reading

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Home : 2003 : January : 26

reading
By Michele

In my room I generally use a variety of materials for reading. I use the basal readers (currently a Scholastic series) and/or chapter books off and on, but I really don't feel like my students benefit a whole lot from either
of those (there is just not enough time to hit the areas that they struggle in). Though they DO read stories during SSR, so they are not missing out on the 'fun' reading.
My students are really struggling with inferencial and literal comprehension in their reading, so we actually spend quite alot of time on smaller reading assignments where I can focus on those traits. We do SRA's

weekly, and I do alot of small groups instruction while the other students are silently reading.

I hate to tell you, but the only strategy that REALLY helps reading skills is practice WITH an adult present to help the student gain the skills they need, whether its phonics instruction, comprehension, or plot discussion. The best reading program will be useless if the teacher is unable to spend the time focusing on individual needs.