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Improving Reading Comprehension In Students With Dyslexia

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Students with dyslexia often tend to lay focus on identifying the pronunciation and spelling of unfamiliar words. This leads to them failing to comprehend the meaning of what they read. Dyslexia can not only lower a child’s performance in school but also cause problems throughout his life. Some of these can be loss of interest in studies, poor academic vocabulary and difficulty in getting a job.

However, certain strategies, when correctly utilized by teachers and parents, can help to improve reading comprehension in students with dyslexia.

  • Summarize: While reading, make sure you stop the child after every section to determine what all he has gathered out of it. Ask him what the paragraph was all about, what the main idea was and what could happen next. You should also make him highlight the important points that need to be remembered. By summarizing any information, students will be able to know if they have been able to understand or they need to re-read the content.
  • Use Graphic Illustrations: Students with dyslexia may face problems in organizing the information that they read. This may be due to the added concentration on comprehending the differences between letters and words. Using pictures, visual illustrations or graphic representations can be helpful in overcoming this problem. For instance, teachers can depict information through flow charts, time lines and other diagrammatical formations. They should let students be an active participant and put up or answer questions related to the content.
  • Hold Discussions: Organizing group discussions in the classroom setting can also help to improve comprehension skills. Talking about a recently read piece of information, sharing views and listening to others, promotes a better understanding of the content. Students may also feel comfortable while asking questions and sharing what they have not understood in such an informal setting.
  • Encourage Questioning: Putting up and answering questions about any information helps in gaining insights and making predictions about the upcoming set of events. The teacher can frame the questions himself or encourage the students to do so. These can be answered either during or after the information has been read.
  • Use Previous Knowledge: When reading,students face difficulty in linking the current piece of information with their existing knowledge to make it more meaningful. Before starting to read the content, teachers can make them familiar with the difficult words and any related information that they have read in the past.

 

See-N-Read Reading Tools are research-based products aimed at helping students improve their reading comprehension skills. For more information, you can call us at (630) 236 – 5592.

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Tools To Improve Students’ Reading Comprehension

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The ability to comprehend and remember reading material is extremely important for students to be successful. Improving reading comprehension can help a reader connect better with the information given on a page and apply to his existing knowledge.

Here are some useful tools to improve student’s reading comprehension skills:

  • Pre-Reading Tasks: Before beginning to read the text, students must be asked to take a brief review of what the topic discusses. They must be encouraged to recollect as much information as they can about it along with any related topics that they may have read in the past. Reading comprehension is closely associated with prior knowledge. As students are likely to frame a reference for the content that they are about to read it is useful to remember previous reads. You should make notes of the information that they are able to gather.
  • Learn New Vocabulary Words: As they go about reading the passage, make a list of unfamiliar or complex words. Allow them to refer to the dictionary to search for meanings of all these words. Writing down the definitions will also make them memorize better than by typing or simply reading.  
  • Set A Purpose For Reading: Students must also have a clear idea about the actual purpose of reading the text. For this, they need to read the questions given at the end of the passage. It will allow them to focus on the answers of those questions as they read.
  • Generate Questions: By asking questions relevant to the text, students tend to have a better understanding of the entire concept. Generate questions that require them to combine different segments of the passage in order to frame the answer. For instance, students can be asked what the main idea of the passage is, who the key characters are, what the theme is and what is likely to occur next.
  • Story Retelling: Reading comprehension can also be improved by asking students to recite a rough draft of the story to partners. Through this, they can frame the passage in their own words and relate them to their knowledge. Restating also helps to improve their recall memory of the information.

 

For more tips on how to improve reading comprehension, you can contact See-N-Read Reading Tools at (630) 236 – 5592.

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Tips To Help Struggling Readers

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Helping a struggling reader overcome his reading difficulties can be a challenging task. However, being a parent or teacher, the first step is identifying the problem area and intervening at an early stage.

A reading difficulty may manifest itself in the following ways:

  • Students are unable to successfully learn a reading concept altogether
  • They tend to forget the concept after learning
  • They learn and memorize the concept but are unable to apply it in real life situations

 

Here are some tips to help struggling readers in classrooms or at home:

  • Reading a paragraph from start to end may seem to be difficult. Often, the space between words may appear to be blurred or the child may lose track while moving from one sentence to another. Use a reading strip can help them stay focused on a specific line and understand it.
  • Encourage your child to read anything that captures their interest. You must ask the child to try and read text books, magazines, comics or any websites that he finds interesting. This will keep the child engaged and he will be able to learn many new words.
  • Set realistic reading goals for the child. If you set tough targets that need days or weeks to be achieved, the child may feel discouraged and uninterested. Each day when you begin with the lesson, tell your child the goal he will be working for. You can also reward the child for every little progress that he makes towards the goal.
  • Repeat the lessons again and again. If your child needs to read the same words or chapters many times, allow him to do so. Repetition helps in retaining the information and memorizing it for a long time.
  • Asking questions is also a great strategy to improve reading comprehension. Let your child relate with the characters in a story, their feelings and actions. Ask them questions about the story or what he assumes should happen next. This way, they will be engaged in the reading task and understand it thoroughly.

 

See-N-Read Reading Tools are designed to provide affordable and practical learning support to struggling readers. Our products are aimed at helping children overcome reading difficulties and develop memory strategies. For more details, you can call at (630) 236 – 5592.