Fluency for All- In My Opinion

Teaching students to read should be considered magic. Reading, as I've stated before, is not a natural process, so it makes sense that so many people struggle with reading (some statistics show that 1 in 4 students do not learn to read). I think that reading specialists, reading coaches, reading teachers, etc. are priceless when it comes to making an impact for struggling readers. BUT, what if there's no money for any of that? What are we going to do?

One thing that seems to be certain is that the students who had people talking to them and reading to them as infants, toddlers, and emergent readers are better readers. Why would that be? I think perhaps it is because of the modeling and practice that comes from interacting with a person. Among other things, the reading FLUENCY is likely strengthened through the interactions of speaking with and reading with others.

What I'm suggesting is that we can ALL be reading coaches, to some extent. How can grandma be a reading coach? Or dad? Or the babysitter? Here are a couple of suggestions...

1. Wherever you are, READ. Read signs, labels, book covers, magazine covers, candy wrappers, menus, and so on. Model the way the words should flow from your mouth and have fun practicing together. Smooth reading is easier to comprehend.

2. BELIEVE in the student! Invoke the power of "yet" for the struggling reader. Tell them that they may not be good at reading yet,  but they will get there with practice. The confidence of another person in their ability to improve can move that literary mountain!

You can do it! Happy Reading!

Learning to Read is Super Natural! Really!!!

If you are able to read this post, then you possess the power to unlock the mysteries of written words. I say mysteries because until you read the words they are just marks on a page. They don't mean anything. But, what if you couldn't learn to read? Have you ever stopped to be grateful for this ability? Reading isn't a natural process! I read an article on this topic recently. It used research to show why this is true. Here is a quote that may make you want to stop and think:

"If learning to read were natural, there would not exist the substantial number of cultures that have yet to develop a written language, despite having a rich oral language. And, if learning to read unfolds naturally, why does our literate society have so many youngsters and adults who are illiterate?"

Click on this link to go to a copy of the article.

So, what's my point? My point is...GIVE KIDS A BREAK! GIVE YOURSELF A BREAK! This task is extremely challenging. You can do this! You just need the right tools. You shouldn't give up on a child or yourself if your student isn't learning to read. If it seems almost impossible, then you're feeling that for a reason. It is ALMOST impossible. But, as I have stated before, an effective teacher can make all the difference. BE THE DIFFERENCE!

Happy Reading!

Website Review: Yale Center for Dyslexia & Creativity

I'm very much interested in helping students that struggle in school. The whole child is important to me: their health, their mood, their abilities, their weaknesses.  I have worked with students that have been labeled as behavioral challenges and found that many of them struggle to read and learn. Many times the behavior was a bi-product of their learning challenges. This gives me HOPE. Maybe we can help with the behavior concerns by addressing the learning needs!!! More than 80% of students with learning disabilities are struggling due to DYSLEXIA! Hello, maybe we should be addressing dyslexia in a major way! Maybe things would be different for so many...including all the other people in the dyslexic person's life. 

I found an amazing website called The Yale Center for Dyslexia & Creativity. The subtitle is "slow reader, out of the box thinker". I LOVE THAT! What if we were able to empower these struggling readers to embrace the creativity that many of them possess? They may find the strength to deal with the reading struggles, which CAN be helped. How amazing would that be!

Watch this video called "A Letter to My Teacher" from their website and see why I am excited!

This website is a wonderful collection of information and inspiration for those with dyslexia or those who have a stake in this: student, teacher, parent, policy maker, community (everyone). You can learn what the disability looks like, read testimonies of some people with dyslexia, and find out what is going on in politics to bring the most common learning disorder out into the forefront of our efforts in education. Did you know that over HALF of the people in prison in America are basically ILLITERATE???? I see a way to address the "school to prison pipeline" by addressing the needs of non-readers. Let's be respectful and responsive to these learners. Think of the potential impact on incarceration rates. It would be hard to list all of the knowledge I have gained form this sight. It's a treasure-trove. Check it out!

Motivation for Middle School Readers...Lost Cause?

Are you thinking "If they aren't motivated by now, don't waste your time!" I HOPE NOT! It's not too late. If you're a teacher or a parent, you've got the key ingredient in your power...YOUR OWN ENTHUSIASM. Your actions towards reading can influence even a middle school student to change their feelings about reading. Students who used to hate reading of any kind can begin to look for text to read for information or pleasure. I've seen this happen. In a classroom of boys identified with behavior disorders, I saw students reading because they wanted to know about something, enjoyed a discussion and wanted to read more, or they saw a graphic novel that was about a character they liked.

The best story I could share to help you see the positive potential (because you can certainly have a negative potential influence) of your enthusiasm for reading is about a 13 year old who had always hated reading. In the past he had tried to cause a scene in the classroom whenever reading was required. He tried fighting, cussing, throwing things, and even hitting things. The outburst was worth the outcome...no more reading today. Weird part is that he could read on grade-level. But, he really struggled with "keeping up with what the book is about." By Christmas break this guy was picking out books to take home with him because he knew he'd have a long car ride to see his family and could read. In the Spring he said something that I will cherish for always. Basically he said, "I used to hate to read, and now it's weird. I read all the time." I asked him why he thought that was. He said "It's cool! Like a movie in your head." I love that he doesn't remember I told the class that a gazillion times early on when I was building a relationship with them.

So what did I do, exactly? I spoke about reading as a "get to" not a "have to".  I used casual conversation to share things that I learned through reading. I modeled looking for a book that was a "smooth" read for me. Sometimes I'd read part of something (like an excerpt from a description about the book) and think out loud about whether or not I'd enjoy reading that book ("Hmmm, I think I'll pass on this one. I don't even understand the description, so I'm thinking the book won't be my style."). I think the most valuable ingredient was the trust relationship that we had built. The students knew I cared and wanted them to get better at reading for them, not for a grade.

Here's an excellent resource for strategies to use when motivating students to read and getting them engaged in reading. This article goes beyond the skill...it focuses on the WILL. (click here for article)

Happy reading!

Part 2-High Functioning Autism and Reading Comprehension-Why is it so Hard?

-In my previous post I tried to help parents and teachers of Autistic readers understand WHY reading comprehension is so HARD. Just to recap, here are three important cognitive areas that are often not working for your Autistic child:

1. Theory of Mind-the ability to understand other's point of view or perspective.

2. Central Coherence-ability to bring details together into a whole concept or idea.

3. Executive Functioning-the process of organizing, planning, and monitoring progress when presented with a situation.

So, this is Part 2. Now that you have an idea of WHY reading comprehension is such a challenge, I want to share some ways parents and teachers can help. The information for these tips comes from this excellent article! 

STEP 1: Build up background knowledge of the subject in the reading. What does this even mean? Look at pictures together of things that relate the story. Talk about the pictures. Ask your child what they know. See if they have an understanding of what the picture is really showing.

STEP 2: Create mental images of what they are reading. Usually when you read about a delicious meal, you can "see" it in your head. This picture helps you understand what you've read. Your Autistic child struggles with this, so help him make those images. How? Looking at pictures in the book and talking about them. Use lots of description. "Think out loud" as you describe the picture. It's a lot like the Step 1, but this goes beyond naming to describing!

STEP 3: Make Connections. This is so easy to do, so effective, and doesn't require any materials! When your child is reading about the pigeon who wants to drive the bus, make a connection to the bus she rides each day to school. Point out the pigeon on the side of the road as you drive to visit your family. There are so many connections you can make (text to text, text to self, and text to world). Typical readers do this with some ease. Your Autistic reader needs help to make the connections.

STEP 4: Engage in Discussion. Again, no materials are needed! Just you and your time. Both are precious and so worth spending on your child. Just talk about the who, what, why, where, how, I wonder, and so on. 

STEP 5: Summarize their Understanding. Again, this just needs you and your time. Out-loud, help your child put their understanding together! They need us to SHOW them how we take what we know and come to a conclusion.

Still not sure? Here's a video clip of a few activities that touch on several of the steps mentioned above. The video is an ad for a teaching resource, however it's short and is a great demonstration of some of the steps that have been listed in this post. 

You are your child's first teacher.  And you'll probably always be their favorite. Never forget that!

Happy Reading!

High Functioning Autism and Reading Comprehension-Why is it so Hard? Part 1

Autism effects your child in so many ways! Your child is having trouble with tags in his clothes. The noises are like razors to her ears. Their food is a "weird" texture and impossible to eat! This is just some of the sensory stuff! Then there are the social challenges. It is also a problem when we ask them to stop those repetitive behaviors that make them feel safe, secure. So many things are SO difficult for your Autistic child.

I want to focus on people with high functioning Autism (f.k.a. Asperger's). With all the challenges that many Autistic students face, one area that has been mastered for many is READING. YAY...something they are really good at, that doesn't involve other PEOPLE, and can be like a "movie in your head." The problem is that by the time your high-functioning Autistic child reaches 3rd grade you may see that they can read the 6th grade stories, but they struggle with COMPREHENSION of what they have read. They can't make connections to the text. They can't tell you about what they read. They can't apply what they have read outside of the context of the book.

WHY is comprehension so hard? There are three ways that your child's Autism is having a direct impact on the ability to comprehend what they have read. Here's a quick overview of each...

1. Theory of Mind-the ability to understand other's point of view or perspective. Comprehension of reading relies on understand the feelings, perspectives, and emotions of the characters in the story.

2. Central Coherence-ability to bring details together into a whole concept or idea. Your reader may not be able to piece together the details that were read and infer the theme or main idea of the story.

3. Executive Functioning-the process of organizing, planning, and monitoring progress when presented with a situation. There are many processes that are used when retelling what they know from their reading. They have to organize their thoughts, possibly in sequence. They have to access any prior knowledge they have in order to really understand, and so much more. All of this goes on at the same time! A typical person does this intuitively. Your Autistic reader cannot. WOW.

So, what can a parent do? This sounds so immense, right? Look for Part 2 of this post for ways to help your reader and have fun doing it, too! If you just can't wait to read more, check out this article that spells it all out ! :)

You are your child's first teacher.  And you'll probably always be their favorite. Never forget that!

Happy Reading!

Never Too Young for Reading

It seems like there is always a bandwagon for educators to ride: STEM, STEAM, phonics, whole-language, blah-blah-blah. I am not saying these are not wonderful movements in education. We enrich our students' learning through a mixing of many of these movements. Consider the bandwagons surrounding when is the best time to begin literacy instruction. Is it Pre-K? Maybe. You might think so after reading an article from The American Educator called "The Promise of Preschool" (click on title to read article). Is it 1st grade? I honestly doubt that. Some, such as the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), would say that even infancy is not too young (read more). Literacy in infancy has also been heralded by Marie Clay, a champion and author on effective reading instruction (link to more about her work). Clay coined the phrase "emergent literacy." To summarize, she felt that the child's family and home environment play a crucial role in literacy development, which she felt begins at birth. 

Well, that last one is the bandwagon for me. I know from personal experience that a baby can fall in love with a book well before he is ever challenged to try and read that book. A baby can find joy in the relationship that is built when someone they love says those words in the best voice and invites them to imagine so many wonderful people, places, and things that are found in a book.

An idea from the NAEYC article at the link above is to make a Book Nook for babies. Here are a few tips to make yours baby-friendly:

1. Have a rug on the floor, but you don't need all those pillows. Pillows may be cute and cuddly, but they can trip a novice-walker and they don't work well with a baby's unique "physique."

2. Books should be low to the ground. You could stand them up on the rug, or put them in a low basket. A shelf is best used for the older children.

3. Provide sturdy books that can sustain the many ways a baby may "engage" with the book.

4. Most importantly, don't forget to insert YOURSELF as an irresistible aspect of the Book Nook.

You are your child's first teacher.  And you'll probably always be their favorite. Never forget that!

Happy Reading!