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High School English Teachers Chatboard

How do I help a freshman who can't read?

by Jenna

Jun 13, 2011

Last year, I had a boy in my English 9 class who couldn’t read. He did okay when we did whole-class books because we discussed them and read parts of them in class. When I had the kids in book groups, he said he didn’t like his book. When I asked him why, he clarified that he really didn’t like reading at all because he doesn’t understand anything he reads. Upon further questioning, he said he can understand individual words, but chunks of text just don’t mean anything to him. It takes so much work to figure out what each word is that by the time he gets to the end of a sentence, he has no idea what he’s just read.

I’ve met his dad, who is pleasant enough but seems very low- functioning. Other teachers and I have referred the kid for special ed., but dad refuses to allow testing. The family, including four younger siblings, moved into our district last year, and three of the five kids have been referred for special ed., with the same result.

I don’t kn...See More

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Jo Roberta is right on here. Now with RTI, the school can start an intensive multi-sensory reading instruction program to get those decoding skills automatic and work on flency and phrasing and methods to help him with comprehension. No testing needed. By Tier 3 he would have full-blown services and you can agree he needs much more than the extra he g...See MoreRoberta is right on here. Now with RTI, the school can start an intensive multi-sensory reading instruction program to get those decoding skills automatic and work on flency and phrasing and methods to help him with comprehension. No testing needed. By Tier 3 he would have full-blown services and you can agree he needs much more than the extra he got this year.

Roberta, what a great point! RTI is for all students that are behind, not just special education students.

Your school may not use RTI or be set up for it, but since you say he decodes to slowly, he really needs help there.

On 6/13/11, Roberta wrote: > On 6/13/11, Jenna wrote: >> Last year, I had a boy in my English 9 class who couldn’t >> read. He did okay when we did whole-class books because we >> discussed them and read parts of them in class. When I had >> the kids in book groups, he said he didn’t like his book. >> When I asked him why, he clarified that he really didn’t >> like reading at all because he doesn’t understand anything >> he reads. Upon further questioning, he said he can >> understand individual words, but chunks of text just don’t >> mean anything to him. It takes so much work to figure out >> what each word is that by the time he gets to the end of a >> sentence, he has no idea what he’s just read. >> >> I’ve met his dad, who is pleasant enough but seems very low- >> functioning. Other teachers and I have referred the kid >> for special ed., but dad refuses to allow testing. The >> family, including four younger siblings, moved into our >> district last year, and three of the five kids have been >> referred for special ed., with the same result. >> >> I don’t know how to help this kid. I can pull him from >> study halls to read the class books with him, and I can get >> him books on tape, but neither of these things helps him >> learn to read. I will have this boy again next year in >> English 10, and in classes for the two years after that. >> Any suggestions? His other teachers and I don’t know what >> to do. > > What does mom say? Do mom and dad disagree? Is this student > "officially" receiving RTI supports and have the parents agreed > to the interventions that you have mentioned? Do you have > reading data to share with parents from previous standardized > test scores? Has an administrator made a phone call to the > parents encouraging opening a case study?

Jun 14, 2011

Jenna On 6/14/11, Sara wrote: > I'd also need to know - how is he in math? Art? Music? Can he > function in his classes where there is less reading?

He's in the low math class, but when I subbed for that teacher for a few days (during my prep), he seemed to be one of the better students in the class, so I think his deficiency is primarily ...See MoreOn 6/14/11, Sara wrote: > I'd also need to know - how is he in math? Art? Music? Can he > function in his classes where there is less reading?

He's in the low math class, but when I subbed for that teacher for a few days (during my prep), he seemed to be one of the better students in the class, so I think his deficiency is primarily in reading. His science and social studies teachers said he really struggled in their classes with reading assignments as well.

> What do you mean when you say his siblings have been referred > for special ed. with the same result? What result? And how > can they be referred without the father's permission?

I mean their teachers referred them, they and guidance set up a meeting with the father, and he refused to allow testing. Our guidance counselor is hoping that if we can get the first grader tested, dad will see special ed. is helpful, and then we can work on the two older kids, too.

> And someone needs to read the file... so often no one goes > and reads the file. Were they in special ed. in their last > district? Is there testing in the file from previous > districts that can be used by your district? Does anybody > know anybody in the district the family came from and can > make a quiet call colleague to colleague and 'get the scoop'?

I know they weren't in special ed. and weren't tested for it because our special ed. department checked. However, I would think their state testing results should be in that file, which would certainly be helpful. I will check that.

> If you really want to be a saint about this, volunteer to > tutor him over the summer...

Much as I would like to, I live an hour away from the school where I teach. However, he's making up a failed science class in summer school (via PASS packets). I talked to the teacher running the summer school about his difficulty, and she said she'd read them with him as much as she can, so hopefully, that will help his skills at least a little.

> This young man is fortunate to have come into the care of > such a caring teacher as you clearly are. Good luck with > this and I hope you'll post back to let us what happens.

Thank you all for your advice! I just felt last year like I was completely failing this kid, and now I at least feel I have some helpful steps I can take.

Jun 14, 2011

marjoryt We see MANY of these situations in college; nationally 60% of freshmen need at least 1 developmental course or more. Many universities don't accept these students; community colleges grab them and begin specific programs to boost the abilities. It is entirely possible your local community college has software to test this guy - to see what level he...See More

Jun 14, 2011

Resource English Teacher I teach resource (Special Ed.) English I, II, III, and IV. When I go to ARD meetings (IEP meetings in Texas are called ARDs), I am amazed at how many parents and students honestly believe the student can read and is on grade level. I went to two graduation ARDs and told the parents and students that the students that an adult literacy program is go...See MoreI teach resource (Special Ed.) English I, II, III, and IV. When I go to ARD meetings (IEP meetings in Texas are called ARDs), I am amazed at how many parents and students honestly believe the student can read and is on grade level. I went to two graduation ARDs and told the parents and students that the students that an adult literacy program is going to be needed or at the very least a remedial English class. One problem with the special ed kids is that the parents are not much higher academically or intellectually than their children. Another problem is that the kids themselves believe that they are as smart or smarter then any AP or GT kid. So it is not possible to read books written for first, second, or third graders in high school. This is what I do. The literature books have CDs with stories in them. So I use the high school literature book for the student and play a CD in class for every kid to listen to. We carefully discuss every piece of literature. I also read the tests to the students. You have to remember it is very hard if not impossible to teach a high school student to read because in many cases the kid believes he can read. The students do not want to read out loud. In order to learn to read, the kids are going to have to read orally to a teacher as well as to classmates. If you compare your kids who do well in school and those who don't do well in school, you will find that you lower achieving kids did not have books, newspapers, or a lot of conversation in the home. These kids probably watched a lot of television. Their parents probably did not have good parenting skills or skills that could help students with specific learning disabilities or generic learning disabilities.

On 6/14/11, marjoryt wrote: > We see MANY of these situations in college; nationally 60% of > freshmen need at least 1 developmental course or more. Many > universities don't accept these students; community colleges grab > them and begin specific programs to boost the abilities. It is > entirely possible your local community college has software to test > this guy - to see what level he's on. They might see this as a > recruiting tool and do it for free; it's going to be just different > enough to appeal to the student and family. The summer could be a > GREAT time to do the testing and see the results. > > 1. Test of Adult Basic Education (TABE) tests reading, math, and > grammar. It's used by GED and some community colleges to gage > "ability to benefit." The results can be normed to the GED and the > ACT (and probably the SAT). The results for each section of the test > come back in grade/month equivalent. Because the test can be used as > an indicator for vocational/technical/academic programs in college, > the father might be willing to allow this testing. > > 2. Some colleges use copyrighted software, such as Accuplacer. > > 3. Inquire with Pearson Publishing Company about their My*Lab > software. This would be an EXCELLENT solution for him during the > summer. You can take a look at it at [link removed];

Jun 29, 2011

marjoryt I totally agree with every reason you listed, and the list goes on, especially when dealing with student athletes - I've had parents tell me, "My son/daughter is going pro - he can pay someone to read for him/her."

The key to all the tests I mentioned is instant response - the student/family get quick results that are comprehensible. ...See More

Jul 10, 2011

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