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Presenter(s)
Jean Slater
Slater Software, Inc.
351 Badter Lane
Guffey, CO 80820
Phone: 719-479-2255
Fax: 719-479-2254
Email:jean@slatersoftware.com
Teachers and parents rejoice when children with disabilities begin to read. Sometimes those children experience success with reading because picture cues have been added to the text. While that helps them read simple stories, reading may still be slow and comprehension low. We now must transition the student from emergent to independent reading. It is time for the instruction of beginning reading skills to begin in earnest.
Fluency means the ability to read faster, smoother, more expressively, or more quietly with the goal of reading silently. Beginning readers often do not read fluently. Instead, reading is a word-by-word struggle. Fluency means that a child reads at an automatic, accurate, and subconscious level. Other brain functions can be performed on a conscious level, so the message of the passage is the focus rather than the individual words or sounds. Hence, comprehension occurs.
There are many reasons children (either typical or special education) fail at fluency. Lack of exposure to books and reading in the home can contribute. The good-reader syndrome gives more positive feedback to children who find reading easy. The good readers received praise for their reading performance, and, therefore, read more. This in turn improves their reading skills. Poor readers, however, spend less time reading than good readers, and poor readers often read the individual words rather than gaining meaning from print. Their reading is slow and often painful for them and for the listener.
Many exercises in general education reading lessons directly relate to improving fluency of reading. The exercises include sight-word drills, work with phonics and syllabification, context clues, repeated readings, and phrasing exercises. Reading of easy materials is vital for all children to improve their fluency, reading rate, and comprehension.
For students with disabilities, it is often a challenge to find materials that are at the children's easy-reading level. Many children on special education caseloads only read materials at their instructional or frustration levels. They seldom or never have an enjoyable reading experience. In many instances, picture clues added to print documents are necessary if students are to have success reading. Teachers can assess a student's reading level with adapted text to identify what intervention strategies should be implemented to improve speed, accuracy and comprehension.
During this presentation, adaptations of lessons and assessments will be shown enabling teachers see how their students with special needs can work within the inclusive classroom on the same skills as their classmates. Attendees will learn strategies for improving reading rate and comprehension. Everyone in attendance will receive a CD of all the materials demonstrated during the session.
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