Ok, I am not a rocket scientist but I figured out today that this kid who made all this “phenomenal progress” on reading 180 really wasn’t “reading”….He was LISTENING to audio books and ONLY audio books, but when it came time to take the tests on the computer he would BOMB them everytime. There are lower level books that he could read but he didn’t want to do those…he only stuck with the AUDIO books….Why was that????
I told the teacher…”let me sit with him and see what the problem is.” Eureka!!!!! I discovered he CAN’T READ the QUESTIONS!! He was making random guesses at the boxes and occasionally he would get LUCKY… I told the teacher…Guess what, he can’t read the questions, which means he can’t read the material he is listening to…Then she said…”Well I make sure their books are open..” I told her…”That ain’t reading, that just LOOKS like reading. I am pulling him and doing LMB because this is NOT working for him…
I also have been doing LMB with two 14 year old girls and they are getting it. One of them is so eager to learn to read and it is just amazing to see her put things together. I am loving this part of my job!!
Re: what I discovered about Reading 180
As an SLP, I have so many kids (middle and high school) who struggle with decoding and who have developed all the harmful strategies, like guessing wildly, pretending to read, etc. Some of these students are getting some sort of structured, systematic instruction in phonetic patterns, like Wilson, in their special ed programs. However, it’s not nearly intensive enough and they don’t have the opportunities they need to apply their knowledge to connected text during oral reading with feedback, so the bad habits continue. Others aren’t really getting anything at all. The severity of their reading problems varies. Of course, they also have difficulties with other aspects of receptive and expressive oral anguage, vocabulary, word retrieval, syntax, listening skills, etc. I see most of them either once or twice a week.
I feel like I have gained some solid skills to help them with reading (Orton-Gillingham, LMB, etc.), but I struggle with trying to balance my desire to teach them reading with their other oral language needs and I.E.P goals. In my role as public school SLP, I am not the *one* who is expected to focus on reading skills, but I feel that is the way I can be most useful to the kids. Pattim, I’m sure you’ve run into some of the same issues. How do you manage it?
Re: what I discovered about Reading 180
Since you can’t work on everything, I would suggest to the parents that maybe the kids needs private tutoring. Do not refer the kids to Sylvan or some other francise tutoring, as this is worthless. Recommend that the kids have Orton Gillingham based instruction with someone qualified to give it. If you have people in the district, and there are some districts that do, then you can recommend this at an IEP or to the IEp committee.
Sadly many districts do not have adequate coverage for all the kids who need help, even if they have some isolated services here and there.
—des
Hi Miriam!!
Wow another Literacy loving SLP!!! I LOVE IT!! It is a constant struggle for me to validate why I work on literacy when I am surrounded by SLP’s in my school district who frown on it. But my concern is if I don’t help them…who will?? I use News-2-You a pictorial based current events newspaper with wh questions, etc..The kids LOVE it…as there are different levels one for younger kids, 1st and 2nd graders and a higher level. I do some LMB lips in a session and then we read News-2-you and discuss it and write about what we discussed, and if we have time we do vocabulary games. I also use Tracy Boyd’s speech and language website, my kids love using the computer.
I am also meeting with an RSP teacher who also works middle to high at another school in my district to see what we can do to facillitate more literacy success with middle and high school students.
Des...
Many of my kids come from low-socio economic brackets that are not literature rich. They can’t afford tutoring…If it isn’t done at school it won’t get done at all.
Re: what I discovered about Reading 180
So at least the kiddo with the reading 180 is getting that language input. However, no, he ain’t learning to read. They don’t put job applications on audio tape, last time I checked…
Re: what I discovered about Reading 180
Pattim—thanks for the suggestions. I will certainly check out the materials and website you mentioned. For brief, interesting current events reading, I sometimes use the Weekly Reader or Time For Kids (also available online). Beyond LMB, do you work directly on decoding and teaching phonetic patterns, ala O-G? Do you include decoding and literacy goals as part of their speech and language I.E.P goals? Sometimes I feel like I can address a lot of their other language goals while we work on reading (vocabulary, oral expression during discussions, etc.), but other times I feel like I just need to give them more work with basic decoding skills, and I have trouble justifying that as an SLP. I don’t want to refer them out, since I have the skills to do it and many of my students can’t afford private tutoring either. I’d appreciate any other insights you may have about this and if you get any interesting ideas about middle and high shcoolers after meeting with that teacher, I’d love to hear them. Thanks!
the RSP and I work collaboratively
I work on the phonemic aspect of it and also use a lot of OG with it as I go. I just figure out what the kids needs and try to deliver it. My goals are written collaboratively on the literacy kids with the SLP. I will tag myself on the ones that I feel I have time to do and I can justify doing. Just wish the General Education teachers would be more on the ball and take more responsibility than just thinking shove them into special education, when the kid isn’t getting it the way the teacher teaches it. I have used the weekly reader in the past and the National Geographic for KIDS and Time for KIDS but many of my SDC students are TOO low for the weekly reader so the News-2-you is a great fit! If you like we can exchange e-mails…just e-mail me from this website and I will respond to you…
Good to hear you get to use LMB and it is working.
How does anyone take nice people of average intelligence and convince them that having someone else do the work of reading for them is teaching them something??!?? If colleges of education put half the time, money, and effort into teaching people the fundamentals of reading as they do in selling them this patently non-productive stuff, there would not be a continent-wide reading problem.