I find a few different levels of challenges in regard to reading. I teach in the Trades Program. So there are technical words and concepts, charts, graphs, tables, and instructions. It gets messy at times.
We ask students to "read" charts, tables, equipment specifications, and procedures. The concept of associations of word(s)to concepts becomes a double requirement.
I have found most students can read and grasp the concept of the words. Following procedures - in the proper order is often lost. Taking data from a chart is difficult for many students.
Most students master the task. The best way I have found to help them is a lot of repitiion - over and over. Explain why they did it correctly or incorrectly after each attempt.
When providing written material, I would make sure I have appropriate spacing between letters. I underline important words, especially vocabulary words.
I also encourage feedback from the student to share other strategies that worked for them in the past.
I try to approach this with many different styles. I appeal to different learning styles in addition to supporting their learning deficiencies.
shawn,
This is very true. While we want to help those students who are struggling, if they need a significant amount of help, we need to refer them to specialists in this, so they get the best help possible & we can focus on the other students.
Dr. Ryan Meers
Since the class I teach in professional dental ethics introduces both medical and legal terms (some of which they may never have seen before); I try to break down the words or associate them with other words/word applications that they may be familiar with. As for the ELL students, I try to help them as much as I can without spending so much time that I forget about the other 90% of my class. Sometimes I think we spend so much time teaching to the low or challenged performers that we neglect the others who need our attention as well.
Some reading disabilities have to do with the way the eyes see colors. The use of flourscent lights in the class can make it more difficult for these students to read. The use of incandent lights, colored overlays, or colored paper may help these students.
Erica,
Great job. This comes from your ability to read the situation & also your comfort with a variety of methods/styles.
Ryan
figuring out exactly what area a student may be stuggling with whether its reading comprehension or decoding words. offer some tutoring and informative websites
I try to help with phonics and breaking down the words. If the student can learn the root, they can better decipher any word they may come across.
