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By Sandra

Laura,
SQRRR is great for comprehending social studies or science textbooks--is this where the parent needs help for her son? If not, it's not a technique most suitable for understanding books like Maniac McGee.

I'm
writing because my son who is going to 6th has had much difficulty over the years in reading. This summer we chose to read Maniac McGee--it's on the reading list and is a 5.4 level. I read with him along the way and I find that the text is difficult to understand for a lagging reader. Asking questions along the way was a good strategy to use. I don't think your student will be able

to comprehend it without your help. These are some tricks I've learned throughout the years to help my son:
* Use Bookadventure.com to find a high interest comfortable level for your student. You may even want to start with the very easy (level 2) Magic Tree House Series. I wouldn't go over level 3. You can find book titles by using bookadventure.com book selection option--just say you're looking for grade 3 or lower.
*For the higher level books see if your library has a large print edition. The larger print seems to put my son at ease and readies him for the task of reading.
*Short selections are helpful for helping your student to quickly understand a small amount of text. The workbooks you have probably have them. These also look a lot like the stories kids get with standardized testing.
*If anyone you know has access to Read Naturally selections, these are great too. The objective is to increase fluency but comprehension is improved to. These come in kits of about 25 stories on tape and in written form. They are leveled to meet the needs of the student. You can get sample selections at www.readnaturally.com

I'm sorry my web addresses weren't more specific. You'll need to hunt for the material I've mentioned. Good luck.