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Improve Reading Skill

Tips To Improve Reading Skills In Young Children

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Good reading skills are important elements of every child’s academic achievement. Without them, the children would not be able to understand what they read, leading to a decrease in self-confidence and lack of interest in studies. It is essential that these skills are nurtured during the learning years so that they are able to develop a love of reading.

Here are some tips that can help to improve reading skills in young children:

  • Reading Interesting Content: If a child has interest in the type of content being read, he is more likely to stay attentive and be motivated to comprehend the information. The more he reads, the better he will be at drawing inferences and retaining the content for a longer span of time.
  • Reading material according to capacity: The content being read must be suitable for the intellectual level of the child, or may be a little difficult. Going through extremely tough concepts or frequently looking up the dictionary for meaning of unknown words can be tedious. Staying within his comfort zone will boost his interest and prepare him to take on more difficult content later on.
  • Preview the text: Before starting to read, let the child scan the entire contents and sub sections to get an idea of what the text is all about. Ask him to go through the pictures, side notes and questions at the end of the chapter. This will help him identify the content that is important and needs more concentration.
  • Segregate content into chunks: While reading, make sure you stop the child after each paragraph to assess if he has understood it completely. Stop after a reading a chunk of text, ask him to summarize its important points, make notes, find the main idea and predict what would occur next. This will help to develop inference skills and recognize his problem areas.
  • Repeated Reading: Reading any content again and again can help to develop fluency and understanding of the context. Make the child start reading with the sections that were slightly difficult or those he found to be more complicated. Repeated reading will lead to increased accuracy, self-correction and better pronunciations.

See-N-Read Reading Tools are research based products aimed at improving the reading skills of children of different age groups. The reading tools help children accurately interpret contextual cues for better comprehension and retention. For more information, you can call us at (630) 236 – 5592 or visit 2533 Sutton Lane, Aurora, IL 60502.

Reading Tools

Classroom Strategies To Improve Reading Skills

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Reading skills are an essential component that allows students to make the most out of their academic education. It allows them to analyze any given information beyond simple comprehension, such that it can be retained for years and applied in real world setting. Though elementary level students need to develop a strong foundation for reading skills, elderly children should constantly reinforce this knowledge and utilize it in daily life.

Hera are some classroom strategies teachers should use to improve reading skills in students:

  • Utilize different reading materials: Allow students to access reading material in different formats, such as books, magazines, newspapers, e-books, audio books etc. This will allow them to form connection with the information in a better way. Practicing reading while simultaneously seeing the words in the book will boost their comprehension skills.
  • Make connections: Forming connections between the present and previously learned information helps children to develop a deeper understanding of the reading material. For instance, while reading about a place where he/she has been on a vacation, allow them to share memories or experiences associated with that place. Good reading is all about the ability to relate and understand information.  
  • Ask questions: Putting up questions will increase the students’ curiosity in gathering more knowledge about the content. After every passage, ask them what they think is the essence of the paragraph and which information is important. Good readers will always raise questions about the information being read to comprehend it better.
  • Hold discussions: While reading a text or making assignments, ask children to note down words or phrases that they do not understand. Subsequently, you can hold classroom discussions to deliberate upon the meaning and usage of those words until everyone understands it.
  • Draw inferences: Inferences can be drawn by combining the different elements in a story. For instance, if we read that a character had runny nose and watery eyes, we might infer that he/she has cold or allergy. Help students develop this skill by predicting what may occur next or what would have led to the present circumstances.  

See-N-Read Reading Tools are designed to improve reading skills in students of different grades. The research based products provide a practical learning to help children overcome moderate to severe reading, writing and study skills deficiencies. For more information about the reading tools, you can call at (630) 236 – 5592.

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Improving Reading Comprehension In Students With ADHD

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Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) often face difficulty with reading comprehension. Maintaining attention span is important to direct intellectual focus on a stimulus, recognize and decode words as well as retain information in long term memory. Deficits in attention imply inability to store and retrieve the information being read. Children with ADHD find it difficult to control attention, thereby, have trouble in understanding the text, interlinking the context and associating it with previously learned information.

Here are some strategies that can help to improve reading comprehension in students with ADHD:

  • Provide Interesting Content: As far as possible, provide engaging content to develop the students’ interest in reading. They may find it easier to concentrate on comprehension passages that are stimulating, interesting and are not very lengthy.
  • Minimize Distractions: Even slight distractions while reading can sidetrack ADHD students. Allow them to read in short time intervals and take frequent breaks in between to stay focused. Teach them to use a reading strip in order to maintain place on the page. If the content is lengthy, help them break down the text into smaller passages to avoid getting confused.
  • Encourage Active Reading Strategies: Teach students to underline and highlight important points while reading. Provide them with different colored pencils or highlighters to set apart information according to their relevance in the content. This will help them to focus more on the important content when they are able to sustain attention.
  • Ask For Predictions: When reading a passage with the child, frequently ask him to predict what would happen next. For this, he will need to interlink the storyline and character to frame the plot for the story. It does not matter if the predictions are correct or not. Making predictions will encourage him to stay attentive throughout and you can also assess his comprehension skills.
  • Let Them Subvocalize: In contrast to reading silently, allowing children to read aloud can also help with comprehension. Reading in mind can be troublesome for children with ADHD. Subvocalizing allows them to input auditory signals into their minds which, in turn, help them to stay focused on the material being read.

See-N-Read Reading Tools can help to improve comprehension skills in students with ADHD. For more information, you can call at (630) 236 – 5592.

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Fun Ways To Improve Your Child’s Reading Skills

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Reading skills are one of the most essential principles of learning. With fine reading skills, a child will be better able to understand the subject taught at school and improve academic grades. It is important that these skills are inculcated in the child right from his early school years. However, after struggling to read all day in the school, children might resist learning at home. This can be avoided by introducing some strategies that can instigate their interest in reading and encourage them to stay focused.

Here are some fun ways to improve your child’s reading skills:

  • Comic Books:You can set aside some time each day when your child can read his favorite comic book. Graphic illustrations can be of great help to make the child concentrate and connect to the context of the reading material. With large sized eye-catchy pictures and segmented bits of text, kids find comics easier to read than plain text books.
  • Surround Them With Reading Material: If you provide your child with a wide collection of books at home, he will be more inclined to read them. However, these should not just include their text books. Include a variety of genres that will stimulate his curiosity and encourage reading. Apart from books you can also include other reading material such as newspapers, magazines, websites etc.
  • Online Games: There are a wide range of online games that can help kids to build vocabulary which, in turn, improve reading skills. These may include word scrabble, picture word matching, crossword puzzles etc.
  • Relate Reading To Various Aspects: You can consider generalizing a reading material so as to help the child understand its essence. After completing the reading task, hold a discussion with the child about how the content related with other books, TV shows or even real life experiences. This will help the child think deeply about the context and comprehend the message that the writer actually wanted to convey.
  • Read To Each Other: When you read stories or books to your child, he is more likely to understand rather than while reading on his own. Subsequently, ask him to read to you in order to evaluate improvement in his reading skills and correct him wherever necessary.

If you looking for effective tools to improve your child’s reading skills, consider See-N-Read Reading Skills. The research based products have been designed to overcome reading, writing and study skills deficiencies in children of all age groups. For more information, about the reading improvement tools, you can call at (630) 236 – 5592.

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Teacher’s Guide To Improving Reading Comprehension In Students

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Developing reading comprehension skills involves a lot of practice. Though the basic elements of reading, word recognition, phonetic awareness and fluency, can be easily mastered, comprehension is essential to understand any given content. It allows students to read actively, understand what is happening, predict what might occur, relate to characters and apply the learnt knowledge into real life experiences.

Here are some tips that can help teachers improve reading comprehension in students:

  • Utilize Different Reading Materials: By utilizing different mediums, such as books, magazines, audio-visual presentations, CDs, etc., children will find multiple ways to gain insights into the content. Make them read the content along with an audio version of the book. This will help them to see the words while learning their correct pronunciation and usage through the recording.
  • Generalize The Information: After the students have read a given material, you can hold discussions where they can talk over the format of the content, the characters, the message the writer wanted to convey etc. This way, the students will be better able to relate the content with the real-life situations and, thus, learn the material better.
  • Focus On Difficult Words: As students go about reading a content, ask them to note down the words they are not able to understand. Subsequently, you can hold a classroom discussion so that each student can clear his doubts and understand the meaning as well as usage of the difficult words. You can also put up a chart in the classroom in which all these words and their meaning can be noted to be used for future references.
  • Define A Purpose: Any given text may contain information that is not related to the essence of the content. Finding the main idea in the content is important to maintain focus and concentration. Teachers should brief the students beforehand regarding what the content is all about. Ask questions after every paragraph to make sure that the students are able to classify relevant information from the rest.
  • Take Notes: Encourage students to write down or highlight the information they find to be important in the passage. This way, they will be able to memorize what they have read and quickly go through it whenever needed.

See-N-Read Reading Tools are designed to improve reading comprehension in students of all age groups. The research based tools can help students find the main idea and gain a better understanding of the reading material. For more information, you can call at (630) 236 – 5592.

Fluency Interventions

Reading And Fluency Interventions For Students

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Reading involves more than just identifying and decoding words. It is important that students develop fluency in order to be a successful reader. It helps them read accurately at a definite pace along with the proper expression of words. A fluent reader will also be able to comprehend and memorize any text better. Here are some effective reading fluency intervention tips for students:

  • Model Fluent Reading: In order to be a fluent reader, students must be aware of the essential components of fluency. When they know how fluent reading sounds like, they will be better able to incorporate the style into their own reading. Hence, you should expose your children to various reading materials and the correct way to narrate them. Read aloud various poems, stories, speeches of their interest and let the students pinpoint elements that made you read fluently.
  • Guided Practice: You can also make your child learn simultaneously as you read. Pick out a paragraph or excerpt from a text and let your child repeat every sentence after you. Focus on the child’s expression of words and accuracy in pronunciation. Repeat the same process several times and praise the child for every improvement he makes.
  • Repeated Readings: Choose a book or a piece of text appropriate for the student’s academic level and let him read it aloud. When the child is unable to read a word correctly or takes a pause for a few second, tell him the correct pronunciation and make him repeat after you. Encourage him to repeatedly read the entire text until he is able to achieve the desired fluency.
  • Use Chunking And Paraphrasing: Students must be taught to use chunking technique to comprehend the meaning of the text. Segregating the information into small meaningful phrases will help them to differentiate between individual words and their usage in the context. They must also be made to understand the importance of using punctuation marks at proper places.
  • Offer Practice Opportunities: While the child is reading, get a copy of the text and count the number of words he pronounced correctly in one minute. Subsequently, let him read the same text twice or thrice and note the improvement from previous results. The student will gradually show a substantial improvement in his reading fluency.

If your child is facing problems in reading fluently, consider using See-N-Read Reading Tools. The research based fluency intervention tools have been designed to help students read accurately and improve comprehension. For more information, you can call at (630) 236 – 5592.

Fluency Interventions

Strategies For Developing Reading Fluency

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A lot of students struggle with reading fluently or maintaining place on a page. Reading efficiency can be assessed by the clarity and ability to read aloud along with expressions and understanding of the text. Various tools and tips can assist in enhancing the reading fluency of a child and also develop interest in reading. Some of these have been discussed below:

  • Exemplify fluent reading: In order to read fluently, children must listen and understand the sound of pronounced words. The teacher or parent can read the text aloud, emphasizing the stressed syllables and ask the child to repeat and stay focused on the text.
  • Repeated readings: The student should be encouraged to re-read the same content to get familiar with the context and words. You can begin with a short poem and then move on to stories. Reading passages aloud encourages fluency and expression. Repeated oral reading helps to build confidence and enhance the ability to understand the content.
  • Reading techniques: The child should be monitored for the ability of phrasing, reading a phrase together, the speed of reading and the emphasis given to certain words. The child should be encouraged to repeat certain sentences or phrases as repeated reading helps to build fluency.
  • Chorus reading: Two or more children can be given a text and asked to read a paragraph each, turn by turn. This will encourage them to read fluently and notice the reading style of a fellow student.
  • Silent sustained reading: This technique, referred to as SSR, is performed silently and independently. It aims at providing the child an opportunity to enjoy reading at a comfortable pace. The child can select the text to read so that his focus and motivation levels are high.
  • Audio books: Listening to an audio version of their favorite text or book can encourage children to read along with it. The audiobook can be paused and replayed several times for clarity and works as a positive fluency model to the listener.

See-N-Read Reading Tools are designed to encourage fluent reading skills while providing affordable and practical learning support. Our reading tools are aimed at helping children overcome reading difficulties and develop memory strategies. For more details, you can call at (630) 236 – 5592.

Reading Tools

How To Increase Your Reading Speed

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Reading is an invaluable skill that helps in most spheres of life including academics, business and leisure. However, it can be quite tedious and time consuming if your reading speed is slower than average. While an average individual reads almost 200 to 250 words per minute, the pace may also depend upon the material and purpose of reading. Along with the speed, it is equally important that you understand the information that is being read.

Here are a few tips that can help to improve your reading speed:

  • Read With A Fresh Mind: It takes a lot of practice and concentration to improve your reading speed. Thus, it is better to develop a habit of reading when your mind is fresh and least distracted, preferably early in the morning. You must schedule your most important reading tasks for this time of the day.
  • Skim Reading Material: Before starting with the actual reading material, you must go through it briefly and scan the outline of the content. This will give you an idea about what is important, which part you can skip and which you need to read with more concentration. Skimming will also prepare your mind to better comprehend the content to be read. When you understand the structure and idea of the content, your reading speed is likely to improve.
  • Categorize Reading Material: Dividing the content into three different categories, namely important, moderately important and least important, can help to improve your reading speed. You should start over with the least important bit first, by just scanning it quickly without pressuring your mind. Then, you should move on to the most important content and read it with utmost concentration and attention. Finally, you should keep the moderately important content for the last to relax your mind after handling the complex information.
  • Set A Reading Environment: The environment in which you read, your physical posture, the angle at which you hold the book and other such factors can also influence your reading speed. As far as possible, you should try to read in natural light, as it tends to stimulate alertness. The place should be well lit and there should be no distractions, specifically while reading complex material.

See-N-Read Reading Tools are research-based products aimed at improving reading speed. The tools have been designed to help people of all ages overcome reading, writing and study skills deficiencies. For more information, you can call at (630) 236 – 5592.

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Improve Reading Fluency With See-N-Read Reading Tools

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Fluency is an important part of reading as it offers a link between recognizing and understanding the usage of a word in a context. It is the ability of an individual to read a text precisely, quickly and with proper expression of stress, pauses as well as pitch. If one faces difficulty in reading with speed and needs to constantly stop in order to comprehend words, it is highly possible that the reading process will be quite daunting.

See-N-Read Reading Tools are research-based products designed to improve reading fluency. The tools provide a practical and easy-to use fluency intervention methods in order to improve moderate to severe deficiencies in reading, writing and study skills for people of all ages.

See-N-Read Reading Tools That Can Help To Improve Fluency

  • See-N-Read®: This reading tool is designed to enable readers to stay focused and direct attention towards the content instead of merely struggling to keep track of their position on the page. The product comes with a ReadBar™, which reduces word or line skipping while reading and prevents pattern glare without blocking the adjacent text. See-N-Read® allows the use of common reading strategies, chunking and sweeping, for better fluency.
  • MemoryMark™: This reading improvement tool allows an individual to highlight or mark the important information without having to lose place on the page. It helps to improve reading fluency, comprehension and retention of key points.
  • eSee-N-Read™: It is an electronic tools working in the same manner as See-N-Read but on a computer. The surrounding areas are slightly shaded by the ReadBar™ that allows better on-screen visibility while minimizing distractions, screen glare as well as eye strain. The entire tool or cut-out window can be customized, resized and restructured according to the user’s needs.
  • See-N-Spell™: This reading tool provides a complete spelling and vocabulary guide to the users so that they do not have to struggle in comprehending the meaning of unknown words in a context. The tool lists more than 300 most commonly used and misspelled words that helps to improve academic performance.
  • ColorTAG™: This reading tool helps readers to systematically go through, organize and retrieve important information in any given content. Thus, it provides for a better identification as well as differentiation between essential and non-essential points.
  • ColorTAG™ works by avoiding confusion between different contexts, aiding comprehension of information and improving reading fluency.

For more information about See-N-Read Reading Tools, you can call at (630) 236 – 5592.

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Common Reading Problems In Children

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Reading difficulties are faced by most children and can occur due to several reasons. Learning information is a sequential process involving a combination of three different components, namely decoding, comprehension and retention. It is critical for parents and teachers to identify the source of a child’s difficulty and employ practical strategies that can help to improve reading skills.

Given here are areas in which the child may face reading difficulties:

Decoding

Students with reading difficulties may face problems in decoding the sound of different letters in a word. An important aspect of learning involves breaking up of the phonemes in order to recognize a word. For instance, children with appropriate learning skills may be able to separate the different sounds in the word ‘bag’. However, a child with reading difficulty may find it difficult to judge the meaning between the three letters and how their sounds can be combined to form a word.

Signs of problems in decoding:

  • Issues in sounding out words
  • Difficulty in recognizing individual words
  • Confusion between various letters and their sound
  • Lack of expression in reading
  • Missing punctuation marks while reading
  • Slow reading pace

Comprehension

Comprehending any information requires the ability to properly decode it. When children successfully decode the sound and connection of different words, they are in a better position to concentrate on the paragraph that they are reading. When word recognition is not problematic, children can easily understand and remember the information.

Signs of problems in comprehension:

  • Confusion in the meaning of individual words and their usage in sentences
  • Difficulty connecting different contexts in a paragraph
  • Missing out or skipping significant details
  • Lack of concentration while reading
  • Inability to distinguish between important and trivial information

Retention

This requires the mastery of both decoding and comprehension skills. Proper retention of information relies on a child’s cognitive skills and the ability to organize, summarize as well as retrieve relevant ideas. They should be able to link the present information to something they already know. This, along with sufficient practice, will allow the children to store any information in their long-term memory that can be recalled whenever required.

Signs of problems in retention:

  • Difficulty relating what is being currently read with previous knowledge
  • Trouble in real-life application of information gathered
  • Difficulty memorizing or recapitulating the information read

See-N-Read Reading Tools are aimed at improving reading skills among children of all age groups. The research-based products can help children overcome moderate to severe reading and study skill deficiencies. For more information, you can call us at (630) 236 – 5592.