Secondary Literacy: Support for the Struggling Readers and
Non-readers Lisa Gowan and Cindi Williamson
Slide 2
Norms All ideas are valuable, treat others with respect Only
one person talking at a time, please Take risks, Think aloud, there
are no wrong ideas Take care of your needs Participate!!
Slide 3
Agenda How the Brain Reads (or doesnt) Strategies and
Implications Pre-assessment- If you dont have a test Accommodating
or modifying a reading TEKS The Reluctant Reader General Strategies
Word study, Fluency Comprehension Strategies Before They Read
During Reading After Reading
Slide 4
How the Brain Reads Developmental stages Early Childhood-
Sounds are assigned meaning The idea of communication Formation of
words and sentences Sounds can be manipulated (segmented,
rearranged, combined) Most children who have been surrounded by
language from birth are fluent speakers by age three, regardless of
intelligence, and without conscious effort.
Slide 5
How the Brain Reads Developmental stages The Grapho-phonemic
Stage Whenever children are introduced to the idea of print Print
contains meaning The rules of books Letter- phoneme connection The
rules of grapho-phonemic structures
Slide 6
How the Brain Reads Developmental stages 1 st -3rd Grade
Comprehension Reading for information Word attack skills Morpheme
and Syllabication Analysis Beginning understanding of literary
conventions, genres, and print conventions
Slide 7
Eliminating ableism Ableism-deeply held negative attitudes
toward disability that are analogous to racism Judy Heumann
(Assistant Secretary of Education) A pervasive form of
discrimination At the core is a belief that the disabled child is
not capable Reflected in educational practices that believe it is
preferable for the disabled student to do things the same way as
their nondisabled peers Focus on fixing the disability rather than
providing accommodations
Slide 8
Reading Assessment How do you assess a persons reading?
Slide 9
How to assess reading- if you have no assessments Home -made
Reading Skills Inventory 1. Count 100 words of a passage 2. Make a
copy of the passage for you to mark up 3. Mark when a child makes a
mistake. Notate what kind of error 4. Count errors
Slide 10
How to assess reading- if you have no assessments Home -made
Reading Skills Inventory You can find passages on the internet. It
may be more important to notice why he makes an errors or how he
got his answer WARNING _ This is a rough estimate. It should NOT be
used alone as data for a PLAFF statement.
Teacher Talk Activity #2 In pairs, practice giving each other
the assessment. You may read as well or poorly as you like
Slide 13
Frustration Level If comprehension skills are being taught
using a text that is at the childs frustration level- have it read
to him ( audio books, Snap to Read, read aloud) or find a different
form of the text at the readers instructional level.
Slide 14
Reading assessment: What you really need to know When we say a
child cant read, what do we really mean? What can the child do?
Break down the reading task
Slide 15
Places to get the Vertical Alignments
http://www.tea.state.tx.us/student.assess
ment/special-ed/staaralt/vertalign/
http://www.englishspanishteks.net/files/sta
ndards/TEKS/ELAR_TEKS_K-12.pdf Vertical Alignments that go down to
STAAR ALT levels K-12 Vertical Alignment- ELAR
Slide 16
The Reluctant Reader The reluctant reader is a unsuccessful
reader! Classroom environment affects stress Stress is different
for different people. Slow and nonreaders are stressed by reading,
busy pages, reading aloud, and timed reading Teenagers cant
verbalize stress so they will shut down.
Slide 17
Teacher Talk - Strategies 1.At each table, go around in a
circle and discuss strategies you have used to motivate a reluctant
reader. 2.As one table member is talking, others are adding to
their notes 3.As a table group pick 1-2 things to share out.
Slide 18
More strategies Allow readers to choose there own text. (Even
within the framework you may do this) Be aware that the child is
not lazy. Redefine success in reading. Make reading a social
activity. Model reading and thinking.
Slide 19
Ways to Motivate Attractiveness Change of State Novelty of
Stimulus Complexity Expectancy and verbal cues Emotional
Significance Emotional State Relevance Makes sense
Slide 20
FLUENCY The rhythm and flow of words To be able to read a word
Quickly and with the correct inflection
Slide 21
FLUENCY If a child can not fluently read a passage, he can not
comprehend it. Even if a child can word call fluently, he still may
not comprehend it. Must practice fluency at the childs independent
level.
Slide 22
Fluency and working memory Read this passage: All good causes
are mutually helpful. The benefits accruing from this movement for
the equal rights of woman are not confined or limited to woman
only. They will be shared by every effort to promote the progress
and welfare of mankind every where and in all ages. It was an
example and a prophecy of what can be accomplished against strongly
opposing forces, against time-hallowed abuses, against deeply
entrenched error, against worldwide usage, and against the settled
judgment of mankind, by a few earnest women, clad only in the
panoply of truth, and determined to live and die in what they
considered a righteous cause.
Slide 23
What were the four roadblocks to Womens Rights Fredrick
Douglass cited in his speech? How many of you were too busy just
reading the words to even think about what it meant? Fluency is not
just word calling. It is processing the words enough to assign some
meaning to them
Slide 24
Teacher Talk - Strategies 1.At each table, go around in a
circle and discuss strategies you have used to motivate a reluctant
reader. 2.As one table member is talking, others are adding to
their notes 3.As a table group pick 1-2 things to share out.
Slide 25
Teaching Fluency Use text at the childs independent reading
level Read aloud to the student using tone and phrasing Have the
student read aloud with you Have student read aloud to you Teach
phrasing and intonation directly Prompt but dont correct Read aloud
poetry and other metered text
Slide 26
Model Lesson Everybody stand up Gwendolyn Brooks THE POOL
PLAYERS. SEVEN AT THE GOLDEN SHOVEL We real cool. We Left school.
We Lurk late. We Strike straight. We Sing sin. We Thin gin. We Jazz
June. We Die soon.
Slide 27
Comprehension Is composed of three steps Fluency- Being able to
read words with correct intonation and rhythm Vocabulary- assigning
meaning to the words Experiences- connecting to prior knowledge
Spock and Kirk were transubstantiated to Planet X
Slide 28
Teacher Talk - Strategies 1.At each table, go around in a
circle and discuss strategies you have used to motivate a reluctant
reader. 2.As one table member is talking, others are adding to
their notes 3.As a table group pick 1-2 things to share out.
Slide 29
Comprehension- Vocabulary Strategies Vocabulary is taught as
Word STUDY not memorizing random definitions Students need to build
personalized word lists Use a thesaurus, childs dictionary, or
dictionary.com Show visuals of important but maybe new words
Context clues Vocabulary Trees Word hunts Words across context Word
walls SOMA Frayer chart on steroids
Slide 30
Model Lesson Get out the vocabulary tree
Slide 31
Word Walls Done Right Words and or definitions are large enough
to see around room Words are referred to frequently Words are
manipulated, rearranged, added and subtracted based on need If
defined, definitions are simple and SHORT Students are required to
use word wall words in discussions and writing
Slide 32
Cool Web Sites Word Sift- Gives a list of high frequency words
in a text Vocab-grabber Highlights the text for content clues
Wordle
Slide 33
Teacher Talk - Strategies 1.At each table, go around in a
circle and discuss strategies you have used to motivate a reluctant
reader. 2.As one table member is talking, others are adding to
their notes 3.As a table group pick 1-2 things to share out.
Slide 34
Comprehension Before Reading KWL (Non fiction) Pre-teach
vocabulary BUT refer back to it during reading Tell what the story
is about or Use a Tea Party Strategy Anticipation Guides Concept
maps for theme Set Purpose- Tell what genre it is and discuss the
authors purpose for writing it (RAFT)
Slide 35
Model Lesson Tea Party, Concept Map, KWL, and RAFT Tea Party- I
need 14 volunteers (or volun-tolds) When I ask you to, get up and
meet with as many people as you can. Tell whats on your cards and
start making predictions about what we are reading in a minute
Slide 36
Group Words on word wall- Concept Map Lets put our strips in
categories Can you add any words? KWL Questioning What are some
things we know about hurricanes? Why might someone need to know
about hurricanes? What are some questions we might ask about
hurricanes? RAFT questions What do you think the authors purpose
might be? (Role, Audience, Form, Topic) How should we read
this?
Slide 37
Teacher Talk - Strategies 1.At each table, go around in a
circle and discuss strategies you have used to motivate a reluctant
reader. 2.As one table member is talking, others are adding to
their notes 3.As a table group pick 1-2 things to share out.
Slide 38
It is more important for students and teachers to talk about
text as they read than to talk after 4 During reading strategies
make reading an active process This is where comprehension skills
are explicitly taught to show students how to make reading make
sense
Slide 39
Strategies Say something /Stop and Jot Read Three Times Think
Aloud (direct teaching of strategies) Vocabulary Review/ Vocabulary
Bookmarks Vocabulary substitution Double sided response journal
Post it notes Question and insight Act it out (visualization) I
bet.. Because (prediction) Get the Picture/ Character Postmortem
(visualization) Plot Relationship Chart (who wanted but so then)
Anticipation Guides Summing It Up or Get the Gist Concentric
circles Signal words Chunk Reading It says I say Graphic Organizers
Between the lines
Slide 40
Model lesson It is so easy to be hopeful in the daytime when
you can see the things you wish on. But it was night, it stayed
night. Night was striding across nothingness with the whole round
world in his hands... They sat in company with the others in other
shanties, their eyes straining against cruel walls and their souls
asking if He meant to measure their puny might against His. They
seemed to be staring at the dark, but their eyes were watching God.
Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God shanties, puny
Zora Neale HurstonTheir Eyes Were Watching God Small Chunk- Read 4
times 1 st - Fluency 2 nd - vocabulary and meaning 3 rd - Deeper
thought using a comprehension strategy 4 th - literary
technique
Slide 41
Teacher Talk - Strategies 1.At each table, go around in a
circle and discuss strategies you have used to motivate a reluctant
reader. 2.As one table member is talking, others are adding to
their notes 3.As a table group pick 1-2 things to share out.
Slide 42
More strategies after reading Retell then write Likkert scales
Reformulation of story Sketch to Stretch Last word (opinion) Most
Important word Act out the plot
Slide 43
Closure Parking Lot Other Q and A Evaluations
Slide 44
References References: Dehane,Stanislas. Reading in the Brain
(excerpt). NewYork, NY: Viking/Penguin,2009 Hudson, Roxanne Ph.D..
Reading Fluency Intervention Strategies to Build Automaticity at
Multiple Levels. Nashville, TN: Presentation 5 th National Reading
First Conference, July 2008. Beers, Kylene. When Kids Cant Read:
What Teachers Can Do : A Guide for Teachers 6-12. Portsmouth, NH:
Heinemann,2003 Fort Worth ISD Curriculum Department, McClanahan,
Scott Teaching Reading Comprehension in Secondary Schools: Balanced
Literacy Strategies Module 1-3 Zemelman, Steven; Daniels, Harvey,
Hyde, Arthur Best Practices: New Standards for Teaching and
Learning In American Schools Protsmouth,NH: Heinemann, 1998 Harvey,
Stephanie, Goudvis, Anne Strategies That Work: Teaching
Comprehension for Understanding Portland, MA: Steinhouse, 2000
Slide 45
For Additional Information: Network One: Robert Burrell Susan
Moore Network Two: Jerry Sorrell Unnamed Network Three: Lisa Gowan
Cindi Williamson
