experience or story to you.
2. Write down the words the learner says.
3. Read back to the learner what you wrote to make sure it is what the learner wanted to say.
4. Ask the learner if any changes need to be made.
5. Read and re read the story together, tracking as you go.
6. Ask the learners to begin to write the story or some of the words themselves as they develop.

Once you have created a language experience story there are many ways you can use it. Here are some ways to use story or report you create.

1. Read the story to the learners several times during the week to review and reinforce the the words.
2. Make a large poster with the words on so the learners can see it easily.
3. Make copies of the story for each learner and make them into a book.
4. Make sentence or word cards so the learners can match them to the story.
5. Make a 'fill in the missing words' exercise with the text. This is called a 'cloze procedure'.

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When reading to your child, read slowly, and point to the words that you are reading to help the child make a connection between the word your are saying and the word you are reading. Always remember that reading should be a fun and enjoyable activity for your children, and it should never feel like a "chore" for them. Click here to help your child learn to read