Reflecting on Effective Strategies for Struggling Readers

1. Reflecting on Effective Strategies for Struggling Readers Kimberlee Fulbright Lavonia, Georgia Instructor: Dr. Roberta Ross-Fisher EDUC-6644-R1003 Supporting the Struggling Reader August 11, 2007

2. What have I gained from this course? Throughout this course I have learned about how and why students struggle when reading. Why do some students struggle to read? • Achievement expectations continue to grow • Due to language barriers • Failure to identify speech difficulties at an early age • Due to poor or inadequate reading instruction • Lack of reading experiences • (Laureate, 2002).

3. What have I gained from this course? (cont.) Since students struggle with reading for many different reasons, it is our job as educators to ensure they are provided the very best reading instruction. How can I give my students the best reading instruction? • It is shown that reading aloud to children can be one of the best tools in helping students learn how to read (Adams, 1990) • Motivating students to read by providing choice in books, as well as praising books, can assist students in the reading process.

4. What have I gained from this course? (cont.) How can I give my students the best reading instruction? • By providing word study activities, we can help students progress smoothly through the stages of reading development (Bear, Invernizzi, Templeton, & Johnston, 2004). • By assessing students in flexible grouping schedules, one-on-one, etc…and then determining from these assessments where and what each child specifically needs. • By providing students with tips (as well as modeling these techniques) on how to monitor their reading to improve comprehension and fluency.

5. Strategies to Assist Struggling Readers The following strategies are useful tools in which I feel will greatly benefit my students who struggle to read. To ensure success, it is imperative that these strategies are modeled and practiced throughout the school year in an explicit manner. Making Connections Showing students how and why to make personal connections to the stories they read is important for measuring comprehension. In our week three video segment, I was able to watch a small group session where the teacher reminded students to make text-to-self, text-to-world, and text-to-text connections. Through the use of this strategy, students are able to better comprehend what they are reading.

6. Strategies to Assist Struggling Readers(cont.) Word Sorts Through the use of word sorts, you can determine where to work with a struggling reader. Word sorts are a visual and kinesthetic approach to manipulating words. The authors of Words Their Way (2004),explain that word sorts allow students the opportunity to “examine, discriminate, and make critical judgments about speech sounds, word structures, spelling patterns, and meanings” (p. 2). All of which are important elements in assisting students who struggle when reading. Creating Personal ‘Readers’ During week three, our video segment demonstrated the use of ‘Personal Readers,’ or books created by students. With a personal reader, a student can write stories and reread these stories over and over to assist in fluency and word recognition. I really enjoyed this strategy due to the fact that the child chooses what to place in their reader. When students are able to take ownership of their work, it is more meaningful to them.

7. Strategies to Assist Struggling Readers(cont.) Think Alouds Although I had always heard the term ‘think alouds,’ I never really knew what a think aloud consisted of until this course. Wilhelm (2001) says that think alouds is a powerful strategy because, “While reading, teachers model their thinking by voicing all the things they are noticing, doing, seeing, feeling, and asking as they process the text. Students can then "borrow" the various strategies teachers use--and apply them in their own reading” (p. 1). The “Skittles” Model During week four, I learned an important strategy used to assist struggling readers in self-monitoring. Self-monitoring is important because readers need to be aware of what they are reading and whether or not it makes any sense. By using the “Skittles” model, I was able to see how it can motivate a child to correct themselves. After modeling this technique many times, a child will soon self-monitor without any extrinsic rewards.

8. Conclusion In closing, I would like to say that this course has really shown me a great deal of information that I can utilize on a daily basis with my students. Although I teach non-readers, I can better prepare my students for future reading. By teaching students to look at the illustrations for clues, as well as thinking aloud with the text I read to them, they are gathering pertinent information to use when they begin to read on their own. I believe that modeling is one of the most important jobs an educator has. Here, one of my Pre-K students is reading “The Apples” chart story during center time.

9. Portfolio Progress My portfolio is finally coming together. I have made the decision to send my portfolio in the electronic format to cut back on use of ink and paper. I am continuing to add some sample work now that school has begun. Thus far, I have documents and rationales in the following outcomes: • S1.1 • S1.2 • S1.3 • S1.4 • S2.2 • S2.3 • S2.4 • S2.5 • S3.2 • S3.3 • S3.4 • S3.5 • G1.1 • G2.1 • G3.1 • G4.1 • G5.1

10. References Adams, M. J. (1990). Beginning reading instruction. Reading Rockets Online. Retrieved August 11, 2007, from http://www.readingrockets.org/. Bear, D. R., Invernizzi, M., Templeton, S., & Johnston, F. (2000). Words their way: Word study for phonics, vocabulary, and spelling instruction (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill Prentice Hall. Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2002). Supporting the struggling reader. [Video recording]. Baltimore: Author. Wilhelm, J. D. (2001). Think-alouds: Boost reading comprehension. Instructor, 111(4). Retrieved August 11, 2007, from the ERIC database.