Category Archives: Improve Reading Skill

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Reading is One Thing, Retaining is Another: How to Help Students Remember What They Read

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Literacy, at its core, is about more than just being able to read and write. It’s also about being able to understand what you’re reading. Part of this has to do with retention – you may understand all of the words in the previous sentence, but if they seemingly evaporate from your brain soon after you read them as if they were never there, did you really get any value out of reading them at all?

Many students across the country have difficulties with reading retention, which ultimately sets up an important roadblock to their ability to read and learn. According to a study conducted by the Literacy Project Foundation, roughly 45 million people across the country are functionally illiterate – meaning that they read below a fifth grade level.

Twenty percent of Americans read below the level required to earn a living wage. In the California school system alone, 25 percent of students can’t perform basic reading skills. This is a major contributor to the more than 8,000 students who drop out of high school every day.

Solving a Modern Day Challenge

The most important thing to understand about retention and reading difficulties is that every student is different from the next. Not everyone processes information in exactly the same way. The reason one student has trouble retaining what they’re reading could be entirely different from a similar student – even if they’re displaying similar symptoms of a problem.

As a result, you need to consider the situation using a truly flexible approach – one that allows you to pivot your approach based on what your student needs to break through his unique barriers. This is one of the many reasons why assistive methods such as See-N-Read® Learning Tools are so important – they provide flexible solutions that can be applied to problems on an individualized basis.

Not Reading Tools – Learning Tools

The See-N-Read® MemoryMark™ tool, for example, is a reading tool that enables students to focus on the proper line and also highlight key passages of text to allow for easy re-reading – all without moving the tool off the chosen line of text. This helps establish text as an anchor point, making sure that they can isolate ideas and emphasize important passages to improve the long-term retention of information without interrupting the natural flow that they’ve developed.

This all has a positive snowball effect: students learn to single out key passages and to identify essential points while continuing to read at the pace that works best for them. They develop the ability to recognize main ideas on which they should focus, both improving their ability to retain what they read and honing their critical thinking skills.

This simple assistive tool for reading and taking notes helps users to recognize the context of the passage they’re reading. They learn to expand and build on concepts, not just to read faster or remember more information, but to develop their thinking and learning strategies and improve the quality of what they’re remembering as well.

This is just one example of a tool that can help kids remember what they’ve read. It’s safe to say that whatever steps you take that support a student’s ability to combat reading deficiencies on their own terms and to retain what they’ve read  are worthwhile steps indeed.

blog, Improve Reading Comprehension, Improve Reading Skill, Reading Strips, Reading Tools

The “Language” Barrier: Why Students Struggle to Read Correctly and What You Can Do To Help

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When a child has difficulty reading, it’s important to understand that it isn’t necessarily because they’re not reading fast enough or they’re having a hard time discerning the meaning of the words. Oftentimes, issues develop with the physical act of reading itself. Kids can have a hard time staying on the proper line as their eyes move across a paragraph (thus changing the order of the words), or may accidentally switch words around in their heads.

This “Language” barrier (that is to say, a barrier not with any particular idea, but with language as a form of visual communication) is very real and is affecting millions of kids right now.

The Language Barrier: Facts and Figures

According to one study, more than $2 billion is spent every year to help students who are forced to repeat their current grade for no other reason than that they have a reading problem. A distressing fact from the National Research Council’s Committee on Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children is that the education of an estimated 25 to 40 percent of kids in the United States is in danger because, for a variety of reasons, they find reading too difficult.

According to a report commissioned by the National Institutes of Health, up to 10 percent of people across the country of all ages have these types of specific, brain-based reading difficulties – including those who are characterized as having average or above average intelligence. 

It’s particularly important to address this situation in young children because taking corrective measures while someone is still in their formative years has a profound positive impact on the rest of their lives.

Finding a Solution

Addressing this issue requires a certain change in perspective. A student who is struggling to read correctly for these types of reasons does not have a problem to be “fixed” or “eliminated”. They have a problem that must be solved. It’s about finding a solution to the issue, which is why assistive devices like those available from See-N-Read® Learning Tools are so essential.

At their core, the learning tools from See-N-Read® are designed to give readers the ability to support the cognitive and visual skills required to not only read faster and more effectively, but to also process and remember that information more easily. They don’t address the symptoms a person may be experiencing, but instead offer a solution by way of improved and supported fluency – that is, the ability for a person to read text at a natural, accurate pace.

The See-N-Read® reading strip, for just one example, uses a clear strip to essentially “highlight” a full line of text on a page WITHOUT visually blocking other lines that may be valuable for context. The text is essentially emphasized, allowing a reader with difficulties to focus on the current line while still improving fluency and overall comprehension.

When students suffer from reading difficulties, it can be overwhelming for everyone involved – from parents to teachers to, most importantly, the students themselves. Teachers who utilize research-based, classroom-tested products to students that support natural reading processes will improve student performance in multiple subject areas. Such research-based tools offer functional solutions that create an environment where students can truly flourish.

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4 Reasons Kids Have Reading Problems and How You Can Help

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As a classroom teacher, you know how important reading is to the success of your students. For those that struggle with this skill, though, the causes might not be as clear. Some of the most common reasons that make it difficult for youngsters to read include:

1. Attention-deficit disorder (ADD) and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)

A brain-based condition, attention-deficit disorder (ADD) is the most common one identified in children. Its core symptom is a lack of focus that can make it difficult for kids to stay on task. In many children, this lack of focus is coupled with hyperactivity — attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) — which can lead to fidgeting and/or acting out in class.  Too often, these kids are merely labelled as ‘behavior problems’.

2. Dyslexia

Dyslexia is another brain-based condition that can make it difficult for children to learn to read. Youngsters with dyslexia often find recognizing letters and their accompanying sounds laborious. Recognizing and sounding out new words and connecting rhyming can be challenging for these kids. Skipping words and losing their place while reading are other common issues seen in children who have dyslexia, partly because they’re spending so much effort on decoding. Dyslexia can also make reading comprehension exhausting.

3. Visual processing disorder

A child with a visual processing disorder could struggle with recognizing the differences between shapes and/or letters. The order in which the letters appear might be jumbled. Word and line-skipping is common due to visual processing or eye control issues. Kids with visual processing disorder often complain of seeing double or that their vision is blurry.

4. Auditory processing disorder (APD)

Students who have auditory processing disorder (APD) have difficulty processing what they hear. This makes it difficult for them to understand directions or grasp the plot of a story that is read aloud to them. Because reading involves successfully connecting each letter with its appropriate sounds, APD makes it challenging for kids to hear the subtle differences between letters that are essential for reading.

How You Can Help

Whether your struggling students have been formally diagnosed with one of the above conditions, they are undergoing testing to determine if there is a medical explanation for their struggles or they exhibit some telltale signs, there is a practical solution you can offer in your classroom to help them now. See-N-Read® Learning Tools were developed based on the latest research. Classroom tested, simple to implement in the learning program of any child and affordable, See-N-Read® Reading Tools help children stay focused on specific lines of text. This invaluable resource helps the child keep the place on the page to improve reading performance, reduce frustration and increase confidence

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How To Improve Reading Speed And Comprehension

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Reading fluency is an essential skill which can be inculcated by using various techniques. It can not only help you comprehend information, but also manage time in a better way. Whether you are a student or professional, having good reading skills can be beneficial for you in the long run.  

Here are a few techniques which can improve reading speed and comprehension:

  • Skim material for main ideas: You should scan the outline of the content to get an idea about the information. This will give you a clear picture about the topics that you can skip and those that require more concentration. Understanding the structure of the content can help to improve reading speed.
  • Prioritize your reading: It is essential to categorize the reading material in order of its significance. This can make you aware about the most important aspects and read accordingly.
  • Choose a suitable environment: Reading in a peaceful place without any distractions improves concentration. It is important to set an angle while reading to avoid eye strain and ensure a comfortable reading experience.
  • Improve vocabulary: Improving vocabulary can reduce the time taken to understand a topic. You can maintain a notebook to jot down unfamiliar words as it can help you read faster.
     Reading with a fresh mind:  It is essential to stay focused while reading. You can read preferably in the morning or late at night as the mind is free from distractions at that time.
  • Form questions: You can create questions from the headings given in the reading material. This can help in analyzing the information in a better way. Thus, you will be to read efficiently in a lesser time.
  • Practice: Regular practice can help you comprehend and read faster. Initially you can start with the reading material that you find interesting. This will help in creating a good reading habit.    
  • Eliminate sub vocalization: The habit of sub vocalization (uttering words while reading) can have a great impact on your reading. It can lower down your reading speed and fluency. Thus, sub vocalization should be avoided for better results.
  • Keep a track on your progress: It is a good idea to take a self-test at frequent intervals to keep a check on your reading speed. This can keep you on the right track and provide motivation for further improvement.

See-N-Read Reading Tools aim at improving reading speed and comprehension. The research based tools have been designed to help people of all ages read faster while reducing distractions on the page. For more information, you can call at (630) 236 – 5592.

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.