A Blog by Dr. Gary G. Brannigan and Dr. Howard Margolis
If your child has problems with reading comprehension, ask yourself, “Is his listening vocabulary equal to or better than that of most children his age? Does he understand the meaning of the vast number of words he’s asked to read?” Below, Dr. William H. Rupley of Texas A&M University and Dr. William D. Nichols of Western Carolina University emphasize the importance of vocabulary for helping children develop reading comprehension: Read more...
A Blog by Dr. Gary G. Brannigan and Dr. Howard Margolis
Parents of children with reading disabilities often ask, “How can I help my child improve his reading.” My answer often surprises them. They expect me to show them how to teach phonics or other word recognition skills. But what I tell many parents is this: “Help your child to understand new or unknown words that he hears. Help him to use those words in his speech. Show him you love words. Love of words is infectious.” Read more...
A Blog by Dr. Gary G. Brannigan and Dr. Howard Margolis
Many middle school and high school students with reading disabilities have difficulty understanding their textbooks and succeeding on assignments. Reasons for their difficulties include: Read more...
Their inability to understand the demands of the task
Instruction devoted solely to the mastery of subject materials, such as a social studies chapter.
Our next post will provide helpful information on fluency, especially for parents who are having difficulty getting fluency instruction for their children.
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...
A Blog by Dr. Gary G. Brannigan and Dr. Howard Margolis
Many parents of children with reading disabilities have been told, “Comprehension can’t be taught. Kids have it or they don’t.” Factually, this assertion is wrong:
Reviews of the research …[show] that … comprehension strategies will help students learn. However, teachers must demonstrate, model, and explain to students how to comprehend as they are implementing these strategies (National Reading Panel, 2000). (Tierney & Readence, 2005, p. 249)
And, as Reading Rockets asserts, teachers can teach comprehension and its essential ingredient, monitoring: Read more...
A Blog by Dr. Gary G. Brannigan and Dr. Howard Margolis
Often, children with reading disabilities spend so much time and mental energy trying to decode words that they pay little attention to the meaning of what they’re reading. This is a strong indication that for them the material is too difficult. If teachers regularly give children with reading disabilities such frustrating materials, these children may learn that reading has only two purposes: to sound out words and to hurry and finish. Reading is not about meaning, understanding, or enjoyment. Read more...
There is a strong correlation between the size of a child’s vocabulary and his reading ability.
In fact, one of the best predictors of success in reading is the quantity of words children know. While there is a correlation between words known and reading ability, and good reading comprehension requires a good vocabulary, a good vocabulary does not insure good reading comprehension. In other words, just teaching your child vocabulary words does not mean that she will automatically comprehend what she reads. Reading comprehension requires more. It requires the ability to relate ideas presented, not just knowledge of what individual words mean. Read more...
A recent survey of “What’s Hot and What’s Not” in Reading found that reading fluency is no longer a hot topic and that it should not be hot. As a person who has written widely about reading fluency and have done a fair amount of research into fluency, I found this a bit disturbing. From my work in the Kent State University Reading Clinic, I know that many children who experience significant difficulty in reading have problems in fluency. When appropriate fluency instruction is provided, overall reading achievement improves, sometimes dramatically. Read more...
Reading2008.com and Reading2008.com/blog do not offer legal advice or advice about particular children or situations. For legal advice, the reader should seek the counsel of an attorney; for advice about particular children or situations, the reader should seek the help of relevant experts.
