Need Advice/Help!
Teachers, experts, parents... we need some advice/help.
One of our 3rd graders is behind in her reading comprehension skills. She is already getting after school tutoring that utilyzes computer based instruction, but we would like to know what else we can do to help at home. One idea that we had was to have her read out loud to us for her daily 15 minutes of reading and her reading worksheets, but we are unsure if this is the most effective method. Truthfully, we have limited time to spend hours of one on one instruction (6 kids, including an infant) and we can not afford private tutoring. We are looking for things that we can do to help her get more out of her current assignments and extra things we could do that take up no more than 20 to 30 minutes.
3 comments:
You have to find the source of the problem first. It could be that the child is a poor decoder, in which case the slow and labored reading, and its associated cognitive toll, is hindering comprehension. Another possibility is that the child lacks vocabulary/background knowledge and doen'r understand the words she's reading.
Find a book the child can read easily and as she's reading the book aloud ask her simple comprehension questions.
How are her decoding and phonics skills? Comprehension is tough for kids if they're struggling with simple decoding. If your school only gave lip service to phonemic awareness, you could always just review phonics with a workbook.
Also, you might want to look at oneminutereader.com. It is an easy supplement that the child can do herself. Its focus is to improve speed and fluency, but there is some comprehension.
It also falls into that quick 20 minute category you're looking for.
The cost is relatively cheap and the child eventually does a lot of it herself. There's a tutorial at the website, also. It's not a bad way to get some reading in without being too labor intensive on your part.
Susan
Comic books.
I'm not kidding.
My mother kept piles of boxes of Classics Illustrated around the house. Subject matter ranged from Hans Christian Andersen to Upton Sinclair, to Rime of the Ancient Mariner (my personal fav).
They are text-heavy as far as comic books go, and tend to keep to the plot, if not the actual wording, of the original great literature. It's entertainment that oh so sneakily forces you to read for comprehension.
They're about $4.00 a pop, I would screen a few (some can be rather adult) and see if your kid digs them.
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