This past year (my first as an inclusion teacher, after 7 years as a tutor) I had several students in the inclusion room reading at a much lower level than 6th. I used books on tapes when available, read some material to them, had the teachers make accomodation in the classroom (orally read content material etc) but I was very frustrated because I wasn’t able to actually help them improve their reading unless I could pull them some. This was difficult because of time restraints, and next year I don’t have a room to take them to for individual/small group work. The day was taken by curriculum material at higher level then they read. Whenever there is free time I’m helping with homework assignments. Does anyone have any suggestions that might help in the future? How can I help them improve their reading in the reg. classroom? Are there ideas I should share with the reg. ed teacher of ways reading should be taught if we are teaching in an LD inclusion setting. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. I using this topic for a research paper also, so any ideas for that would be helpful also.
Thanks.
Kathy
Re: Helping low readers in 6th grade inclusion
I agree with Frannie that this practice is bankrupt. I would suggest you lobby to regain a room and a small group tutoring program where you are able to TEACH these youngsters to read. This is an example of the “feed them a fish vs. teach them to fish” analogy.
Yes, We Do Have To Remember Teaching...
I have worked in a 6th grade building (yes, 1,000 6th graders under one roof…) and taught reading in an inclusion model. (At first, there was much resistance to pull-out of any kind. I polled the students and they wished not to do instruction in the classroom.)
Due to the size of the building, we used computer software (Star Reading or CCC) to estimate reading level and I then did some reading inventory assessment in order to put some homogeneous groups together. I was able to see about 50 students per day.
For students reading at approx. 2.5-4.0, I did thirty minutes of small group direct instruction (some comprehension groups using Houghton-Mifflin SOAR to Success and some decoding groups using SPIRE or Wilson Language) every day with groups of 4-5 students. (Students were moved between groups as necessary when they mastered concepts.) The other twenty-five minutes of our 55 minute block, the student read a book at their level and responded in some written form (modified Reader’s Workshop). During study hall, students worked in the listening center to book-on-tape on which their class currently worked. Their response was modified and sometimes oral. (I believe it is very important that we not lose all the general curricula.)
This method supports the general education curriculum but also allows us to remediate.
With readers who are PP-Grade 2.5 (ish), I give daily instruction of 55 minutes. These students usually only listen to a few titles from the 6th grade list during study hall time. Response is usually illustrated or emergent writing is accepted.
There are more components in here, like fluency, but I won’t bore you with this unless you’d like to think about fitting it into instruction.
Re: Yes, We Do Have To Remember Teaching...
Susan
Thank you for your input. I want to check into some of the materials you mentioned. I had a room last year where I could do some pull out, but next year I only have an office. I’m hoping I don’t have as many low students. I feel the need for some pull out also, but with no study halls it’s hard to do.
I know this isn’t always the best situation for some, but I’m looking for the best way to serve these kids. I know inclusion is becoming more and more prevelant these days. Thanks again,
Have a good day
Kathy
Another beautifully illustrated example of why inclusion doesnt work.
Just imagine being these kids who don’t have the basics, they can’t keep up and will continue to fall behind for the rest of their school career. Are they enjoying or finding benefit in education? Will they stay in high school or continue on to college? Odds are against them as they are frustrated on a daily basis and will give up at some point.
Ahhhhh, but we saved LOTS OF MONEY by not remediating them properly. What we do waste with the practice of inclusion is the potential of wonderful minds. But, according to the schools, we do not have the time, money and/or qualified personnel to do what they are in the business to do, educate our children.
I am sorry, but everytime I read a post like this one, it makes my blood boil that we accept this practice.
Best of luck to you, you obviously care about your students, but the problem is much bigger than you imagine. Inclusion will come back to haunt us.