From Reading & Other Learning Disabilities
A Blog by Dr. Gary G. Brannigan and Dr. Howard Margolis
If struggling readers do not have strong knowledge of the vocabulary they hear in class and see when reading, they cannot become good readers. Below are three easy principles for helping struggling readers develop strong listening and reading vocabularies. Of course, you need to adapt these principles to the developmental level of your child or student. One more “of course”: Make the activities fun and interesting. Read more...
Dyslexia, dyslexic, dyslexics, Learning Disabilities, learning disability, listening vocabulary, Parenting, Reading Disabilities, reading disability, reading problem, reading problems, reading remediation, reading vocabulary, remedial reading, remediation, struggling reader, Struggling Readers, vocabulary
Interview: Teaching Writing to Struggling Readers
From Reading & Other Learning Disabilities
A Blog by Dr. Gary G. Brannigan and Dr. Howard Margolis
Linda Aragoni’s Interview of Howard Margolis
Reading Disabilities: Beating the Odds was named one of 2010′s three best books about education by PsychologyToday.com. The book blends the reading and special education expertise of author Howard Margolis, Ed.D., with the educational psychology expertise of Gary G. Brannigan, Ph.D.
Although written for parents of children with reading or other learning disabilities, the book is one I recommend to writing teachers. As the sticky notes in my copy shown above attest, the book is one that gave me new insights into the reading-writing connection. Read more...
Dyslexia, dyslexic, dyslexics, frustration, frustration level, independent level, instructional level, intervention, Learning Disabilities, learning disability, Reading Disabilities, reading disability, reading intervention, reading levels, reading problem, reading problems, struggling reader, Struggling Readers, struggling writer, struggling writers, Writing, writing assignment, writing assignments, writing problems
From Reading & Other Learning Disabilities
A Blog by Dr. Gary G. Brannigan and Dr. Howard Margolis
On October 11, 2011, Change.org noted;
According to numbers recently released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, in 2010, 16.2 million children lived in households that struggled to afford food, skipped meals or ate inadequate diets due to a lack of money and resources. That is one in every five children in America who are faced with hunger.
According to Dr. Marcus D. Pohlmann of Rhodes College: Read more...
Dyslexia, dyslexic, dyslexics, educational policy, hunger, Learning Disabilities, learning disability, Parenting, poverty, Reading Disabilities, reading disability, reading problem, reading problems, Resiliency, struggling reader, Struggling Readers
From Reading & Other Learning Disabilities
A Blog by Dr. Gary G. Brannigan and Dr. Howard Margolis
In an enormously insightful book for teachers, school psychologists, and reading specialists, Jack M. Fletcher and his colleagues (2007) have identified 10 principles of instruction for students with learning disabilities (LD). These principles hold for any student who, despite quality instruction in general education classes, struggles with reading, writing, or mathematics. They can be enormously helpful for parents who want to increase the odds that their child’s IEP or remedial program remediates his problems. Here are three of the principles:
- Increase time on task. Interventions for students with LDs should supplement instructional opportunities, not supplant them. (p. 272)
Dyslexia, dyslexic, dyslexics, instruction, intervention, Learning Disabilities, learning disability, Parenting, principles of instruction, reading diagnosis, Reading Disabilities, reading disability, reading evaluation, reading intervention, reading problem, reading problems, reading remediation, struggling reader, Struggling Readers
From Reading & Other Learning Disabilities
A Blog by Dr. Gary G. Brannigan and Dr. Howard Margolis
The Press of Atlantic City headlined, in bold font, “State task force says teachers aren’t doing enough to identify kids who can’t read.” The article blamed lower grade teachers for failing to identify children with reading problems and for failing to use the right methods to teach reading. (To me, the not so subtle, unscientific subtext was to keep banging the ideological drum to purchase and use the Wilson method and its commercial materials to teach reading.) Below is the comment I submitted. Read more...
Advocacy, Dyslexia, dyslexic, dyslexics, Learning Disabilities, learning disability, Parenting, politics, Reading Disabilities, reading disability, Reading Materials, reading methods, reading problem, reading problems, reading research, struggling reader, Struggling Readers, teachers
From Reading & Other Learning Disabilities
A Blog by Dr. Gary G. Brannigan and Dr. Howard Margolis
Finally, The Perfect Reading Test!!!!!
Is it perfect?
No.
No test is perfect, and test scores, without proper interpretation and without corroborating information, can damage children. Inaccurate scores can easily lead to a reading program, a class placement, or an Individualized Education Program (IEP) that backfires.
To better understand test scores and help ensure that your child’s reading program is effective, read and save these quotes from a test manual I reviewed for the University of Nebraska’s Seventeenth Mental Measurements Yearbook. Read more...
Advocacy, Assessment, Dyslexia, dyslexic, dyslexics, evaluation, evaluations, IEP, IEPs, Learning Disabilities, learning disability, Parenting, reading assessment, Reading Disabilities, reading disability, reading evaluation, reading problem, reading problems, reading test, reading test scores, struggling reader, Struggling Readers, test score, test scores, testing, tests
From Reading & Other Learning Disabilities
A Blog by Dr. Gary G. Brannigan and Dr. Howard Margolis
If evaluating (assessing) reading problems is done correctly—if it’s more that an endless list of standardized test scores and brief test descriptions—it can pinpoint what’s blocking progress in reading and offer valuable insights and ideas about how to correct them. Unfortunately, when professionals with little knowledge of reading disabilities evaluate children’s reading, parents and teachers rarely get more than lists of scores, embedded in software-generated boilerplate. This wastes paper.
To correctly pinpoint remedial instruction, parents and teachers need to request answers to the right questions before the evaluation. Here are four: Read more...
Advocacy, Dyslexia, dyslexic, dyslexics, evaluations of reading, Learning Disabilities, learning disability, learning evaluations, Parenting, questions, reading diagnosis, Reading Disabilities, reading disability, reading evaluations, reading problem, reading problems, struggling reader, Struggling Readers
From Reading & Other Learning Disabilities
A Blog by Dr. Gary G. Brannigan and Dr. Howard Margolis
Many proponents of particular reading approaches relentlessly bash other approaches. These proponents can be anyone. They can be teachers, professors, parents, politicians, or special education advocates. Many are well intentioned, but have little or no experience teaching reading, have little or no understanding of the relevant research, or have psychologically imprisoned themselves with strong ideologies that distort their observations and thinking. Many ignore all facts and research that undermine their beliefs, stress only those that support them, and fight vigorously to prove they’re never wrong, always right; they suffer from cognitive dissonance. Sadly, the decisions they make or influence can hurt children with reading disabilities. Read more...
cognitive dissonance, Dyslexia, dyslexic, dyslexics, effective teachers, intervention, language experience approach, Learning Disabilities, learning disability, Reading Disabilities, reading disability, reading intervention, reading methods, reading problem, reading problems, reading remediation, remedial reading, remediation, struggling reader, Struggling Readers, teachers, whole language
Reading Fluency: Key Questions and Answers
From Reading & Other Learning Disabilities
A Blog by Dr. Gary G. Brannigan and Dr. Howard Margolis
Why is fluency important?
Often, teachers do not consider reading rate an important issue if students understand what they read. However, chronic slow reading, even if coupled with some understanding, can lead to problems. First, slow readers have to put more time and energy into reading than do their more fluent classmates. It takes them longer to complete assignments, and they are often painfully aware that their peers have finished reading although they are only half way through. This may cause them to avoid reading, and, as we mentioned earlier, fluency primarily develops through wide reading. Thus, slow readers may avoid the very thing that would contribute to their reading improvement. (Caldwell & Leslie, 2005, p. 76) Read more...
Dyslexia, dyslexic, dyslexics, fluency, Learning Disabilities, learning disability, rate, Reading Disabilities, reading disability, reading fluency, reading levels, Reading Materials, reading problem, reading problems, reading rate, struggling reader, Struggling Readers
From Reading & Other Learning Disabilities
A Blog by Dr. Gary G. Brannigan and Dr. Howard Margolis
Pronouncing words is important, but insufficient for success in reading. To read successfully requires the reader to understand the words he sees and how they relate to one another. Here are eight reasons your child may have trouble understanding or comprehending what he reads.
He has difficulty recognizing words. If your child struggles to recognize too many words, he’ll have little attention or mental energy left to consider the meaning of what he’s reading. Usually, children who struggle to quickly recognize more than 5% of words get frustrated with what they’re reading and pay little or no attention to the meaning of their reading materials. Read more...
Dyslexia, dyslexic, dyslexics, frustration, frustration level, Learning Disabilities, learning disability, reading comprehension, Reading Disabilities, reading disability, reading levels, Reading Materials, reading problem, reading problems, reading remediation, remedial reading, remediation, struggling reader, Struggling Readers
