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Angie Mc
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| Posted: Dec 12 2005 at 11:27am | IP Logged
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THE STORY:
(For just THE METHOD, look at bottom of post.)
Last year around this time, I took (then 9yo) ds to an eye doctor who specializes in reading difficulties. After a thorough exam, he said that ds's eyes were fine. The Dr. asked me to describe my concerns and in particular how I perceived ds's educational strengths and weaknesses. (Ds is bright, athletic, great gross motor skills, challenges with fine motor skills, can see a bird in a tree that no one else sees, finds stuff - our Little St. Anthony - good memory, enthusiastic retellings of stories, good attention span, patient, willing to work, etc.) Next, the Dr. handed ds a book and asked him to read it. Ds "sounded out" a word slowly then said the next word quickly. The next time ds started to sound a word out, the Dr. immediately told him the word. This went on until ds finished the paragraph. Then the Dr. asked him to read the paragraph again. The same procedure but ds finished more quickly. The Dr. asked him to read it again. This time ds read it perfectly.
Then (here comes the humble pie part) the Dr. looked at me and said, "Just what I thought, you have been teaching him how to read the wrong way." Yikes! He went on to explain...
Ds is a "minority" type of reader. He is more global and struggles with the details. (I knew that.) When he "sounds out" a word, he gets bogged down. He will try to memorize words (sight words) but will mix them up, especially the little words, because "they look alike." Because he is bright and energetic, he is insulted by dumbed down easy readers because they don't have the complexity of story that he needs to make the reading interesting. The Dr. suggested we use the method he just used. He said not to worry about "interrupting" ds or be concerned that ds was "just memorizing." He explained that his own daughter learned in a similar fashion. I left the office seeing how the method was done but received no other guidelines so the method below is my version on the theme.
Within one month, ds had increased his reading by at least 2 grade levels. This increase is directly linked to finding this method which was the perfect fit for him. Although there needed to be some level of developmental readiness, ds and I had felt that he was ready to read better but that something wasn't "clicking." It is one year later now and ds can read the morning Gospel readings independently! We continue to use this method on a daily basis with all his reading informally and formally we are reading Treasure Island. He can read two pages within 15 minutes with minimal help…woo hoo!
THE METHOD:
1. Choose a book above student's current reading level. We encouraged ds to choose the book based on interest and perceived "this is a REAL book." He ended up choosing a DK high level easy reader about baseball.
2. Sit on the couch next to each other with book held in front by student.
3. Mom may need to use book marker to keep both readers on same line.
4. Have student begin reading.
5. As soon as student slows down, say the word immediately. Child will repeat word (most of the time) and continue reading.
6. Move quickly.
7. Time sessions, starting with a few minutes. Increase with tolerance. Push past comfort zone but not to misery!
8. Identify patterns. Often this type of reader will read “harder words” while stumbling over small words such as and, but, and had.
9. For the competitive type, keep track of how fast the child finishes a paragraph or page as well as how many times you needed to help him. (Aiden is super competitive and loves a challenge so we made a chart and he filled it in. The good news is that this tracking could be used successfully with most children because most will improve with repeated readings  .) When he mastered a book, we would put it in a “mastered” bin for independent reading.
10. BOOT CAMP: Aiden was so eager to read that I gave him the option of a reading boot camp. Each day he would use this method four times a day. I would use it twice a day using the most difficult book. His dad and sister would do it once a day each, using picture books. We did this for one month and saw such a big improvement! He was able to master many books this way which increased his confidence.
I've been wanting to share this for some time. Getting it in writing has proven to be a challenge! If I haven't made sense please let me know and I'll be glad to clarify.
Love,
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Angie Mc
Maimeo to Henry! Dave's wife, mom to Mrs. Devin+Michael Pope, Aiden 20,Ian 17,John Paul 11,Catherine (heaven 6/07)
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amyable
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| Posted: Dec 12 2005 at 12:08pm | IP Logged
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Thank you THANK you Angie!
My dd is JUST like this. I had heard about this type of thing, and briefly tried it, but got bogged down in thinking "no I should teach her like all the others" and "I'm giving her a crutch if I teach like this - I'm reading for her". Thank you for your story - you are giving me the push to try this in earnest now.
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Amy
mom of 5, ages 6-16, and happy wife of 
The Highly Sensitive Homeschooler
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Sarah
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| Posted: Dec 14 2005 at 12:38pm | IP Logged
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I've been meaning to post on this for days now. I'm definately going to try this with mt ds7. This sounds great for him because he gets "tired" of sounding out.
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Six boys ages 16, 14, 11, 7, 5, 2 and one girl age 9
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Angie Mc
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| Posted: Dec 15 2005 at 4:07pm | IP Logged
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Oh good...I will look forward to hearing if this approach helps any other child.
Modification Idea: If you have a fidgety child, move to a table and place the book on the table to keep the book still. (We currently sit on the couch because I'm often nursing at the same time...which Amy already knew .)
Important Thought: I can't stress enough that Aiden, himself, was SO determined to read. This wasn't something that was pushed on him. I'm sure that his desire had much to do with the success.
Love,
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Angie Mc
Maimeo to Henry! Dave's wife, mom to Mrs. Devin+Michael Pope, Aiden 20,Ian 17,John Paul 11,Catherine (heaven 6/07)
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Angie Mc
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| Posted: Dec 15 2005 at 4:08pm | IP Logged
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Here's a related thread, in case you missed it.
Love,
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Angie Mc
Maimeo to Henry! Dave's wife, mom to Mrs. Devin+Michael Pope, Aiden 20,Ian 17,John Paul 11,Catherine (heaven 6/07)
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Karen E.
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| Posted: Dec 16 2005 at 9:14am | IP Logged
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Angie,
So interesting! My middle one was like this. She was a later reader than my first, and I finally ealized one day that I needed to sit with her, let her see the book and the words, and then she'd retain them. I love your explanation of how to implement. Congrats to Aiden on his leaps and bounds!
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Karen E.
mom to three on earth, and several souls in God's care
Visit my blog, with its shockingly clever title, "Karen Edmisten."
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amyable
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| Posted: Dec 19 2005 at 12:27pm | IP Logged
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Angie,
Since reading this post I've been trying to really observe my oldest while she/we read. She really DOES miss many more easy words than the longer, harder ones.
When she does things like say "saw" for "was" or "the" for "them" (or any other number of crazy substitutions I've heard lately  ) do I just quickly correct her even though she may have gone on to the next word already? It's easy to correct the ones she is slowly sounding out, because she's slow then.
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Lavenderfields
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| Posted: Jan 22 2006 at 11:17pm | IP Logged
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Angie,
I would like to revisit this topic to get your opinion on the post above, Amy asked
Since reading this post I've been trying to really observe my oldest while she/we read. She really DOES miss many more easy words than the longer, harder ones.
When she does things like say "saw" for "was" or "the" for "them" (or any other number of crazy substitutions I've heard lately ) do I just quickly correct her even though she may have gone on to the next word already? It's easy to correct the ones she is slowly sounding out, because she's slow then.
My dd9 does this as well, so I am interested in your answer.
God Bless
Robynn in Lancaster, CA
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Angie Mc
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| Posted: Jan 23 2006 at 10:41pm | IP Logged
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Good to see you here, Robynn! Thanks for reposting this question. I do correct as we go along even if he gets ahead (although sometimes he gets to reading quickly and I'll miss it.) Yes, he will back track and read the little word and continue on from there. Since ds is very much the "big picture" reader, he appreciates that even the misreading of a little word can throw off his understanding.
I'll look forward to hearing back from you all on what is working and not working for you with this method!
Love,
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Angie Mc
Maimeo to Henry! Dave's wife, mom to Mrs. Devin+Michael Pope, Aiden 20,Ian 17,John Paul 11,Catherine (heaven 6/07)
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momtomany
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| Posted: Jan 27 2006 at 10:39am | IP Logged
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Angie, I was very interested in your post. This sounds so much like John. It makes me crazy how he can read big words but stumbles over "this", "as", "was", etc.
I'm going to try the modified choral reading!
Thanks for this idea!!
I already know about finding books to keep his interest. I think that I have every "I Can Read" book Levels 3 & 4 about history that has been written! 
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MichelleW
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Angie,
I tried this with my almost 9yo non-reader this week, and it was amazing! He isn't thrilled with the method (he feels like I am rushing him), but he is suddenly reading!
Thanks so much!
Michelle
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Angie Mc
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MichelleW wrote:
Angie,
I tried this with my almost 9yo non-reader this week, and it was amazing! He isn't thrilled with the method (he feels like I am rushing him), but he is suddenly reading!
Thanks so much!
Michelle |
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Isn't it something, Michelle? I'm convinced that when applied to the right need and applied at the right time, this process helps the brain to make connections quickly.
Aiden is to the point where now I'm even saying "pause" when he tries to skip over a comma or other punctuation.
Here's another recent development, I showed Aiden what it looks like when I "push" my reading. I picked a page from Treasure Island and read it as fast as I could. I stumbled over words, missed punctuation, and was out of breath at the end. He thought this was hilarious. I asked him if he could "push" his reading too. He obliged, and to his surprise, he read rather quickly. While doing this I didn't correct...no time . This quick exercise helped him to feel the level of concentration and energy needed sometimes to do difficult work. It also made me feel very sympathetic for him.
I'm especially grateful that Aiden is a rough and tumble kind of child. I'm not sure how I would tackle this with a very sensitive child. Are any of you working with sensitive children?
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Angie Mc
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4Real Forums : Language Arts Come Alive
Topic: Modified Choral Reading
