Information About Reading
Ten Tips for Improving Reading
Ten Tips on Improving Reading across Learning Disciplines (Students)
Ten Tips on Improving Reading across Learning Disciplines (Teachers) Information about Common Reading Disabilities Ten Tips on Improving Reading for Learners with Common Reading Disabilities Twenty Ways to Help Children Learn to Read Twenty Ways to Help Children Improve Reading Fluency and Skills Places to Find Information and Articles about Issues in ReadingTIPS FOR IMPROVING READING
The following list of tips is just a starting place for reading improvement. Over time, the use of these tips should significantly increase your reading performance. Further tips for reading improvement are also available at the links provided at the end of the page.
10 WAYS TO BEGIN READING IMPROVEMENT
1. Read whatever and whenever possible. The more you read, the better your reading becomes. Also, when you read a variety of things--books, magazines, poetry, etc.--you become a more proficient reader.
2. Before you read, clearly understand your purpose for reading. If you are reading for entertainment, you do not have to pay attention to every little detail; conversely, if you are reading for information, you need to clearly understand all the key concepts and details in what you read as well as all the relationships between these concepts and details. In addition, try to understand the structure of what you are reading. Non-fiction materials may say exactly what they mean or they may have an ironic tone. An example of irony would be when an author talks about his "wonderful" outdoor vacation during which it rained hard the whole time. Fictional materials may also be direct or implicit with their meanings. Sometimes, a house may stand for a certain character in a novel. Or, a book may start in the middle instead of at the beginning to show confusion in a character's life.
3. As you read, formulate questions. Think about what the author has left out or try to figure out why he or she included certain information. Consider other issues that are raised by what you are reading. Try to define whether you trust the author and why or why not. Finally, identify what you think the main point of the reading is then find the information that supports this main point. Ask yourself "Every piece of writing has a message--what is the message here? What does the author want me to walk away with and why?"
4. So that you don't miss the point of the reading, do not get stuck on "understanding" everything. Initially, skip words or ideas that you do not understand. After you have read through the piece once and have some idea of what it is about, go back and try to understand the words and ideas that you have skipped (make sure you have marked them as you have read). If you find that you do not understand a lot of words as you read, keep an on-going list of vocabulary to help improve your vocabulary skills. When you have found the definitions for unknown, key words, write the definitions of these words in your own language on what you are reading then go on to re-read the piece.
5. Continually try to relate the new material that you are reading to ideas or things that you already know. For example, if you are trying to understand a disorder in Abnormal Psychology, and your neighbor exhibits most of the signs of this disorder, connect what you are learning to what you know about your neighbor.
6. Look for clues in the reading. Writers create a "road map" for readers to follow. To identify important parts of non-fictional materials, look for signal words like "the most important idea is" or "a significant change happened". In addition, use titles and relationship words to grasp the connections between important ideas. A word like conversely shows that the author is showing the opposite side of an issue while the word and indicates the author is adding on a similar idea. The headings themselves can be turned into questions that direct your attention to the key ideas within each area. For fictional pieces, pay close attention to images that are created and to anything that is repeated over and over. Also, know the setting(s), character(s), plot(s), symbol(s) and themes of what you are reading. Watch for changes in any of these things. For everything you read, identify the personality or tone of the piece. Is the author "matter of fact", "joking", "sad", etc.?
7. Identify the purpose and audience for what you read. Ask yourself for whom and why was this piece written. Both purpose and audience cause an author to make choices in the material he or she includes or excludes, and knowing these things about a text allows a reader to judge whether or not an author is being biased in presenting material.
8. Whenever possible, discuss what you have read with others.Everyone reads things differently, and by discussing reading you get perspectives that you could not get on your own.
9. If you encounter material that you are unfamiliar with, try to find out as much information from other sources as possible. Research shows that you learn things better when you can connect them to something that you already know. By learning about things from a variety of sources, you will better understand what you read. You will also be able to better judge whether what you have read is a good source of information.
10.Be extremely careful about where you choose to read. If you are distracted, it will be impossible to understand the text. In addition, if you tell yourself that you don't understand the reading or that you are not interested in what you are reading, you will be unable to comprehend it. Cultivate an internal purpose for reading everything even if it is only because you have to in order to complete a class.
LINKS TO OTHER TIPS ON IMPROVING READING
There are many resources on the web that provide information about improving reading and study skills. Most of the links below are housed at college and university study centers, and they contain quick "tip sheets" about different areas of reading and study programs. If you do not find what you are looking for here, remember that he links below are simply a place to start.
1. Virginia Tech: Study Skills Self-Help Information
2. Saginaw Valley State University: Services for Students: Writing Center
3.UVic Counselling Sources: Learning Skills
4. Academic Skills Center: Study Skill Library
IMPROVING READING ACROSS LEARNING DISCIPLINES (STUDENTS)
The goal of college is to master the material in the subject areas that you take. Much of the material in your classes is presented through reading texts and articles. In order to fully grasp the concepts of a class, you must be able to effectively read and understand the texts and articles. To do so, you must use a variety of reading strategies that help you to "actively read" and that help you to make sense of new material and vocabulary. The following tips and links are intended to help you learn to be a more active, strategic reader.
TEN TIPS ON READING IN CONTENT AREAS (CLASSES OUTSIDE OF READING CLASS)
1. In order to read well in content areas, you must first understand that each discipline has a certain way of thinking. For example, a philosopher may want to speculate on how human nature contributes to crime, a sociologist may want to study what elements in society cause crime and a comparative biologist may want to prove that a certain hormone causes aggressive behavior across species that leads to crime in humans. All of these individuals would be looking at the same thing, but they would approach this topic in very different ways. The philosopher might rely on historical information and other philosopher's thoughts on human nature, the sociologist might look at the current economy or the family structure and the comparative biologist might look at chemical "facts" in aggressive species. In order for you to understand what each of these people might write about, you would first need to understand what things are "important" to their disciplines. One way to uncover things that are important within disciplines is by asking questions like: Do they value empirical studies, intellectual studies, trends, the past, the present, etc.? Do they present their evidence as facts or thoughts? Do they try to remain objective or are they subjective? Do they present results from the beginning to end or in a roundabout way? Do they make the connections between results and materials for you or do you have to draw inferences based upon the evidence presented? What counts as evidence? What are they trying to do or prove? Such questions are just a starting point for understanding different patterns of thinking.
2. Another problem that presents itself when reading within different disciplines is the fact that specialized knowledge and vocabulary are often needed to begin to understand the reading. You could not begin to understand Immanuel Kant's Prolegama to Metaphysics if you do not even understand the title. It would be extremely difficult to do well in anatomy class if you do not know the systems of the body. In both these cases, you would have to do some extra work in order to learn the specialized vocabulary and knowledge of the discipline. To help with vocabulary, you should keep an on-going personal vocabulary list which you constantly review. To help with specialized knowledge needed for a discipline, you should read as much as possible about the topic that you need to be more familiar with. Sometimes, an instructor will help you with both the vocabulary and the specialized knowledge, but there will be times when you have to do the extra work on your own.
3. Content reading can be overwhelming. In order to structure your reading tasks, always consider "What is to be learned" before you begin reading. If you need only to learn vocabulary from a certain passage, then you know ahead of time not to worry too much about memorizing details. If you need to form an inference about what you have read, you are aware of the fact that you should be looking for things that are hinted at but not directly stated. If you need to critique an article's argument, then you know that you have to look for the main points and evidence in the article. By clearly understanding what needs to be accomplished in your reading, you can read more efficiently and do not need to spend time on trying to understand areas that are not as related to your reading task.
4. Different reading tasks demand different reading strategies. Good readers know all of the reading strategies, and they also know when to use what strategy. In addition, they unconsciously change strategies if the one that they are currently using is not working. The most common strategies that readers use are: summarizing, questioning, predicting, clarifying, connecting, re-reading and reflecting. The most common strategy that readers use is that of summary (looking for main ideas and facts). Unfortunately, this strategy is the one that works the least when you encounter a reading text which requires that you draw inferences or when you need to critique a piece of reading. Simply understanding what the author has said is not good reading. Instead, you must be able to predict what the results might be based on the evidence of a study, or you must be able to question why the author reached the conclusions he or she did based upon the evidence. As you read in content areas, just understanding what is said is the starting point. After that, you must be able to identify and question the parts of what you read by reflecting, connecting what you have read with other things that you know, re-reading and clarifying anything you do not fully understand.
5. Studies show that readers understand new material by connecting what they are learning with what they already know. Often, material in a content area will be entirely new to you. Therefore, you will need to build some sort of background knowledge before you begin to tackle the reading. One way to do this is by previewing what you must read before actually reading it. Previewing involves reading the headings, looking at pictures and charts, checking out any materials in bold and italics then reading the first and last paragraph of a piece. By previewing the piece, you begin to build background knowledge and to understand the piece. This helps you to concentrate on understanding more new things when you actually begin to read the whole piece. In addition to previewing, you should prepare to read. Take some time to quickly skim the article looking for key words that you are unfamiliar with. Before reading, define these key words in your own words (you can even write the definitions above the words on the text). By understanding these words before you read, it enables you to grasp the important ideas and details presented in the text, and it makes the reading process much less frustrating.
6. Use a study strategy like SQ3R in order to organize the new information that you are learning. SQ3R forces you to use most of the strategies that good readers use in a systematic way. It also helps you to reduce the amount of new information that you are trying to pay attention to at one time. SQ3R involves first surveying the text (previewing it) as outlined in the tip above. Next, you use headings or other key areas of information to form questions that guide your reading task (every heading or title can be made into a question that helps to guide reading). After questions have been formed, you read in order to comprehend main ideas and to answer the questions. When you complete your reading, you write answers to the questions and also note key ideas and vocabulary not covered by your questions. Finally, you orally recite what you have written to help you remember the key ideas and details. At this point, too, you review what you have written and re-read as necessary to ensure that you have not missed any key ideas or vocabulary.
7. Another study strategy that helps readers to comprehend difficult and/or unfamiliar material is to note key concepts in your own words as you are reading. The notes should be quick and can even be written in the margins of text. They are not really meant as a study guide and do not have to be thorough. Instead, the notes are a way of freeing your mind of the stress of understanding everything at once. The notes also force you to make personal connections with what you read and therefore help you to simplify a difficult reading task.
8. Active and critical reading strategies help to simplify difficult reading tasks. Do not simply sit there and read. Instead, use a highlighter to underline key material (don't underline everything rather look for signals like bold or italics, repetitions, key words like "most important" and things that are explained in depth.) As you read, too, write comments, questions, thoughts and notes in the margins or on a separate sheet of paper. When you complete your reading, take ten minutes to write down anything that you remember or anything that came to mind as you read. After a break, re-read both the text and your notes so that you can further understand the new ideas that have been presented to you.
9. Reading more selectively helps a reader to reduce new information into chunks that can be easily understood. During the reading process, try to identify a writer's style. Consider whether this is someone who gets right to the point or who rambles. Clearly identify the main point of what you are reading and ignore unrelated materials unless something in reading indicates things you have skipped are actually related to some key concept. Focus most of your attention on areas that are most fully developed or are identified as being important by headings, bold or italics, and/or key words like "significant", etc.
10. Vary your reading pace. Slow down when you encounter something totally unfamiliar and feel comfortable speeding up when it appears the information is not as important. Whatever you do, structure time for reading so that you don't have to quickly skim materials that might need to be re-read and reflected upon. Also, don't keep telling yourself that you have to read slowly because you "don't understand"; instead take the time to digest each difficult part then go on. Don't get stuck on one word or one idea, skip it and go back to it later. Take a break if you need to as well.
LINKS TO OTHER TIPS ON IMPROVING READING IN THE CONTENT AREAS
1. Mind Tools: Using Reading Strategies to Read More Effectively
3. Glendale Community College: Various Reading Topics
IMPROVING READING ACROSS LEARNING DISCIPLINES (TEACHERS)
It is important to remember that much of the content in the discipline areas is taught through reading materials. It is also important to note that the reading habits and strategies of college students have changed, and reading in the content areas can pose problems even for students who are "good readers." Taking such things into consideration, it is important for every teacher to be familiar with classroom strategies that can promote better reading and to be aware of the concept of "Reading to Learn."
The concept of "Reading to Learn" is the idea that everything taught in subjects present an opportunity for students to: 1) learn content, 2) understand the thinking within a particular discipline and 3) reflect upon new material. For students to be able to accomplish these things, they must be guided in strategies that help them to learn about the discipline. Readers learn by adding the new or unknown concepts to what they already know. Even good readers encounter problems, then, when they are confronted with: difficult vocabulary, a new type of writing or writing format, an argument about which they have no prior knowledge and/or a topic which they cannot connect to their knowledge, life or experience. To understand what happens to good readers in this situation, consider how you might feel as you begin to read A Clockwork Orange without the definitions of the slang terms or A Prolegama to Metaphysics without a background in philosophy. Eventually, you might understand these texts, but, at first, you would feel lost, and it would take all of your expert reading strategies for you to begin to make sense of these books.
Ideally, students should have expert reading strategies, but, in reality, they need help. Using some or all of the tips below in different ways within your classroom can help students to begin to acquire expert reading strategies. The tips can fit within any discipline area, and they do not compromise the "rigor" or content coverage of any subject. Following the tips are some links to web sites that house resources and curriculum suggestions for various subjects. The sites at the University of Virginia discuss and present information about the use of "reading to learn" within content areas.
TEN TIPS TO IMPROVE READING IN CONTENT AREAS
1. The most important way to provide students with reading strategies within content areas is through modeling. Modeling begins with the way in which you structure your classroom and curriculum. Take some time to make sure that your tests and assignments stress what you want students to know. If you only test them on vocabulary but want them to really understand key concepts, the key concepts will be lost because students will hone in on the vocabulary. In addition, use class discussions as a way to show students what you pay attention to when you read. Ask them to read a short passage then to discuss what the key concepts are. Next, ask why they identified these things as key concepts. If they miss anything or get anything incorrect, walk them through the process of what you found important and why. After such an introduction, leave them on their own to practice and learn good reading strategies. (At the beginning of the semester, in particular, always provide for some time to review what they did find and what should be found in the reading.)
2. To help students focus their attention while reading, develop guided practice questions. The questions can be answered in a journal format or as a quiz. Each question can structure and introduce what is taught and discussed during a particular class. Always provide some feedback on how students have answered the questions, though, preferably in a way that will not adversely affect students' grades.
3. Don't assume that students are or should be as well-versed in a discipline as you are. Instead of watching a whole class fail and lamenting about what they don't know, help them in their reading process by taking five minutes to entertain questions about the reading or to quickly review difficult vocabulary and subject areas. In addition, provide background knowledge about topics that students nowadays will know little about. Studies show that readers cannot really learn material unless they have something similar to connect with it. If you do not want to take class time to review background knowledge, a simple list of introductory sources about the topic will suffice. Students can then use this list to supplement their background knowledge, as necessary.
4. Structure opportunities for students to synthesize material from a variety of different sources. Students can learn critical reading by testing sources against one other. Too often, students believe everything that is in print so it is important to challenge them to analyze and judge sources that say different things about the same topic.
5. Don't prioritize summaries at the expense of critical reading skills. To encourage students in their critical thinking and reading, provide opportunities for them to generate questions about topics then to read about the topic and generate more questions. Students have to know how to prepare or to predict about topics, how to comprehend facts and, finally, how to reflect. Using a QRQ method (question, read, question) helps student to develop these reading strategies.
6. Provide on-going responses to students' reading processes. The easiest way to do so is through journals that you respond to but do not necessarily grade. The journals allow you to see that students are doing the reading, and they help you to identify parts of the reading that the students have missed or are confused about.
7. Always be clear about what the purpose for the reading assignment is. Students are better able to structure their reading when they know why they are doing it. If you want students to understand the concept of dissociative disorders, say so or provide them with a reading outline that simply lists key concepts and vocabulary (they can fill in the rest). Giving them your reasons for the reading helps them to read more efficiently and selectively.
8. Whenever possible, use a variety of presentations for the information you want them to learn. Lecture about it, have group discussions, have them read it individually, have them write about it and then entertain questions. Incorporating reading, writing and speaking about topics helps all types of learners to master subject material. In addition, working in groups allows students to share background knowledge and reading strategies.
9. Remember that specialized vocabulary can cause comprehension failures even in good readers. Encourage students to keep logs of unknown vocabulary words, and, whenever possible, review words that students may need help with.
10. Consider applying the techniques of "reciprocal learning" (Annemarie Palinscar). This learning method involves talk about the meaning of texts. After reading materials, the students and the teacher take turns leading the dialogue about it. During discussions, questions are generated, key material is summarized, unclear points are reviewed and upcoming content is predicted using clues in the text or prior knowledge about the topic.
LINKS TO RESOURCES FOR READING IN THE CONTENT AREAS
2. National Endowment for the Humanities Curriculum Site
4. Curry School of Education, University of Virginia
5. The Academy for Educational Development
INFORMATION ABOUT COMMON READING DISABILITIES
There are many myths about learning and reading disabilities. One is that individuals with such disabilities are not as intelligent as people who do not suffer from them. This idea is entirely untrue. Like everyone else, people with disabilities span over a range of intelligences. A second common myth about reading disabilities, in particular, is that individuals who have difficulty with reading should only be taught skills. This teaching approach works against the development of reading fluency, and it disables students even further. Even students with reading disabilities can read and can enjoy reading. They simply read differently. Understanding a little more about how such students read and learn differently can help people to overcome myths about such disabilities and can ensure that every student receives the right to read.
Generally, disabilities affect a person's perceptions and interpretations of what they see and/or hear, and they may interfere with certain information links within the brain. People with disabilities can have difficulties using language, paying attention, acting appropriately in social situations and coordinating their bodies' movements. While there are three main categories of disabilities--development, academic and other--the focus here is on academic disabilities, in particular attention deficit disorder, dysgraphia and dyslexia. Each of these disorders affects a student's interaction with language and can therefore severely affect a student's self-esteem regarding his or her use of language. A brief description of each of these disabilities follows:
ATTENTION DEFICIT DISORDER--Attention deficit disorder, often abbreviated as ADD or ADHD if hyperactivity is present, affects a student in a number of ways. Students with this disability can exhibit any or all of the following symptoms: problems focusing, difficulty remaining still, inability to concentrate or complete tasks, failure to attend to details, exhibitions of extreme behaviors, lack of turn-taking, inability to grasp abstract issues--particularly cause and effect--and inability to do multiple tasks. Individuals with ADD or ADHD sometimes exhibit aggressive behaviors and can have difficulties in social interactions as well.
The diagnosis of ADD/ADHD is difficult because it relies on the observation of a child's behavior in different situations. The causes of ADD/ADHD are not currently known but it is speculated that glucose intolerance, neurological damage or an imbalance in brain neurotransmitters could cause the problems. Currently, the treatment for this disability is with drug therapy and/or behavior modification programs. Previously, it was thought that individuals outgrow this disability but current research indicates there are many adults who suffer from this disability.
Within the classroom, a student with ADD/ADHD has problems interacting with language because he or she cannot focus or sit still. Abstract thoughts or ideas may frustrate him or her. And, tasks are often unfinished if distractions are present. When tasks are completed, they are often done without attention to details and careless error can be abundant. Dysgraphia can accompany this disability as well.
DYSGRAPHIA--Dysgraphia affects an individual's ability to write, and it is sometimes an accompaniment to ADD/ADHD. Individuals with this disability have extreme difficulty with the orthographic aspects of language. Typically dysgraphia is diagnosed because children have trouble learning to write or adults have difficulty producing writing. While the individual's actual writing may be illegible, he or she will also have difficulties with spelling, grammar, punctuation and paragraph organization. Actual diagnosis involves intelligence and learning tests as well as observation.
The cause of this disability is a disorder in the cerebral region. The current treatment is use of technology to aid with writing and individual tutoring about aspects of writing. Within the classroom, students with this disability will usually have trouble with both reading and writing tasks.
DYSLEXIA--Dyslexia affects an individual's ability to distinguish or separate sounds in spoken words. Current research indicates that dyslexics have difficulties with phonemes, or individual pieces of sounds smaller than syllables. Early reading research indicates that in order for children to learn to read they need to have: 1) phonological awareness--sound awareness, 2) phonemic awareness--small sound units, 3) alphabetic principles--the recognition that words are composed by letters, 4) orthographic awareness--knowledge of the structure and rules of writing and 5) comprehension monitoring strategies--the ability to adapt one's reading process to different reading tasks through speed, self-correction, prediction, analysis, connections, etc.
Dyslexia affects individuals at the level of phonemic awareness, and readers with this disability are often missing the foundations of fluent reading. Because of their lack of earlier reading skills, dyslexics suffer from various comprehension problems into later school years (past the third grade).
The diagnosis of dyslexia is done with intelligence and learning tests as well as observation. Reversing letters is not generally enough for a diagnosis of dyslexia since most early readers do this. In addition, only about 1% to 2% of the population actually suffer from the cognitive disruption that causes dyslexia.
The current treatment for dyslexia is a blend of skills and reading context instruction. Studies have shown that intensive, direct instruction in phonemes before the third grade can help to correct reading problems in dyslexic individuals. Research has also indicated that the conventional wisdom that says phonics programs will work better with dyslexics is incorrect. Rather, dyslexic students need to learn about the structure of language (structural approach), need to read and be immersed in language (whole language) and need to learn about the sound-letter correspondences in language (phonics) in a balanced way. Older students who suffer with dyslexia also need to be taught structural aspects of language and strategies that can help to promote reading fluency and avoid comprehension breakdowns.
Within the classroom, the dyslexic may suffer from extremely low self-esteem about reading. He or she fears reading aloud and may become frustrated with complex reading tasks. New vocabulary or a lack of prior knowledge about a reading piece will generally cause comprehension breakdowns, and if information is not clearly and directly stated, it may be difficult for the student to follow. During writing tasks, dyslexic students may suffer from some lack of structure and organization as well as poor spelling. Generally, the use of technology can aid with these problems.
Whatever a person's disability, it is important to note that you are dealing with individuals. People with these disabilities may have some or all of the characteristics described above. In addition, the disability will affect the way an individual functions in a classroom in different ways. Therefore, the goal of teachers, parents and interested parties should be to find out where the student is struggling and what method(s) aid each individual who possesses a reading disability.
LINKS TO SOME SITES THAT EXPLAIN MORE ABOUT READING DISABILITIES
1. Learning Disabilities Online
4. International Dyslexia Association
5. Edutech: ADHD and Dysgraphia
6. When Reading is Rough: Does Your Child Have a Reading Problem?
TIPS ON IMPROVING READING FOR LEARNERS WITH COMMON READING DISABILITIES
There are some simple strategies that parents and teachers can use to help students with reading disabilities become better readers. Some suggestions to help students with reading disabilities are listed below, but parents, students and teachers should also consult the links listed at the end of the page and the other tips on improving reading on this web site.
TEN TIPS TO IMPROVE READING FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH COMMON READING DISABILITIES
1. Use technology whenever possible. The format and tools that technology provides help reading disabled students with both reading and writing. The use of technology can be as sophisticated as employing a computerized book and as simple as having the student read along with a book which you have recorded on tape.
2. Show the student how to understand the structure of texts and of language. Do this by carefully analyzing the parts of books and pieces of writing, and by looking at the parts of language and words--letters, sounds, letter blends, etc. A magazine is a great way to teach individuals about the structure of texts and language because it can easily be cut up. You can omit letters from words and have the individual guess what is missing, create a letter bank and have the individual use the letter to create and identify blends of letters and different words, and even remove a title from a piece of writing then ask the student to guess what a good title might be.
3. Take an hour to two hours a day to read and discuss the reading with the student. Vary your reading activities by: reading aloud together, listening (but not correcting) the student as he or she reads out loud (only correct repeated errors or important errors and do so by trying to have the student understand what went wrong), generating questions about and predicting what happens next in what you are reading, and sharing your thoughts on what was important in the reading and why.
4. Teach the student memory devices, including grouping related information, connecting new information to information that is already known and catch words and catch phrases. Use these memory devices to learn new vocabulary and letters (letter blends) as needed.
5. Provide positive reinforcement as much as possible when you structure reading tasks. Make sure, though, that your praise is genuine and appropriate.
6. Review different structures of writing with the student. Show him or her the differences between fiction and non-fiction. Discuss the differences between writing that follows an orderly chronology and writing that doesn't move from start to finish. Work with figurative language in poetry and other pieces of literature. Also, aid the student in identifying the tone of writing. Remember, that comprehension is important but fluent reading demands that students know how to identify the previous things.
7. Have students write and keep a reading log which discusses confusions about what they read and any questions they have. Work with the student to clear up these confusions by having him or her review the reading to answer his or her own questions. Collaborate with the student on these answers and this review.
8. Whenever possible, use the student's interest to choose reading materials and to structure reading tasks. If he or she likes gardening, write a story about gardening together then read it.
9. Work with the student to use strategies that help him or her focus on the reading task. Show the individual how to take reading notes as they read and to use highlighters to spotlight important information. If the student has trouble finding important information, model what you find important and why. Afterwards, have him or her look at the next paragraph to try to identify key concepts and ideas.
10. Emphasize that reading should be a focus on knowledge, not speed. Individuals with reading disabilities my always read at a slightly slower pace. They can increase their reading speed, though, by being taught clues to look for as they read such as: bold and italics, repeated things, key vocabulary words and main ideas (often contained in headings or questions made from the headings or titles).
LINKS TO OTHER SOURCES OF INFORMATION FOR IMPROVING READING FOR LEARNERS WITH COMMON READING DISABILITIES
The links below contain both recommendations for improving reading and learning and legislation about accommodations that must be made for those individuals with disabilities. The information on the legislation is contained on the Department of Education site.
1. U.S. Department of Education
2. Can Teach: Learning Disabilities Links
3. Reading ASSIST: Reading Disabilities
4. Diagnosis & Intervention Strategies for Disorders of Written Language
WAYS TO HELP CHILDREN LEARN TO READ
It is never too early to read to child or to share the love of books with him or her. Studies show that children who are read to from infancy are much better readers and are more willing to read than those children who have not had books shared with them. Even reading fifteen minutes a day with your child will make a huge difference in whether he or she becomes oriented to literacy.
The early process of learning to read involves five parts. The parts are: 1) phonological awareness: awareness of sound; 2) phonemic awareness: knowledge of sound-letter correspondences smaller than syllables; 3) knowledge of alphabetic principles: the understanding that words are composed of letters; 4) orthographic awareness (often called print orientation): the awareness that writing has a meaning and a structure of rules; and 5) comprehension monitoring strategies: the ability to adjust and to read or re-read differently when you don't understand. All of these early parts of reading can easily be encouraged in the home in ways that are meaningful to your child. In order to help you work with your child to build these early reading processes, a list of suggestions and some links to other web sites with suggestions to improve early reading are contained below. Another part of this web page also contains some activities and links to web sites with activities for early readers.
TWENTY THINGS YOU CAN DO TO HELP YOUR CHILD LEARN TO READ
1. Read aloud at least fifteen minutes a day. Begin to read aloud even in your child's infancy. Let the child associate reading with positive memories so that he or she feels secure and comfortable around books. As you read, "act" out the book to keep the child's interest.
2. Choose appropriate materials. Look for books with simple story lines and large, colorful pictures. Make sure that these books can be easily handled and played with by young children (even infants). Also, choose books that relate to your child's interests and daily life.
3. Make sure that your child is surrounded by language. Talk to your baby on a daily basis. Ask him or her questions, then let the child "answer." In addition, sing to your baby as much as possible. With older children, encourage conversation by asking them questions about events in their day. If they "don't remember", gently urge them with probing questions like "Did you do arts and crafts?" In addition, never correct a child's language. Instead repeat back to the child what he or said incorrectly in the correct form during the course of your conversation.
4. Whenever possible, let your child see you reading. Ensure you have a house full of books and that the child understands reading is something important to you.
5. Pair reading and learning about letters with songs, rhymes, activities and pictures. Children learn better when they can hear, see and touch what they are supposed to learn. Structure activities that allow the child to see, hear and touch objects associated with letters and words. Also, choose books that have rhymes and songs so that your child can "sing along."
6. Teach your child about the structure of language and the alphabet. Do this by using letters in contextualized ways. Children learn better if they can actually hold and use the letters and if they are learning something that is in their world. Some easy ways to contextualize language and the alphabet are to show letters associated with pictures of objects starting with the letters and to play with letters cut from a magazine to make up words that your child is familiar with. You can also use storybooks and ask the child to show you words beginning with the letter you are teaching him or her.
7. Demonstrate to your child the association between symbols and meanings. For example, as your child is eating his or her favorite cereal, show him or her the box of cereal with both the cereal's logo and name. Eventually, your child will come to realize that these things represent the cereal he or she is eating.
8. Integrate books and reading into your daily life. Before going on an outing, read a book with your child related to that outing. When you return, discuss the book and the outing. For younger children, use appropriate books as playthings.
9. Always include children in simple reading tasks. Let them "read" and complete a recipe with you or "help" you with your bills.
10. Be responsive to your child's reading desires. Allow the child to choose the book. Also, if one book is a favorite and the child wants to have it read 100 times, do so. Memorizing story lines is one of the first steps to reading.
11. Label familiar objects with words or create flash cards with words from the child's environment. Review these labels or flash cards whenever the child appears to be interested in doing so. Start with five words then add five words per week. Never force a child to do this activity, though.
12. As you read and study words, point out things that are similar like sh or th. Use rhymes so your child learns about familiar sounds.
13. Let your child be the "expert" about the book. Before reading a book, have him or her look at the pictures to guess what the story is about. Then, pause as you're reading and see if the child can guess what will happen next. For stories that your child knows, change the story as you read and let him or her correct you.
14. Use a multi-media approach. Make a video with objects and words that your child can watch while interacting with you, or tape a favorite book so that the child can listen to your voice reading the story as you drive.
15. Group together a bunch of related pictures and have your child tell stories about the pictures (you can also buy books that do this for you). Record the story your child tells to read together again and again.
16. Praise your child as he or she learns and uses language and reading. You may also want to offer special reading incentives, like "reading hugs."
17. Encourage writing about reading even if the child is only "play writing", drawing or collecting pictures about things he or she has read. Discuss what your child has written and how it relates to the story to encourage the child's personal connections with reading materials.
18. Ask your child what he or she would like to read about then create a book and read it together. You can use magazine pictures as illustrations or your child can illustrate the book for you. In addition, create other books about things you know your child is interested in or that use your child as the main character doing some of his or her everyday activities. Keep the language and story lines simple.
19. Play word and letter games like scrabble, complete the missing letters in a word (wheel of fortune) and changing letters in words to make new words. Read the words that you create together.
20. When your child begins to read, let him or her read to you even if the child only knows part of the story. If the child gets stuck, read together for a while then let him or her read alone again. Do not correct every error as the child reads aloud. Only correct errors made repeatedly or errors on major words (if you don't know if it is a major error leave the child alone). When you do correct errors, let the child finish reading then go back and have them "relook" at and re-read where they made mistakes to see if corrections are made. If not, read the words together then have the child re-read the same part.
REMEMBER TO ALWAYS MAKE READING FUN AND IMPORTANT IN YOUR HOME.
LINKS TO WEB SITES WITH INFORMATION ABOUT EARLY READING AND LEARNING TO READ
1. Baby Parenting: Babies and Reading (search site keywords)
2. Montessori Methods: What's New
3. Cooperative Extension Resources: Articles, Resources & Links
4. Family Education: Hints on Early Reading
5. Department of Education: Publications and Products: Parent Resources: Publications for Parents
6. CNN Article: When to Teach Children to Read
7. Parent Soup: Resources: Library
8. Zero to Three: For Parents: Parent Information
WAYS TO HELP CHILDREN IMPROVE READING FLUENCY AND SKILLS
Once children have mastered the beginning skills of reading, it is important to encourage reading fluency. Reading fluency requires that students have skills to adjust to comprehension breakdowns and that they are able to use and think about what they read critically. By the third grade, students should begin to understand how to self-correct as they read, how to use cues in the text to guide attention and meaning and how to connect and reflect upon what they are reading. Identifying the words on a page is not enough at this stage; instead, good readers know the how, what and why of reading. There are many ways to encourage children to become more critical, active readers. The tips below help children to develop reading fluency and to acquire and refine certain key reading strategies, like self-correction. For further activities and tips on how to improve children's reading, there are links listed at the end of this page.
TWENTY WAYS TO HELP CHILDREN IMPROVE READING FLUENCY AND SKILLS
1. Continue to read aloud to your children. Even when they can read by themselves, it is important for them to hear a more fluent reader read. You can share reading time with your children by taking turns reading parts out loud or by participating in choral readings where you read together.
2. If you have older children, encourage them to read with and to help your younger children with reading. You learn best when you have to teach someone else. If your children are only children or around the same age, try to have them volunteer in programs where they read with younger children.
3. Instruct children about how texts are put together. Show them how some books go from beginning to end while others start in the middle. Talk to them about titles, headings, pictures, etc. and what you can learn from these. Point out clues in reading like things that are repeated, things in bold or italics, etc. Explain the difference between non-fiction and fiction, figurative language (poetic language) and literal language ("plain" English). Encourage your children to read a variety of things--non-fiction, fiction, short stories, poems, articles, etc. so that they understand about different genres.
4. Help children to generate questions about what they have read. These questions should deal with the what, how and why of the things they have read. Children should know the purpose of the story or article, the main characters or whose point of view it is, the action, and how the author goes about putting everything together. In addition, they should ask can I trust what I have read--why or why not?
5. Assist children in using clues from what they have read to predict what might happen next in a story or to make an inference about something an author hints at but doesn't say in an article. Teach your children about how authors make choices about what to include in what they write.
6. Discuss what your children have read with them. Don't simply focus on comprehension questions; inaddition, ask their feelings about what they read, what stood out to them and why, what they liked and didn't like and why and if the text reminds them of something else.
7. Encourage your child to write in response to reading. They can keep a journal of reading responses with thoughts about the reading including what they learned, what they liked or didn't like and what happened in what they read. They can also include any unanswered questions after reading.
8. Have your children read out loud to you. If they make errors, do not correct them as they are reading and let small errors go. Repeated errors or errors that can affect comprehension should be corrected by bringing the child back to the mistake and asking him or her to read it again. If the same error is made, review what it was and discuss the mistake with the child. If the child corrects him or herself, the reading should continue on from there. Whenever you are unsure of whether your child has made a fatal error, do not correct him or her. (A fatal error would be reading the wrong word for a key word but not reversing something like of and for unless this is done repeatedly).
9. Model good reading for your children. Share what you read with them or read what they are reading. Talk to them about the things you find important in what you read and why. Show them how you form opinions about reading and how you use clues in the text to help guide comprehension. In addition, explain the connections you can make with a text and the criticisms (good and bad) that you might have about it. Share the questions that you generate about a text as well.
10. Read yourself. Children will imitate you and will be more likely to read and read well in a house filled with all types of interesting books. Also, show your children how reading a lot of materials can help with the background knowledge to understand new ideas.
11. Create a special reading area for your children. Let them make decisions about how it should be decorated and what should be contained there.
12. Increase children's vocabulary by playing word games like "Wheel of Fortune", Scrabble, Boggle or Mad Libs. A family games night is the perfect way to find ways to increase a child's word power.
13. If your school does not provide them, create reading lists for your children. Have a celebration of some sort or an incentive built in when your child finishes a part or all of the list. Do not just leave the child to read the books, though, structure questions, conversations and activities into the reading list.
14. Incorporate reading into your everyday life. Show your children and share with them what you read during the day. Also, use any opportunity for reading: an outing, learning about an illness, learning about an activity or pet, etc. Complete the reading beforehand then discuss the event and the reading afterwards.
15. Try not to criticize your child's reading choices. If they love comic books, get a book about illustration or about the illustrator of their favorite comic strip. Whenever possible, use their interests to guide their reading choices and give them some power in making decisions about what to read.
16. Use a child's love of television or movies to your advantage. Pair books and related movies together then have your child compare and contrast the two.
17. Remember that reading on a computer is also reading. Select good reading sites from the internet that you and your child can participate in. In addition, use books on tape if your kids like to listen.
18. For reluctant or non-readers, choose books that deal with issues that affect them in their lives. Be careful to ensure that the books are current and are directed to your child's age group.
19. Offer praise whenever your child reads. Do so in a realistic fashion and in a way that your child will appreciate it. You can use special certificates or reading hugs, as appropriate.
20. Encourage your child to analyze and to critically think about what he or she reads. One way to do this is to have the child identify the purpose, audience and voice of the piece. Use two pieces of writing about the same topic but which have a different purpose, audience or voice to show how two pieces of writing can be very different based upon what the author thinks the reader needs or wants to hear. You can also use two different types of writing with the same theme--for example a short story and a poem about love--then have your child compare and contrast them.
21. If you suspect your child is not progressing with reading, seek help. The longer a child goes without developing reading skills and fluency, the more difficult it is for him or her to catch up in all subjects information across disciplines is taught through reading assignments.
LINKS TO WEB SITES WITH INFORMATION ABOUT HOW TO HELP CHILDREN TO IMPROVE READING FLUENCY AND SKILLS
1. Department of Education: Publications and Products: Parent Resources: Publications for Parents
2. Student Resources: Study Skills
PLACES TO FIND INFORMATION AND ARTICLES ABOUT CURRENT ISSUES IN READING
The sources on the internet about reading and English as a Second Language are vast. The links below are just a starting place. In addition, more links are provided at the end of each topic page in this site. If you have suggestions for other links, please e-mail these to Dr. Lisa Barnes, lbarnes@dcccnet.dccc.edu.
WEB SITES FOR PROFESSIONAL SOCIETIES
1. National Council of Teachers of English
2. Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages
3. National Education Association
4. American Library Association
CLEARINGHOUSES WITH INFORMATION ABOUT LITERACY AND READING
1 . Education and Information Services
2. National Center for Adult Literacy: University of Pennsylvania
3. National Institute for Literacy
6. CASAS: Basic Education Information
8. National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy
9. National Adult Literacy Database
11. National Center for Family Literacy
12. National Center for the Study of Writing and Literacy
13. Reading Research: LinguaLinks
RESOURCES WITH AN ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE FOCUS
1. Center for Applied Linguistics /
2. TESL/TEFL/TESOL/ESL/EFL/ESOL Links /