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...
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Overcoming Problems of Reading Fluency
Dr. Tim Rasinski of Kent State University
Monday, October 17, 2011, 9 – 9:30 PM EST
Dyslexia, dyslexic, dyslexics, fluency, frustration, frustration level, Learning Disabilities, learning disability, radio show, Rasinski, Reading Disabilities, reading disability, reading fluency, reading intervention, reading levels, Reading Materials, reading problem, reading problems, reading remediation, remedial reading, remediation, special needs talk network, struggling reader, Struggling Readers
From Reading & Other Learning Disabilities
A Blog by Dr. Gary G. Brannigan and Dr. Howard Margolis
In grades 4, 5, and 6, the reading problems of many struggling readers explode. Readers slam into walls of failure and frustration. Their struggles are not unexpected. They have well-known causes: Read more...
- Curriculum that fails to focus on what they need to learn to become successful readers
- Curriculum that doesn’t give them the kind of instruction and practice they need
- Language, memory, and organizational abilities that can’t readily handle the grade’s more complex and demanding tasks and language
Dyslexia, dyslexic, dyslexics, fifth grade, fourth grade, frustration level, Learning Disabilities, learning disability, middle elementary grades, Reading Disabilities, reading disability, reading levels, Reading Materials, reading problem, reading problems, reading remediation, remedial reading, remediation, sixth grade, struggling reader, Struggling Readers
From Reading & Other Learning Disabilities
A Blog by Dr. Gary G. Brannigan and Dr. Howard Margolis
Homework difficulties are often caused by work that requires struggling learners to read or write beyond their independent levels. Difficulties are also caused by work that’s too complex or abstract and by learning characteristics that interfere with starting, organizing, monitoring, and finishing work. As Bryant and her colleagues (2001) so aptly asserted:
Children with learning disabilities are at-risk for a variety of problems that are likely to interfere with doing homework. These risks include deficits in reading and math, poor communication and organizational skills, difficulty with tasks that demand voluntary, selective, and sustained attention . . . poor memory . . . and poor self-monitoring. (p. 171) Read more...
Dyslexia, dyslexic, dyslexics, frustration, frustration level, homework, homework policy, IEP, IEPs resiliency, Learning Disabilities, learning disability, Parenting, Reading Disabilities, reading disability, reading levels, Reading Materials, reading problem, reading problems, resilience, strengthening resiliency, struggling reader, Struggling Readers
As we said in previous posts, frequent, extreme stress and the anxiety it produces can devastate children with reading and other disabilities:
Stress is bad for children. It’s associated with health problems, school failures, and youth delinquency…. High stress levels have been associated with … asthma and depression…. Stress directly affects ‘attention, memory, planning, and behavior control.’ When the mind is under emotional stress, it produces the peptide cortisol…. Cortisol generally is a blessing because we don’t become controlled by our past negative experiences. However, if cortisol is not kept in balance, learning can and will stop. (Creedon, 2011, p. 34) Read more...
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From Reading & Other Learning Disabilities
A Blog by Dr. Gary G. Brannigan and Dr. Howard Margolis
As we mentioned before, frequent, extreme stress and the anxiety it produces can devastate children with reading and other disabilities:
If the stress is too severe or too prolonged … stress begins to harm learning…. Stressed people don’t do math very well. They don’t process language very efficiently. They have poorer memories, both short and long forms. Stressed individuals do not generalize or adapt old pieces of information to new scenarios as well as non-stressed individuals. They can’t concentrate. In almost every way it can be tested, chronic stress hurts our ability to learn. (Medina, 2008, p. 178) Read more...
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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
From Reading & Other Learning Disabilities
A Blog by Dr. Gary G. Brannigan and Dr. Howard Margolis
Despite hopes for inclusion, the answer is often no. Placement in general education often fails to improve the reading of children with reading disabilities. Here are five common reasons: Read more...
- The teachers lack the knowledge and skill necessary to remediate reading disabilities, even if a co-teacher has a master’s degree in special education.
- Much of instruction is whole class instruction, not instruction geared to serving the individual needs and abilities of children with reading disabilities. (And with all the budget cuts, class sizes are increasing.)
Dyslexia, dyslexic, dyslexics, frustration, frustration level, inclusion, intervention, Learning Disabilities, learning disability, Reading Disabilities, reading disability, reading intervention, reading levels, Reading Materials, reading problem, reading problems, reading remediation, remedial reading, remediation, struggling reader, Struggling Readers
From Reading & Other Learning Disabilities
A Blog by Dr. Gary G. Brannigan and Dr. Howard Margolis
To develop IEP goals (and, in some states and situations, objectives) that are meaningful, measurable, and manageable, requires a preliminary step that too many IEP Teams rush though: Writing a quality Present Levels section (“present levels of academic achievement and functional performance”) of the IEP. This section forms the basis and justification for all goals and objectives. In turn, the goals and objectives form the basis for all services and placements. Read more...
disabilities, Dyslexia, dyslexic, dyslexics, frustration, frustration level, goals, goals and objectives, IEP, Individualized Education Program, Learning Disabilities, learning disability, objectives, progress monitoring, Reading Disabilities, reading disability, reading levels, Reading Materials, reading problem, reading problems, special education law, struggling reader, Struggling Readers
From Reading & Other Learning Disabilities
A Blog by Dr. Gary G. Brannigan and Dr. Howard Margolis
Many parents and professionals blame a child’s reading disabilities on specific reading programs, such as basal readers or whole language. They argue that the child would have become a good reader if his school had only used the right commercial program, like Open Court. Occasionally, they might be right. Read more...
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