Helping Struggling Readers, Part II
From the Alveary Team:
Are you working with a child who is struggling to read? Last week in part one we shared some “big picture” tips. This week in part two we are sharing some specific tips for lessons.
1. Keep the reading lesson confined to the reading lesson. In other words, don’t make history, literature, etc. into a reading lesson by having children practice their reading skills in other subjects. Let the subject (such as history) be the focus, not the ability to read that subject.
2. So how should you tackle those other subjects? Place the child at their intellectual level (not their reading level), and scaffold the reading. This is done most commonly through audio books, eReaders, and reading aloud. Be flexible and let them try different tools. Also, let them change their minds as they experiment and discover.
3. Speaking of audio books, don’t require the child to follow along in the written book in hopes it will improve their reading, but allow them to try it and see if it helps. Remember to keep the reading lesson confined to that lesson time.
4. Keep reading lessons short. Don’t drop other subjects in order to expand the reading lesson time in hopes of “catching up” a student’s reading skills. Short lessons are still the most effective. If a student is getting highly frustrated (or you are) it’s a good time to put away the reading lesson for that day (or maybe even that term).
5. Finally, be encouraged. For reading challenges related to dyslexia, books like “The Dyslexic Advantage” and YouTube channels like “Made By Dyslexia” can help you see the strengths and even advantages. However, there are many reading challenges and learning differences beyond dyslexia, and help is available for each. We are blessed to live in a time with so many tools and resources available for our struggling readers!
Notes
1. Class of 2024: Congratulations to all our graduates! Meet a few of them here and see what’s next for their exciting journeys!
2. Hive Help: We’re tidying up the Hive and preparing it for the 2024-25 school year. Be sure to check #HiveHelp in the Hive for updates and changes!
3. Late Summer CORE: Did you miss registration for the 8-week intensives on Mason’s methods starting in June? Jump into one of our late-summer cohorts instead! Class times for Cohort 1 are especially designed to accommodate early birds and/or those outside North America.
4. Alveary+ Pre-order: Sign up early and get a free monograph! Everything you love about Alveary’s rich lesson plans will be loaded into the Syllabird scheduling tool and available on June 1. Renew your membership or head to your 2024-25 dashboard for the link to upgrade your membership!
5. Pre-Conference Sessions: Pre-conference events at The Joy of Making are on the website. Register now and be part of these enriching experiences!
6. CMI Virtual Tickets: Virtual Tickets are now available for purchase! For $49.99, you'll get access to all five keynote sessions, a selection of breakout sessions, a virtual swag bag, a special giveaway for virtual attendees, and more. Purchase your virtual ticket here.
7. Conference Reads: The Joy of Making is just around the corner, and to get us all pondering what it means to pursue the joy of making (and more!), we've started collecting some recommended reads related to the conference. Check out the full list here!
8. Lesson Plan Launch Party: Our next Office Hours event will be on May 31 at 3:30 EST as we celebrate the launch of our 2024-25 Lesson Plans on June 1! We have a lot planned for this event, so you don’t want to miss it! You can RSVP here.
9. Purple House Press Sale: Purple House Press is having its biggest sale of 2024 on Classic books for children and YA! Some books are 40% off and some are 25% off. The sale ends on May 31, check it out here.
