On 11/19/08, urban teacher wrote:
> I am teaching a reading class to students with moderate
> retardation. They are high schoolers, mostly 14 year
olds. I have one boy who will take a half an hour to read a
story when the rest of the class reads it in 15 minutes.
Partner reading helps a little. Any other suggestions?

Try using Reader's Theater at their reading level. I use
Steck-Vaughn's RT because each character is on a different
reading level, and only the teacher knows who is at which
level. The kids only know that they are reading a fun play.
I teach 5th grade, and I use RT from Steck-Vaughn at the
3rd, 4th, and 5th grade levels. Some of the characters are
reading at the 2nd grade level, and some are on the 7th
grade level. You can even find RT Plays that support other
content learning. Read Tim Rasinski's suggestions for
implementing RT use. Begin on Monday, introducing the PLAY,
build background knowledge, go over any words that might be
tricky. On Tuesday, assign parts and students read. On
Wednesday, students reread the Play. On Thursday, students
reread the PLAY for a third time. Be sure and time the
initial read so you can see progress. By the time students
have read the play 4 or 5 times, they have shaved about 15-
30 minutes off their original time. It is amazing! Then,
find another teacher that will let the students come into
her/his class to present the Play. Students use their
scripts for their presentation, nothing has to be memorized.
Reader's Theater is the best for building fluency and speed.
Enjoy! Deb

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