Comments for Everyone Can Learn

Comment on Notetaking Strategies (Part 4) Mind-mapping by Hilery Williams

Hilery Williams — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 10:40:15 +0000

Incidentally, I prefer the term Note Making to Taking as it means the students are not just passively reiterating what the teacher or text says but are creating their own meaning.
Using technology may not be our preferred way of working but it does not reflect the reality of most young people’s experiences!
Most have no difficulty uploading images from the web. It is our job to ensure they use web tools safely and courteously, not to pretend they don’t exist.
I find using Wordle.net a great tool for identifying key words and phrases.

Comment on My child can read fine, but doesn’t comprehend, could she be dyslexic? by everyonecanlearn

everyonecanlearn — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 18:33:38 +0000

Hi,
I have been out of pocket but am now back and should be here regularly. If you still haven’t gotten help, here is some information. I am working with minimal info but my thoughts are:

She is reading mechanically fluently but
1. She doesn’t have the vocabulary to retain the information and needs background and vocabulary building for the story before reading it.
2. the reading material is really too high for comprehension and she should work on a lower level in order to build her comprehension skills and work her way up.
3. She may just have retention issues. Things to do to help with this:

a. connect reading to prior knowledge before and during reading.
b. have her answer why she is reading what she is reading. Establish this with a purpose. Create a KWL chart. What you know, want to know, and then what she learned from reading.
c. Flip through the story, look at pictures talk about what’s in it and what she is curious is happening in the story. Write it down, see if your right, write the answers to the questions you came up with before the story.
d. Create mind mapping, creating pictures of the learning. Here is a resource for understanding what mind mapping is and some examples:
http://www.buzanworld.com/Mind_Maps.htm

3. She has a long term memory issue. This will require testing to determine this. Normally you would try things above before testing a student for this. The end result ends up being using techniques above first anyway but there are a few other things you would do if it is a brain development issue.

Comment on My son can’t read his spelling words, is this ok? (submitted by L Mison) by everyonecanlearn

everyonecanlearn — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 17:55:33 +0000

I am sorry, been out of pocket for a while. If phonics isn’t working, they really need an Orton Gillingham based program. Checkout http://www.bartonreading.com for some descriptions and a possible program that is pretty inexpensive and doesn’t require the level of training most of these programs do. Out of all students about 25% of the population can not learn to read through phonics.

Comment on Step 3 Teaching the Sight Words by Denise

Denise — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 13:54:28 +0000

Try playing a board game called Er-u-di-tion that incorporates both sight words and phonics.

This award winning game helps children learn to read, spell and understand the most common words in the English language while playing an entertaining board game.

Cards are categorized so children of all reading levels can play together!

Comment on My son can’t read his spelling words, is this ok? (submitted by L Mison) by Barb

Barb — Sun, 24 May 2009 16:59:49 +0000

I agree with Adam, my daughter is the same, an excellent silent reader with great comprehension but not so good at spelling. She has a learning disability and I spent a fortune with Lindamood Bell and other phonics-type private tutoring and it never helped with fluency.

What do you do when phonics doesn’t seem to work?

By the way, as a first year special education teacher, I admit that I have not given the spelling the attention it deserves and I love the idea of teaching the words they misspell in writing. But, having said that.. I don’t give writing its due time either… any suggestions on tying that all with reading?

Comment on My child can read fine, but doesn’t comprehend, could she be dyslexic? by Nancy

Nancy — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 19:22:54 +0000

Hi -

My daughter is 5 yrs old and will be 6 in August. I was told by her K teacher that she is reading at the level of an 8.5 yr old but is struggling with comprehension. When she was in PK they said the same thing (same school). Some examples were, when she finishes a story, if questions are asked right aftet she reads it, she can answer some questions related to the story. But if some time has passed and questions are asked she will raise her hand to answer the question, but the answer is totally not correct. I am not sure how to handle this – we read together and I stop her after a short paragraph and ask her a question, most of the time she gets it – what do you think maybe her problem?

Comment on Step 3 Teaching the Sight Words by everyonecanlearn

everyonecanlearn — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 23:22:59 +0000

The link for the word list isn’t working. Can you try and send it to me again? It says page not found. Thanks

Comment on Reading Fluency from the beginning by everyonecanlearn

everyonecanlearn — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 23:21:18 +0000

Hi,

I think you may have missed that this is a process to use only for approximately 15-30 min a day depending on the student. The rest of the time for reading, they are using eniching literature that is mostly being read to them in the beginning but on grade level for comprehension and development purposes. This is mentioned in an earlier post in January and mentioned in this post but minimally. I try not to be too repetitive.

I have seen 4 students I am currently working with whom have been diagnosed with Dyslexia go from not reading at all to reading Chapter books in one year and were so excited to say, “I CAN READ” that their parents cried. These four students range from grade 4-6 and in my opinion had been failed by our school system. With these short interventions as described, they moved from not being able to read a basic Pre-Primer on their own unless it had the words they had memorized in it, to reading Chapter books. Granted these are level 2-3 Chapter books, but they are reading them within 1 year of work. I call that progress and success. For them, the joy came from seeing themselves be able to finally read on their own and not guessing all the time.
I do agree that the story should be the focus of most of their Literature time, however methodical for intervening and improving their skills for reading has seemed to work best for most of my kids throughout the years. If you have some information on your own process I would love to read about it and check it out for myself. I may be greatly enlightened to a new world. All kids are never the same and different approaches are usually needed for different kids. Doesn’t hurt to add to the toolbox. Growth in our knowledge of resources is the greatest thing we can do as educators to bring success to more of the population. You sound like you are all about that

Comment on Reading Fluency from the beginning by Hilery Williams

Hilery Williams — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 20:17:38 +0000

HI
I run a Dyslexia Support Service in Scotland. I understand that your method may be useful but it seems rather joyless. I acknowledge that you urge teachers/carers to read with meaning and expression but unless the story is the focus rather than the individual sight words, then the child will never become a passionate reader, merely a technician.
Of course there is a place for sight vocabulary to be learned and practised; but not allowing a reading of the book until the words are all internalised is prescriptive and mechanical. Unless, that is, the books themselves are so dull that the child does not desire to race through them to discover what happens next.

Comment on Step 3 Teaching the Sight Words by Hilery Williams

Hilery Williams — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 20:17:04 +0000

The Dolch list was created in 1948 and, as such, is grossly out- dated.
Of course many of the words remain useful but I would suggest a more recent list such as the one found in the English National Literacy Strategy: http://www.literacytrust.org.uk/database/primary/NLSwords.html.