My name is Jennie and I am a Resource Specialist working with K-6th graders. I have a 6th grade boy I’m working with and I’m really struggling to find ways to make progress in his reading. He’s a bright boy with an above average IQ and excellent auditory memory/auditory comprehension skills. When decoding, he struggles through every distinct sound within words, so any sophisticated spelling patterns just baffle him. He seems to have a very limited ability to visually process and apply meaning to ‘chunks’ within words, or words themselves, that don’t follow logical spelling patterns. Any suggestions on strategies for supporting him?
Re: Struggling 6th grade readerf
Hi Jennie,
You wrote:
“When decoding, he struggles through every distinct sound within words, so any sophisticated spelling patterns just baffle him. He seems to have a very limited ability to visually process and apply meaning to ‘chunks’ within words, or words themselves, that don’t follow logical spelling patterns. Any suggestions on strategies for supporting him?”
You could help him to develop his visual processing skills?
Where you say that he struggles with distinct sounds within words. Which could be Morphemes?
Though a good exercise to practice, simply involves ‘closed eyes’ exercises.
Where you break down words into their ‘distinct sounds’, and write them on flash cards.
For example, with ‘sophisticated’, you could begin with flash cards for ‘so’, ‘ph’, ‘ist’. ‘ic’, ‘ated’.
Where you then show him a card, then have him ‘close his eyes’, and then keeping them closed, he then writes the ‘so’ on paper.
Which basically involves practicing ‘capturing and retaining’ a visual image in his minds eye, as he writes it.
You might try it yourself? Just think of any word, then close your eyes and try to write it?
Where you probably visualise it?
Once he can do it easily with 2 or 3 letter blocks, then you can extend it to larger letter blocks/ chunks.
So you might like to try this?
Geoff,
Re: Struggling 6th grade readerf
Have you looked into using Wilson Reading? I use it with a 6th grader currently. It teaches both reading and spelling, and “chunks” common consonant groups together. This was a student who in 4th grade couldn’t remember any of the short vowel sounds despite daily work. He is now at Step 10 in Wilson and doing fine with grade-level reading.
I suggest you read the book, The Gift of Learning or The Gift of Dyslexia, both by Ron Davis. The Davis Dyslexia method has been extremely helpful to my daughter. Spelling problems and decoding problems that persist are very indicative of dyslexia. In less than a year, my daughter’s spelling, handwriting and reading has greatly improved, and she has been successful, so far, in her first year in college. I wish she had been diagnosed in the 6th grade, but it wasn’t until she had graduated from HS that she got this help.