This is more a curiousity question then anything. What types of remedial reading programs would you expect to be used at the high school level? My freshman son just started a reading skills class this semester, what type of work should I expect them to give him? He did have an assignment last night for the class which consisted of a handout where he had to identify the silent letter and state which rule applied. Looking at the assignment I thought it was one he should be able to do by himself. He said the teacher did not give directions. When I went over the directions with him I decided I would have him read the words to me so I could hear what he was reading. This assignment proved harder for him then I would of expected. It is almost as if he was not aware that some sounds are not heard. I then read the word list to him being careful with the way I pronounced them and said them real slowly, he was then able to pick up the letter that was not heard. These words were in a list with no context. Words in isoliation give him a harder time then words in text. There are only 7 students in this class, what types of programs could you use with a group like this at this level?
Re: Reading programs in high school
It is encouraging that they are working on word attack skills and not just giving him high-interest practice reading — but they should be doing that too.
It could very well be that he has the teacher fooled too — that he struggles more with reading than you’d expect (I know it took me a while to absorb this little dose of reality as a teacher).
What program is this handout part of? Sometimes “the teacher didn’t give directions” means “I didn’t understand the directions” or that the teacher thought it was an extension of waht they did in class and dind’t need additional directions — and sometimes teachers live from day to day and handout to handout. Could be that building a communication bridge btw you and teacher so that you can make sure the practice is building up his skills would work wonders (or could be a number of things, of course :))
Re: Reading programs in high school
Yes, very good that the teacher is focusing on decding skills — at least it’s a start.
The bad news is that high school reading classes are a real grab bag. There are no generally used programs, and the usual pattern is a lot of high-interest low-vocabulary books used more or less at random. There are a very very few teachers in high schools who really see themselves as reading teachers (Shay is a wonderful exception and a miracle worker). Most of the time these classes get handed to the new teacher with instructions to just keep them busy and/or fill in lall the workshets or computer tests.
I think that the teacher might have given that assignment on silent letters as a rough test of reading knowledge and ability. If so, that would be a very good thing. Unfortunately, your excellent help may have made your son look better than he is! You certainly want to have an informal chat with the teacher about goals and levels.
Thinking about the silent letter task, I judge that a student who can do it independently has fairly solid phonics skills (to know which letters are silent, you have to be able to identify the sounds that are heard) and so can reasonably make use of the usual practice reading activities; but a student who finds it difficult, as your son did, needs some further work on phonics.
Definitely, your son could benefit from a good phonics program like PG (not the only one, but popular with many good people here). Shay works with high-school weak readers and uses PG alonmg with four or five other programs and a lot of real reading - as I said, a miracle worker. She invites people to get in touch with her; look for one of her posts and talk to her about things to do from here.
Re: Reading programs in high school
Thank you LindaW, Sue, and Victoria for your responses. We have worked at home with our son 1 on 1 off and on using programs such as PG but once school started there just seemed to be too much homework to get extra time in for these programs. We were hoping when we signed him up for the reading skills class that he would at least get an hour of intense reading. It is too early to tell if this will be the case. Today was only the second day of class. I asked the question to get a feel of what I might expect. My son said the class did another worksheet today. I plan on talking to the teacher to get a feel for the program but wanted to get ideas here first. My son has had different reading assessments all show him behind but each showed a different level. On the MAT7 he scored an independent level of 5th grade, he scored below standards on the ISAT, on an informal reading invemtory his scores were all over the place. For example on the informal inventory he scored at grade level for listening comp (done in small quiet room 1 on 1), his next highest score was on comprehension, his lowest score was on word attack. My confusion comes in the fact that I was told that students who read at or above a 5th grade level do not have difficulties with phonics. He has been able to cope in all his classes with strategies hes come up with to get around his difficulties with reading. Do you think I should ask for in writng a specific reading assessment?The informal inventory was done by a tutor we hired ourselves. The only reading assessments he has had at school are part of the regular school achievement tests—he consistantly scores low on these. My husband and I are going back to school ourselves so will have less time to help him. Tutors are very expensive here and hard to find. The one we did have was a teacher and things did not workout because of her busy schedule at school. Thank you all for your thoughts.
forgot to add
A requirement of the class is the reading of “adolescent” novels. They are currently reading SCORPIONS. I have never heard of this book and have no idea what grade level it is on. I did go to AMAZON.com and it said it is recommended for young adults (what age group is that for reading?) They read the book in class to themselves and the teacher is available to help if they can not decode a word or do not know what it means. Thanks again.
Re: Reading programs in high school
Hi Lisa,
If you would like to know what programs that I use in high school to remediate reading and writing, email me directly. I have had excellent results and ultimately my students go from non-readers and non-writers to good readers and writers. Many of my students either exited sped or were put on monitoring. The grades of my 11th graders self-contained in 12th grade inclusion academic English are A’s and B’s. In fact, their English teacher said they were some of her best writers!
Reading words in isolation is more difficult because there are not context clues. One must rely on one’s “word attack” skills and knowledge of the code.
If your son is not reading at grade level, I suggest that you check out PhonoGraphix. This method of teaching reading can be done in a classroom by a tutor, or taught by a parent using a book called Reading Reflex (which you can buy at amazon.com and most bookstores for about $14). To learn more, you can go to their website called readamerica.net. You can also get referrals for a tutor in your area.
If you decide to work with your son, you can come to this board for assistance. There are many certified PhonoGraphix trained teachers and tutors who interact with this bulletin board.