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Jerry Stemach
Assistive Technology Specialist
E-mail: jstemach@bigplanet.com
Older students who are significantly behind in reading may
struggle with decoding stories written at even a second grade
level. Teachers who wish to provide instruction to these students
may struggle with finding texts written at this level that are
engaging, age-appropriate, and consistent with a standard
curriculum.
Older students with emerging reading skills present a unique set
of challenges. Frequently they struggle with issues of attention,
fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. They are "turned off" to
reading. They have participated in one or more remedial programs
with failed results. They are easily distracted. They read
slowly, word by word. They misinterpret the meaning of the text.
Since their own oral language skills for syntax and vocabulary
may be weak, they may make poor guesses at unfamiliar
words.
These students require texts written in language that minimizes
the linguistic "hurdles" that impede fluency, comprehension, and
independent reading. Story content must be age-appropriate,
extremely interesting, and tied to the curriculum. Both student
and teacher must be confident that the student will read the
story independently. The reading assignment must be short enough
to provide the satisfaction of completion.
With thousands of books to choose from, how do teachers select
books that really meet this criterion for reading success?
Teachers need strategies to evaluate the reading materials. The
participants will examine text from a variety of
publishers.
At the end of this session, participants will:
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