Sound It Out

Comments

Joanne, The one thing I find missing is an honest discussion of what can be done to encourage a reluctant reader. From a parent's point of view, when you are sitting with your kid and encouraging them to read, meanwhile they are tired and bored and guessing at words and making up games, what can you do? You either get angry and say, "just read this, I know you can and it's getting late and I'm tired!" or you can bribe them...."if you read this, you'll get some sort of special treat." I really haven't seen a deep discussion of how to help during those little times. No practical tips. I hear things like, "pick a regular time each day, continue to read to the kids, make it fun!" but not a lot of practical advice. Can you make a blog post about helping a kid get from basic phonics reading to reading level 1/2? It seems like getting to phonics is easy, and getting past level 1/2 is easy, but it's that middle area that is tough

Thanks!

I agree with the post by Alex. That is exactly the stage that I am facing with my son right now!

Does anyone have tips for this stage?

I agree that AR doesn't provide instruction, but the teacher does. That doesn't mean AR is bad. It is one way I can see if a student understands what he/she reads independently. I can use that information to help form my small groups. I can conference with a student about their quiz, was the book too easy? Too difficult? Did they like the book? Where was the problem with comprehension? They read so many books that I can't keep up with independent comprehension. It helps me see if they are using their own reading time and really reading the books. Because I have a large, younger class, they can read several books before I get back to a conference with them. A quiz report can give me solid, hands-on information for conferences. It can be a great tool for a teacher who uses it correctly.

I am so glad for AR...but then again my kids loved reading before having the chance to use AR in their classes thus this was a perfect add on to their reading education (for comprehension purposes). I agree that teacher time is needed too. I guess I lucked out in that dept. Both of my kids so far have had teacher time reading on top of AR time. I don't think AR should replace teacher time reading. Pronunciation is a concern if all a child receives in reading time is the AR application.

I have raised a reading machine. She loves to read and hates AR. It bores her. She did horribly on easy books in first grade but when the teacher allowed her to read chapter books and test on them (Flat Stanley) etc. She scored 80 to 100%. I read for pleasure whenever I can. At 7 she has finally discovered TV. She has seen me read since she was 3.5-She is adopted and is has physical special needs, articulation Cleft palate, hearing loss. She wanted to do what I was doing. To get your child to love reading, you have to model the activity-say nothing except if they ask tell them you are having fun time reading the book. I am a special ed teacher and I can take a non reader and have them reading at 1st grade level in 9 months. At home my child likes to read my books to me-the back page so I have to be very careful.
One thing that is interesting is that she reads much more clearly than she speaks. This is an intersting thread. At the start of 2nd grade she is reading 4th grade level.

I agree that AR can be a decent supplement to a solid reading program, but what concerns me is the quality of the comprehension. AR, in my brief experience as a parent of students who used it for a couple of years, seems to ask the most basic of comprehension questions. It doesn't touch on higher order thinking skills (ex. author's purpose) or thinking beyond the text. My children only used this program until grade 2, so maybe the questions get more substantial in the upper grades, does anyone know? Again, I think it's a good motivator for reluctant readers, and may have a limited amount of valuable information for teachers as stated above, but it seems too basic to really develop meaningful reading skills.

I am teacher who, this year, is teaching 4th graders. We use AR a supplemental reading program. It is an excellent motivator for reluctant readers. Its intent is not to develop meaningful reading skills. It is assess children's understanding of what they read. After students take a few AR tests and not doing well on them they soon realize they have to pay more attention to what they read. I have found the AR questions to be a good indicator of whether my students can identify the problem presented in the story and the solutions. Also, my students reading ability levels range from 2nd grade to 6th grade, so I am able to provide my students a variety of readings that are there reading levels by using AR. I also enjoy that there are several AR non-fiction books available for children to read. I have that children have a hard time finding the important facts in non-fiction books.

My problem with AR is that in our school a child is assigned a certain reading level which is reassessed from time to time and MUST choose books in that reading level. If that had happened to me in third grade I would never have discovered Little Women and Charlotte's Web and Lassie because they were all "too high" a reading level. That challenged me and made me a better reader. Sure I skipped over some words, but I reread those well-loved books time and again.

I teach kindergarten, and my comments are directed towards Alex and Pam above. I realize that your students are probably older then kinder but here are some tips or suggestions on how to move your children along in their reading. In order to make reading a positive experience it is important to pick books that are interesting to them, and are at the right level for them. To do this at home have them to the Five Finger Test. REad one page of a book. Raise one finger for each word on the page that you don't know. No fingers or one finger: This book is easy for you to read. Have fun! Two Fingers: This book is just right for you. Enjoy your reading. Three Fingers: This book is challenging, but you may still enjoy it. Try it! Four Fingers: This book will be very challenging. Read with a partnerand /or a ditionary handy. Five Fingers: This book is probably too hard to be fun. Save it for later, or read it with an adult who can help you.
This technique can help your child choose books they like, but are not at their frustational reading level. Another way to move a child along is to have them do repeated readings. The first time, you read the book to them. The second time, read the book together. The third time have the child read the book to you. Make sure it is a book that they like! I'm not a big fan of AR. My daughter is in second grade and her school does AR. I think it's more important to go to the library and choose good books your child is interested in and can read or learn to read easily. By improving their overall reading skills then the AR books can be read and then tested on at school. Hopes this helps!

I am a 4th grade teacher at a TITLE I school. I am also a grandparent of a 3 year old reader. When parents ask me what to do about their struggling child's reading ability, I answer that there is no magic. Children will learn to read if you sit and work them an hour a day. I haven't had a planned agenda with my grandson. He knows that we have the time everyday set aside to WORK with books. Granted, I see the big picture, and I know what to look for developmentally. I also know ways to make the process fun, and how to choose material . . . however, I have proven to myself that the gift is in the time. What else can I say?

I had to SUBMIT before I had finished explaining about AR . . . (please see above submission).

AR is not a teaching tool. It is a diagnostic and assessment warehouse! The program gives teachers valuable information about their students’ reading skills. Specialized data such as time spent reading, word count collected from books read, flags for problem areas, etc. are included with a click. If the STAR reading assessment is included along with the AR testing program, teachers can show student growth in reading level over time. A vocabulary tracking system also keeps a record of words learned and even prints word cards for words to be studied.

In today’s climate of mandatory standardized testing, data collection throughout the year is crucial. And students must read material that is assigned for standardized tests, not self-selected. I use AR and all of its components to plan individualized goals and strategies for my classroom. It is the only program that I have available to monitor progress constantly. If students dislike taking tests on AR, they probably haven’t bought into the idea of yearly progress testing as well.

Maybe the choice of AR or no AR depends on the security level of the child’s reading ability.

Our grade level has collected data on end of year state test scores which points to a connection between the grade level on STAR (AR diagnostic portion) and the student’s ability to pass the test. So, we plan teaching strategies to get students where they need to be.

To Alex and Pam - I was in the same place with my oldest son. Turns out he was having vision issues. He had had his eyes checked by an optometrist (and through the school every year) but it wasn't until an occupational therapist at a handwriting summer camp suggested that we should have him evaluated for convergency issues that we even know there was a possibility of a problem. His eyes weren't working together so he was working so hard to read that his eyes would fatigue quickly. During that process, we took him to a pediatric opthamalogist who also discovered that my son was blurry in one eye (this is significant because your brain will only adjust to only one distance and will stop using the eye if not corrected). After doing vision therapy and getting glasses with one prescription lens, his reading has soared. A year ago he would read for about 10 minutes and be done. Just last month, he read the first three Harry Potter books in one week. Part of the growth is developmental, but I am very thankful the occupational therapist suggested we have him evaluated. The convergency issues weren't that bad - it took about three months of therapy to correct (our younger son had the same issue too). Finding out he was seeing blurry in one eye was huge because eventually his brain would have stopped using that eye, and he would have lost vision in that eye permanently. Someone else we know had her child evaluated (about a year before us - as suggested by therapists at the same company who runs the handwriting camp) and they found he was seeing 4 of everything. Kids just do not know that they aren't seeing the way they should. Your child's issues might not be related to vision at all, but I through this out since we had no idea our son was having eye problems. Good luck.