Helping a Student That Reads at a Third Grade Level
I have a student who admits she only reads at a third grade level. I am having a hard time keeping her motivated. I've tried working with her individually to help her with the material as she reads it and I've offered some local resources to help with overall reading ability. She doesn't appear to want any help other than finding someone to read the assignments to her. Does anyone have any suggestions?
I have experienced similar situations in my teaching career. I teach advanced sciences, Microbiology, Anatomy & Physiology, Physics...etc., and have had several students who have really struggled with reading comprehension. In these classes it is already difficult material to grasp, and is next to impossible if you cannot understand what you are reading, or if you can't read it at all. I have always suggested they seek out school and community resources to help improve their reading skills, but they always seem disinterested in putting in the work to help themselves. Suggestions??
While most of us would feel that it is our obligation to help the student with any means necessary, we can't afford to spend the amount of time needed to bring someone up to speed by ourselves. Reaching out to Academic Assitance Office or having a teacher's assistant help with before/after class tutoring can work wonders. Of course, constant communication to make sure she is understanding the assignments (and hopefully at the same time learning to read at a higher level) is very important.
This is a big challenge in most curriculums, because third-grade reading won't get you enough reading done during the course.
I'd recommend sending her to other resources that would focus on the reading for some time, and not have her taking other classes until that is solved. Or, perhaps your school has an Academic Assistance Center that could help her.
