| Links: Recommended
Sites to Visit! |
Reading
Resources for Challenged Readers
www.readingrockets.org |
Parents, teachers,
and other educators working with struggling
readers will find a wealth of resources at
ReadingRockets.Org. |
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The
ReadingRockets.Org web site
is constantly updated with informative articles.
The site also posts dates and times of educational
public TV shows, where viewers will find
activities to help young children improve reading
and reading comprehension skills. |
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Improving
Comprehension for Students with LD
www.readingrockets.org/article.php?ID=98 |
Some learning disabilities
students may have good word recognition skills,
but their reading comprehension is poor. They
don't understand what they have read because
they have not yet learned strategies to make
their reading purposeful and reflective. Two
of these strategies explained in this article
are predicting story content and summarizing
information. |
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A
Teaching Resource for Teachers
www.teachers.net |
This site is an excellent resource for all
people connected with education. Pre-school
to high school to adult education teachers
can connect with peers everywhere to discuss
and create plans. At the Project Center,
one teacher is organizing a domestic postcard
exchange as a geography lesson. Two teachers
are arranging a pen pal exchange so that
students in Oklahoma can write to students
in Alberta, Canada. Finally, a plea for help
from a student searching for specialized
knowledge. Did someone know if Dwarf African
frogs could be kept in a classroom terrarium?
From the little stuff to the big stuff,
this web site is a jumping off site for searching.
A person can search education related classified
ads. They might want to see what is listed
under education related career opportunities.
Those interested in library/media, gifted/talented,
special ed, private school, discipline, classroom
management, counselors, or retirement can
search the opinions of other people.
Check the TeachersNet often
for weekly
programs and recent educational news!
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Dr.
Marvin Marshall's Article:
Thinking about Thinking Is Essential for
Learning
Promoting
Learning...by Dr. Marvin Marshall |
This article by Dr. Marvin
Marshall provides many pointers for building
awareness. One pointer is to ask students to
talk about what is going on inside their heads.
This keeps the process going rather shutting
it off when a teacher asks for a “right
answer.”
Another pointer is for a teacher to model her
own thinking. When students reveal their thoughts,
the dialogue continues. Students can compare
answers, which generate additional creative
thought. If applied to the writing process,
students train their minds in reflection to
come up with the right word or the perfect
image. Metacognition is essential for the development
of students’ reflective thought. |
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Metacognition
and Social Studies
and Science Textbooks
Read
the Article |
Typically,
starting in 4th grade, students progress from
learning to read to reading to learn. In addition
to reading “chapter books” on their
own, they begin reading difficult textbooks
such as social studies and science. Instead
of giving up when confronted with difficult
ideas, they must learn to set direction for
their reading. If they develop the strategy
of asking questions, “What is the purpose
of the reading?” “Is this information
similar to what I already know?” “What
are the important facts” and “What
conclusions can I draw?”, then they will
have developed metacognitive skills.
Strategic learning helps an individual develop
an internal “locus of control”.
He or she can say, “I now choose to focus
my energies on reading accomplishments. I will
not be daunted by my anxieties or by my feelings
of wanting to give up.” With
these thoughts as tools, reading now becomes
reflective and purposeful. This article explains
this process further. |
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LD
Online: Reading and Reading Disabilities
www.ldonline.org |
The LD Online
website is one of the leading web sites which
keeps parents, teachers, and interested individuals
up to date on all aspects of learning disabilities.
Experts provide updated information on reading
techniques and activities. For parents, teachers,
and professionals to share ideas, LD online
maintains a bulletin board for sharing ideas.
The website also has news articles and professional
articles to aid those working with challenged
readers. Learning disabilities are specific
to each individual, but general information
can help everyone who is looking for an answer. |
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Reading
Automaticity and the ESL Student
http://iteslj.org/Articles/Browning-TimedReading.html |
Learning English as a
second language can be difficult for ESL students.
When ESL students read orally, the sound of
their reading is slow as they stop to sound
out words. Slow word reading interferes with
comprehension because a reader puts too much
focus on decoding words. Consequently, he or
she doesn't have the mental energy to devote
to understanding the meaning of sentences and
paragraphs. After reading this article about
increasing speed, look at how Accomplish
helps readers to improve reading automaticity
by concentrating on comprehension. |
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Metacognition
and DRTA: A Home Reading Activity
www.pampetty.com/420guidedreadingDRTA.htm |
DRTA stands for Directed
Reading Thinking Activities. It is a three-step
process. First, adults prepare children to
understand information The adult asks students
to predict, “What do you think this
story is about?" In the next step, the
adult clearly states the purpose for reading
-- for enjoyment? -- to compare it to a movie?
-- to prepare for a field trip? -- possibly
to the planetarium? Finally, as the story
progresses, the adult asks the students to
predict what might happen next. Predictions
create possible schemas and motivate readers
to maintain attention. These steps lead to
better thinking about the story’s ideas
and result in better reading comprehension. |
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International
Reading Association:
Literacy Links for Teachers and Parents
www.reading.org |
The International Reading
Association is the professional organization
that promotes literacy, reading research, and
advocacy for beginning readers, adolescent
readers, struggling readers, who struggle
and critical readers, as well as writing instruction
at all levels. Parents, teachers, and students
can join the IRA in order to benefit from its
vast resources.
The site lists the dates of regional and national
conferences. These “get togethers” feature
well known people in the reading world. In
addition to speakers, attendees choose topics
that they are interested in and attend small
group sessions. Check this web site today.
See if a national or regional International
Reading Organization Conference is soon to
be held your area. You might find a wealth
of energizing ideas in the 21st century of
world wide literacy! |
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| Frequently
Asked Questions |
| Should
a parent insist on 100% all of the time? |
FAQ
To Jane O.
My son is using Accomplish
Reading Program independently. When I check his scores and
he has an 80% in a certain part, I would
like to go back and reinforce what he missed.
I haven't found where I can do this. Am I
missing something or is this not possible?
And if this isn't possible, then I really
need to sit with him or else he won't learn
from what he has missed! Thank you for your
help. Jackie
To Jackie
There isn't the possibility to check wrong
answers in this program which is computer
based instruction. If a student answers a
question incorrectly, the computer gives
him or her time to "think it over" and
answer it again. The question and answer
disappear from the screen.
In education, the criterion for satisfactory
performance is 80%. It isn't important that
he achieve a perfect score. It's more important
that his mind is learning to work carefully
enough to achieve at least 80%! The Accomplish
Reading Program is a transition program.
It will help him improve his reading so that
he can concentrate and raise his grades from “C’s” to
at least “B’s”.
The program will help him achieve at 80%,
90%, or 100% over and over again. Soon, he
learns that his mind is competent and that
he is good at understanding information.
In other words, the program has helped him
acquire concentration skills so that he learns
to comprehend better. Does this make good
sense? The program retrains the reading processes
in his brain. Soon, he feels that he can
read and comprehend better on his own. I
bet if you ask him, “Do you think you
are concentrating better?” he will
say, “Yes!” Let me know. Jane
O.
To Jane O.
Yes, I understand what you are saying about
retraining the mind. But I still wish there
were a way for me to go back over the specific
questions that he missed .Also, is there
a follow up program? I would like to continue
with this all summer and I am afraid he will
be finished in a few weeks. This is the first
program that I feel truly teaches him to
think!!!! Thank you for your personal help,
also. Jackie
To Jackie
There is currently one version of Accomplish
Reading Program. Now that your son has improved
his reading skills, however, it’s time
for him to "own" those skills by
applying them to every day reading. The Harry
Potter series is not only easy reading (it
reads fast), but it's also good literature.
Books that "read fast" and are
very engaging are books that will extend
new reading skills.
That goes for magazines, too -- Nascar racing,
soccer, bike repair – whatever
grabs his curiosity. Accomplish
Reading Program is
therapy to get defeated readers back into
the game. They will feel delighted to count
themselves among the competent.
Accomplish can
provide the initial "boost" and
then a student can read interesting fiction
and non-fiction to build and strengthen skills.
When school doors open, he will enter the
building with a more positive attitude.
Jackie, since you informed me that your
son is in 10th grade, but reading on a 7th
grade level, you might want to find reading
material that interests him. I think magazines
are the way to go. I'm sure he will find
interesting reading material on an extensive
magazine rack at a bookstore. He might even
move around the store to see if a book matches
his interest area. For more ideas, please
see my "Suggested Reading List".
Please let me know if these suggestions
work out for you. Visit
our Contact
Page to send E-Mail from this
web site or click on the E-Mail link below:
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| Suggested
Reading List |
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