Reading Comp-Any Ideas Help!!

I wonder if part of the problems with the kids and the comprehension is that they don’t have the vocabulary necessary in their lexicon. I have found Wordly Wise 3000 to be a good solution for this. I like Wordly wise because it teaches appropriate vocabulary, how to use it what it means, uses it in interesting stories and then I have the students write about what they read in the narrative. It is fairly inexpensive. Each child would have their own workbook. I have found with teaching comprehension that they will only have comprehension up to the level of their vocabulary. If you boost the vocabulary consequently their comprehension goes up. I also use LMB visualizing and verbalizing techniques to help the kids remember and comprehend what they are reading..

Where can I order Worldly Wise 3000. Is this a reading series?
Sounds like a good suggestion………can you tell me more about it? I use Visualizing and Verbalizing myself - good program!

Karen

http://www.epsbooks.com carries Wordly Wise 3000, I think. You can probably view a sample page there. It’s not a reading series, just works on increasing vocabulary.

Mary

Karen Blakeslee wrote:
>
> Where can I order Worldly Wise 3000. Is this a reading
> series?
> Sounds like a good suggestion………can you tell me more
> about it? I use Visualizing and Verbalizing myself - good
> program!
>
> Karen

Karen:

Wordly Wise 3000 (not Worldly) is published by Educators Publishing Service (EPS). It is not a reading series, although there are some reading passages in the books. It is a vocabulary development series.

Marilyn

Beth wrote:
>
> I am looking for a recommendation for a reading comprehension
> program that has been successful for any of you. I teach
> elem. L.D. to children in grades 1-5. I pull-out some
> students and remediate them in my room with alternative
> materials such as Orton Gillingham, Project Read, and
> Corrective Reading, and I also team in an inclusive setting.
> I am looking for possibly a basal that teaches comprehension
> strategies with appealing materials. Our district may be
> trying a Houghtlin Mifflin Series, but there are always kids
> that need something different. I’ve tried the Focus series
> by Scott Foresman in the past and like it, but it is over 10
> years old, and I was hoping there is something similar to it
> out there that is more updated.

As long as you are already using Corrective Reading, why not continue the DI with SRA’s Reading Mastery series? From B1 you would go to RMIII, and from B2 you could go to Horizons (a fast-paced 3rd-4th combinastion) or RM IV. Our whole school is using DI, and that’s pretty much the plan we follow. I really like the series. The reg. ed. teachers will also be using the Houghton Mifflin Series as well next year along with the DI (different parts of the day, I suppose. I am currently teaching RMIV to 4th-6th graders during the mandated Reading time. In the resource room I use “Seeing Stars” by Lindamood-Bell and all sorts of other comprehension series—Steck Vaughan’s Reading Comprehension Series and Jamestown Publishers’ materials which publish short stories with a twist—high interest/low vocab. meant for middle school students.

Marilyn

Can you tell me what type of program the “Seeing Stars” is? Does it have stories for comprehension or is it more of a phonics program? I’d be very interested in learning more about it. What age level do you service? What is the Steck Vaughn Reading comprehension series like? Does it teach reading strategies for comprehension in a high interest/ low vocab style? Tell me more.

Are you working in an inclusive setting, when you are teaching with the Reading Mastery series?

Thanks for any answers you can give me to my questions. I am able to pilot a program, and I’d like to find something that would support the regular ed. curriculum, while at the same time push my students forward in comprehension.

Beth

Beth wrote:
>
> Can you tell me what type of program the “Seeing Stars” is?
> Does it have stories for comprehension or is it more of a
> phonics program? I’d be very interested in learning more
> about it. What age level do you service?

“Seeing Stars” is a Lindamood-Bell program that uses visual imaging to learn how to read and spell. It assumes that the student has developed some phonemic awareness skills. For instance in Step 4 of the program, the teacher would say a syllable (ranging from simple to complex), and the student would repeat it, trace and spell on a syllable board (with finger—no pencil), recall a specific letter in the syllable, spell the syllable backwards, recall the word again, and spell it correctly again. Then the teacher might spell the word, and the students would image the word and say the word and spell it, and go through the above exercises. There are approximately 10 steps in the program.

>What is the Steck Vaughn Reading comprehension series like? Does it teach reading strategies for comprehension in a high interest/ low vocab style? Tell me more.

This program is actually graded. The series starts with a first grade book, and goes to sixth grade. Beginning in 3rd grade, the stories aren’t too babyish, and the exercises in the book are great. They work on all aspects of comprehension including recall, main idea/supporting details, sequencing, vocabulary, outlining, using the table of contents and glossary. Really every skills you can think of for each grade level is there.
>
> Are you working in an inclusive setting, when you are
> teaching with the Reading Mastery series?

Anyone who places at this level after a placement test is put into the program. I have 4th-6th graders in my group. Two of my Special Ed. students are included in this group. It was not specifically created as an inclusion situation. That’s just how the cookies crumbled. :) That’s where they placed when they took the placement test.
>
> Thanks for any answers you can give me to my questions. I am
> able to pilot a program, and I’d like to find something that
> would support the regular ed. curriculum, while at the same
> time push my students forward in comprehension.

If you are able to, push the Visualizing and Verbalizing program by Lindamood-Bell. I would also use a program like Reading Mastery in an inclusive situation for elementary grade students. I really like the Jamestown Publishers material for upper primary and Jr. High.

Marilyn

I sure wish I could just type in the link and you can pull it up but this new setup doesn’t allow that anymore..RATS!! Anyways here it is..www.epsbooks.com
the Wordly wise 3000 workbooks are $7.70 if you buy just one and 6 or more is $5.15 each. Wordly Wise is what I am going to be using with all my private practice kids this summer who are already decoding well, and just need help with increasing their vocabulary and overall langauge skills.

I have found another cool deck of cards game that helps with vocabulary called Blurt. It was $3.00 at Walmart. I am always looking for ways to boost vocabulary in a fun way. My kids can’t wait until the 5 minute break before their parents come. We play Blurt and they love it..

Have you read How to Increase Your Child’s Verbal Intelligence, by Goeffrey McGuinness? It explains how vocabulary works using research as examples. There are activities to do with your child to increase vocabulary. It’s good because it doesn’t just teach a list of words. It teaches how to figure out what words mean.

http://www.epsbooks.com

There are lots of different kinds of exercises which IMO are a lot better than most comprehension “exercises,” most of which run the “Read this and answer the questions” game. If you can’t answer the question, try an easier passage. No, we don’t know how to tell you *how* to answer the questions, we hope you’ll figure it out. Reasoning and REading breaks those skills down nicely.

Also, Jamestown PUblishing has a “Single Skills” series that breaks “finding the main idea” and figuring out paragraphs into manageable bites. It spends the first section of the book explaining the skill (telling you how to answer that kind of question), and then gives you 100 paragraphs to practice on. I usually do more with it with ye olde highlighter and pencil than just answering the questions. (Start with “write the subject this is about” which most people can do… then that very tough step — the “main idea” — make that “subject” into a sentence. So, instead of “ships” now it’s “Clipper ships were important in Boston.” The check to see if ya got it right is to read each sentence and ask “is that sentence about clipper ships and Boston?”

There are some things on my site http://www.resourceroom.net that could help in the main idea and vocab departments, and I’ve done some things with comprehension and literature that are a lot like some of the exercises in Reasoning and Reading.

Beth wrote:
>
> Can you tell me what type of program the “Seeing Stars” is?
> Does it have stories for comprehension or is it more of a
> phonics program? I’d be very interested in learning more
> about it. What age level do you service? What is the
> Steck Vaughn Reading comprehension series like? Does it
> teach reading strategies for comprehension in a high
> interest/ low vocab style? Tell me more.
>
> Are you working in an inclusive setting, when you are
> teaching with the Reading Mastery series?
>
> Thanks for any answers you can give me to my questions. I am
> able to pilot a program, and I’d like to find something that
> would support the regular ed. curriculum, while at the same
> time push my students forward in comprehension.
>
> Beth