Dr. Susan Burnett

Special Education Advocacy and Consultant

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Reading Comprehension Tools

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Last week we focused on writing strategies for the writing-phobic child, and this week we move to the joyous topic of reading. Reading of course involves a lot of components, but one of the most important components is reading comprehension. Often times we come across a child who can pronounce words correctly, read with adequate fluency, but who doe not seem to understand what he/she is reading. As a Parent, we should know what reading comprehension tools we could use to aid our children in reading for understanding. Reading plays such a critical role in almost all other subject areas, that we must be able to identify a struggling child and work to help them become successful and independent readers.

One of the strategies can be as basic as checking for understanding. When your child is reading, be present and ask them to paraphrase what they read. Asking them to put their readings into their own words will give you a good idea as to whether or not they understood the concepts. Having your child use graphic organizers, such as the ones found in our resource section, helps to visually organize the material they are reading. Graphic organizers are a great way to externalize your child’s thoughts. Another strategy is to have your child draw out what they just read, this can be a helpful tool for those that are visual learners.

Whether it be you reading to your child, or your child reading on his/her own, ask questions! Asking questions about the story makes your child think about what it is they are reading. Another great idea is to have the child come up with their own questions about what they are reading.

Another great resource added to our page has been the Story Grammar Marker Tool. This is a tool which externalizes the process of reading comprehension and provides a physical tool to help guide the child as he/she reads. This tool is also used in the speech and language setting. The Story Grammar Marker comes as a whole kit along with worksheets, the marker itself, and user guides to help you better prepare yourself for the usage of this tool.

If you find your child is still struggling with reading, and continues to follow behind, contact us, your child could benefit from a more intensive approach. There are programs such as LindaMood Bell, which provide intensive research-based reading intervention for remediation which we can help in attaining.

Comments

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