Your Adolescent’s Struggles With Reading: A Guide to Understanding and Helping

Your Adolescent’s Struggles With Reading:

A Guide to Understanding and Helping

Your Adolescent’s Struggles With Reading:

A Guide to Understanding and Helping

by

Juliana Meehan

by

Juliana Meehan

This PowerPoint presentation must be viewed in “Slideshow” mode

PurposePurpose

This slide show is designed to help you:

1. Understand why some students struggle with reading and writing

2. Realize what classroom methods are being used to address these problems

3. Learn what you can do to help your struggling reader

How to Use This PresentationHow to Use This Presentation

• Slides whose titles are numbered 1, 2, and 3 are the “basic” slides that give a general overview of each area

• Each “basic” slide has a series of underlined terms that will take you to further information

• Click on the underlined terms to learn more

• When you’ve read the material, return to the “basic” slide by clicking on “Back to the previous slide” in the lower right-hand corner

How to Use This PresentationHow to Use This Presentation• In some cases, the information is several layers deep

– Keep clicking on the underlined items to learn more

– Then, to go back, keep clicking on “Back to Previous Slide” until that phrase no longer appears in the lower right-hand margin

– You will end up at a “basic” slide and may continue as you would a regular PowerPoint presentation

– In some cases, underlined items will take you to Internet sites; to return to the slideshow, you must exit the Internet window that opened for you (X-off in the upper right)

1. Why Some Adolescents StruggleWith Reading and Writing

1. Why Some Adolescents StruggleWith Reading and Writing

There are two dimensions to this struggle:

• Cognitive

• Socio-emotional

After you’ve explored the slides under these headings, click to the next slide in this series as you would for any

PowerPoint presentation

2. What the Teacher Is Doing2. What the Teacher Is Doing• Determining your child’s needs through

various ongoing assessments

• Applying individualized reading strategies

• Organizing students into various flexible groupings

• Supporting and encouraging his/her progress



3. What Families Can Do3. What Families Can Do

• Research confirms that the key to literacy success begins at home

• Suggestions for supporting literacy for:– Infants

– Toddlers

– Preschoolers

– Kindergartners

– Elementary school children

– Adolescents (middle and high school)



ResourcesResources

• Family Literacy Programs/Resources– Head Start

– International Reading Association

– National Council of Teachers of English

After you’ve explored the information above, click to the next slide in this series as you would for any PowerPoint

presentation

ReferencesReferencesAratani, L. (2006, July 13). Upper grades, lower reading skills. Washingtonpost.com. Retrieved November 28, 2006,

from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/srticle/2006/07/12/AR2006071201825Bellon, J. J., Bellon, E. C., & Blank, M. A. (1992). Teaching from a research base. New York, NY: Macmillan.Budd Rowe, M. (1986). Wait time: Slowing down may be a way of speeding up! Journal of Teacher Education, (Jan.-

Feb.), 43-49.Caldwell, J.S. & Leslie, L. (2005) Intervention strategies to follow informal reading inventory assessment: So what do I

do now? New York: Pearson Education, Inc. Calkins, L., Hartman, A., & White, Z. (2005). One to one: The art of conferring with young writers. Portsmouth, NH:

Heinemann.Stubbs, M. (2002). Some basic sociolinguistic concepts. In L. Delpit & J. K. Dowdy (Eds.), The skin that we speak. (pp.

63-85). New York, NY: The New Press. Faust, M. (2004). Mixing memory and desire: A family literacy event. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 47(7),

564-572.

Feldman, K. (2003, March 24). Reading problems in middle school and high school students. SchwabLearning.org. Retrieved November 28, 2006, from http://www.schwablearning.org/print_resources.asp?type=article&r=719&popref=http%3

Georgetown University. (n.d.). What is plagiarism? Retrieved November 29, 2006 from http://gervaseprograms.georgetown.edu/hc/plagiarism.html

Institute for Education Reform. (n.d.). Building a powerful reading program: From research to practice. Retrieved November 30, 2007, from http://www.csus.edu/ier/reading.html

Continued on Next Page

http://gervaseprograms.georgetown.edu/hc/plagiarism.html









http://www.csus.edu/ier/reading.html







References, continuedReferences, continuedInternational Reading Association. (2001). Supporting young adolescents’ literacy learning: A joint position statement of

the International Reading Association and the National Middle School Association. Retrieved November 28, 2006 from http://www.reading.org/resources/issues/positions_young_adolescents.html

International Reading Association Family Literacy Committee. (n.d.). What is family literacy? Retrieved November 30, 2006 from http://www.reading.org/downloads/parents/pb1044_involved.pdf

Kirk, L. R. (2001). Learning to read: Painful mystery or joyful success? Journal of Adolescent Literacy, 44, 420 – 431.Levy, B.A., Gong, Z., Hessels, S., Evans, M.A., & Jared, D. (2006). Understanding print: Early reading development and

the contributions of home literacy programs. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 93, 63-93. Martens, P.A. (1999). “Mommy, how do you write ‘Sarah’?”: The role of name writing in one child’s literacy. Journal of

Research in Childhood Education, 14(1), 5-15. Olin and Uris Libraries, Cornell University. (1998). Five criteria for evaluating web pages. Retrieved December 1, 2006

from http://www.library.cornell.edu/olinuris/ref/webcrit.htmlOwocki, G., Goodman, Y. (2002). Kidwatching: Documenting children’s literacy development. Portsmouth, NH:

Heinemann.Sousa, D.A. (2007) How the Special Needs Brain Learns, Second Edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.Steinberg, A. (1992). When bright kids get bad grades. The Harvard Education Letter, III(6), 1-3.Walker, B.J. (2005, April). Thinking aloud: Struggling readers often require more than a model. The Reading Teacher,

58(7), 688–692. Wiggins, G.P. (1993). Assessing Student Performance. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, Inc.Zambo, D., & Brem, S. K. (2004). Emotion and cognition in students who struggle to read: New insights and ideas. Reading

Psychology, 25, 189–204.

Go to Next Page

http://www.reading.org/downloads/parents/pb1044_involved.pdf


http://www.library.cornell.edu/olinuris/ref/webcrit.html









The EndThe End

Flexible GroupingsFlexible Groupings• “Children learn as a result of interacting socially and

transforming the language and actions of their social experiences into tools for independent thinking” (Owocki)

• Social interaction in learning is especially important for adolescents

• Therefore, various student groupings are an integral part of a student-centered classroom:– Heterogeneous groupings

– Homogeneous groupings

– Random groupings

– Non-random, teacher-chosen groupings

Back to Previous Slide

Non-Random, Teacher-Chosen Groupings

Non-Random, Teacher-Chosen Groupings

• Sometimes a teacher will choose reading buddies or writing buddies based on common student interests (rather than skill level)

• This information is gotten through student questionnaires

• Reading/writing buddies usually stay together the whole year unless a problem arises or a student leaves the class

Back to previous page

Heterogeneous GroupingsHeterogeneous Groupings

• By a teacher’s grouping students with different skill levels:– Advanced students can further master subject

matter by re-teaching and/or reinforcing it with their less proficient peers

– Students less proficient in the task at hand can learn from their peers


Homogeneous GroupingsHomogeneous Groupings

• By a teacher’s grouping students with similar skill levels:– Students having difficulties in the same areas

can receive direct instruction

– Students who are proficient can receive advanced, enrichment instruction


Random GroupingsRandom Groupings

• It is important that students sometimes have choice in their group mates

• The following activities work well with student-chosen partners:– Think-Pair-Share

– Learning partners


Think-Pair-ShareThink-Pair-Share

• A three-step discussion strategy that promotes cooperation with a partner and encourages all students to actively participate in class:– Students listen while teacher poses a question

– Students are given ample “wait time” so each one can think of an appropriate response

– Students are cued to “pair with a neighbor” to discuss their response

– Students are then invited to share their responses with the whole group


Learning PartnersLearning Partners

• A cooperative strategy that is useful for quick, energizing reviews:– Students self-select a learning partner (partners remain together

throughout the marking period)

– Teacher announces a “learning partner time” and a focus question/problem is given

– Learning partners get together and work for 2-4 minutes to answer the question/solve the problem

– Students return to their seats and the lesson resumes, with students individually giving oral responses to the question/problem that was posed


Wait TimeWait Time

• The amount of time a teacher pauses after asking a question

• A wait time of five seconds or more is required for optimum results (Budd Rowe):– Better classroom climate

– Increased level of higher-order thinking

– Improved quality of classroom interactions

– Increased level of academic achievement

– Decrease in behavior problems


CognitiveCognitive

• Cognition refers to how our minds perceive, learn, and reason

• Cognition with respect to literacy involves:– Word identification

– Fluency

– Comprehension

Word IdentificationWord Identification

• Some students fail to understand that letters represent sounds and that there are patterns to these sounds

• These students struggle to decode words– They decode words at a very slow rate

– They cannot decode longer words

• So much effort is expended in trying to decode that comprehension suffers

FluencyFluency

• Fluency is that quality of written language that allows us to read with rapidly-executed skill and with almost effortless comprehension.

• When students lack fluency it is largely due to poor “sight word” recognition

Sight WordsSight Words

• “Sight words” are those words that are recognized instantly, without the need for decoding

• If students have only a few sight words at their disposal, their focus goes to decoding words rather than comprehending text meaning

• This results in slow reading and poor comprehension

Back to previous slide

ComprehensionComprehension

• Comprehension is the reader’s ability to understand and remember what is read

• Struggling readers often exhibit poor comprehension, even though decoding and fluency skills may be intact

• These readers lack comprehension strategies


Comprehension StrategiesComprehension Strategies• “Active reading”

• How to carry on inner self-dialogue about the meaning of a text (Walker)

• How to explain, analyze, and comprehend words in context (Artani)

• How to adjust predictions in response to text and not ignore contradictory information (Walker)

• How to deal with different types of text


Socio-Emotional Literacy StrugglesSocio-Emotional Literacy Struggles

• Emotion and cognition are connected in literacy

• Negative past experiences

• Cultural differences

• Lack of support at home

• Individual attitude

• Adolescent brain development

Adolescent Brain DevelopmentAdolescent Brain Development

• The frontal area of the brain is responsible for higher-order thinking, problem solving, and regulating emotions– It does not mature until approximately age 24 (click here

for diagram)

– Adolescents’ ability to make rational decisions, understand the consequences of their actions, and curb emotional impulses is thus delayed

– This must be factored in to expectations of students’ of performance in school

Frontal Lobe MaturationFrontal Lobe Maturation

Age 5

Age 8

Age 12

Age 16Age 20

Maturation of the frontal lobe shown in light areas (Sousa, 2007)

Negative Past ExperiencesNegative Past Experiences

• Negative memories– Teacher critique

– Peer judgement

• Social promotion– Never learned reading strategies

– Confusion builds and leads to more negative experiences and passivity


Cultural DifferencesCultural Differences

• Students come to school with experiences of literacy based on their home cultures (Delpit)– If a student’s home culture is very different

from that of the school, students might lack the ability to make personal connections to literacy

– They cannot bridge the gap between home and school culture without help


Lack of Support at HomeLack of Support at Home

• No support framework– Parents lack the time to assist in their child’s

literacy

– Non-English-speaking parents often are willing but cannot assist

• Low expectations: students have permission to fail


Individual AttitudeIndividual Attitude

• Low self esteem

• Lack of confidence

• Passivity


Emotions Influence CognitionEmotions Influence Cognition

• The brain structures associated with long-term memory, the hippocampus and the amygdala, are also highly involved with emotions (Sousa, 2007)

• Effective learning experiences need to be associated with positive emotions

• This is especially true for struggling readers, who experience a great deal of negative emotions about reading and create negative self-schemas to deal with them


Struggling Readers and Self-SchemasStruggling Readers and Self-Schemas

• Self-schemas are ideas about our environment that contain thoughts and beliefs about ourselves

• They influence children’s moods which, in turn, affects the memories they will choose to remember (Zambo)

• Readers with negative self-schemas focus on short-term solutions rather than long-term goals


Influence of Negative Self-schemas on ReadingInfluence of Negative Self-schemas on ReadingStudent’s Cognition,

Mood, and Self-schemas Students’ and Teachers’ WordsLow self-efficacy; believes s/he willnever be competent in reading

“I’m just a dumb kid.”

Dark mood about reading; makespessimistic attributions

“…his mood has always been sopessimistic.”

Negative feedback loop, highlyresistant to change

“…his initial reaction for a long,long time will be I can’t do that.Those scars last forever.”

Displays learned helplessness; holdslittle hope for self regarding reading

“I can’t live up to yourexpectations,” and “I can’t keep upwith the others no matter how hardI try.”

Because of emotional thinking, childnot getting the practice needed tobecome proficient

“…not practicing reading is theirway of saving face.”

Back to Previous SlideAdapted from: Zambo, D., & Brem, S. K. (2004). Emotion and cognition in students who struggle to read: New insights and ideas. Reading Psychology, 25, 189–204

Short-Term SolutionsShort-Term Solutions

• Struggling readers often develop a fight-or-flight reaction to reading (Zambo):– They avoid the reading situation by making

various excuses

– They may confront the reading situation with anger and defiance


Low Self EsteemLow Self Esteem

• Some students develop negative beliefs about their ability to comprehend and therefore adopt negative practices (Walker):– These students have low self-efficacy, i.e., little

belief in their ability to succeed

– They focus on lack of comprehension skills instead of the skills they already possess

– They turn this sense of failure into a reason for quitting


Lack of ConfidenceLack of Confidence

• Students who lack confidence decrease their efforts

• They believe they will fail no matter how hard they try

• This leads to a downward spiral of:– Less and less success

– Less motivation, ambition, drive, and willingness to spend time working on challenge


PassivityPassivity

• Some students who have experienced failure find it hard to reward themselves for any progress in reading

• Consistent failure causes these students to become passive readers


AssessmentAssessment

• Students are given both formal and informal assessments– Formal assessments include:

• Class-wide periodic quizzes and tests

• State-mandated testing

• One-on-one reading tests

– Informal assessment includes:• Observation and note-taking

• Individual conferencing


Formal AssessmentFormal Assessment

• Formal assessment is given to all students in the form of periodic tests and quizzes

• Some assessment is given before lessons (pre-assessment) in order to see what students already know about a subject and what they need to know

• Another type of formal assessment that gives much more individual data is the informal reading inventory


Informal AssessmentInformal Assessment

• One of the best ways to understand a child’s educational needs is by “kidwatching”

• Conferencing allows one-on-one instruction on various tasks, particularly writing


“Kidwatching”*“Kidwatching”*

• Gaining insight into children’s learning by:– Intensely observing and documenting what

students know and can do

– Documenting the ways they construct knowledge

– Using this information to plan instruction and address individual needs (Owocki, 2002)


*Owocki, G., Goodman, Y. (2002). Kidwatching: Documenting children’s literacy development. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

ConferencingConferencing• Informal conversation between teacher and student in

which the teacher observes a student at work and then guides next steps

• During that conversation the teacher:– Observes and understands what the child is doing– Decides what can be offered in the form of instruction for this task– Teaches a skill to be immediately applied– Names what the child has done for reinforcement (Calkins, 2005)– Makes notes for follow-up instruction


Tests and QuizzesTests and Quizzes

• Teacher- and district-generated tests and quizzes that correspond to district and state curriculum standards

• Standardized, state-mandated testing: – NJ Assessment of Skills and Knowledge (ASK)

– High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA)


New Jersey ASKNew Jersey ASK

• A state assessment of student achievement in language arts, math, and science that was implemented in 2003 to meet the requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act

• Read more about the ASK


http://www.nj.gov/njded/assessment/parents/

New Jersey GEPANew Jersey GEPA• Measures progress in mastering the knowledge and

skills specified in the State Core Curriculum Content Standards and needed to pass the High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA)

• A primary indicator for identifying eighth-grade students who may need instructional intervention in three content areas: language arts literacy, mathematics and science

• Go to NJ Department of Education site


http://www.nj.gov/njded/assessment/parents/

Pre-assessmentPre-assessment

• By testing students on material before it has been taught, teachers are able to:– See what skills and knowledge students already

possess in order to avoid re-teaching learned material

– Correct misconceptions students may have

– Focus on areas where students are most in need of instruction


Informal Reading InventoryInformal Reading Inventory

• Grade-leveled passages are given to students to read to determine what level the student is:– Comfortable reading on (independent level)

– Able to read with teacher assistance (instructional level)

– Unable to read (frustration level)

• With such insights, teachers can put appropriate reading materials into children’s hands to increase reading fluency


Reading StrategiesReading Strategies

• Developing phonological awareness

• Word identification instruction

• Building on prior knowledge and concept development

• Vocabulary instruction

• Comprehension instruction


Phonological AwarenessPhonological Awareness

• Phonological awareness is a student’s understanding that language consists of units of sound

• Ideally, students become proficient in phonemic awareness in early elementary school through listening, rhyming, word games, and early reading

• Adolescents who struggle to read usually have poor phonological awareness (Caldwell, 2005), and this must be corrected if reading is to improve


Strategies for Improving Phonological AwarenessStrategies for Improving Phonological Awareness

• Phonological awareness can be taught, even in adolescence, through:– Listening:

• Songs

• Rap

• Poetry

• Read-alouds and shared reading

– Playing interactive word games, especially those on computers or with peers


Units of SoundUnits of Sound• Phoneme: the sound of a single letter (e.g., /t/)

• Onset-rime– The phonemes that precede a vowel sound (e.g., tr-) and

– The sounds that follow (e.g., -ick)

• Syllables– Units of words, each of which contains a vowel sound

– The word syl-la-ble contains three


Word Identification StrategiesWord Identification Strategies

• Students need to be able to recognize a large number of words automatically, without having to decode them

• This can be done through:– Phonics instruction

– Teaching spelling patterns

– Teaching sight words

– Guided reading

– Shared reading


Shared ReadingShared Reading

• Teacher selects an appropriate, enjoyable text

• Teacher reads the text while students follow along, pausing at times to clarify:– A new word

– An idiom or figure of speech

– A new or difficult concept


Guided ReadingGuided Reading• Teacher introduces and guides reading of a text to a

group of students with similar reading abilities (i.e., homogeneous group)

• Teacher engages students in a dialogue about the text

• Then each student reads text silently

• Goal: to read books of increasing difficulty independently

• Groupings change as students’ abilities change


Sight WordsSight Words

• Students must see words over and over again in order to store them in memory

• They then become “sight words,” recognized instantly, without the need to decode

• Once students gain a large sight vocabulary, they can begin to read for meaning (context), not having to struggle with individual words


Developing Sight Word RecognitionDeveloping Sight Word Recognition

• Reading a wide variety of texts that are of high interest

• Word cards: each card containing a student-selected word from favorite texts

• Word sorts: manipulating word cards in various ways to reinforce meaning– Teacher-directed (closed) sorts

– Student-directed (open) sorts


Phonics InstructionPhonics Instruction

• Teacher-planned sequence of lessons on the relationship between letters and sounds

• Builds on what students already know about words and about the sounds of words

• Taught explicitly and clearly

• Integrated into the total literacy program; not taught in isolation


Spelling PatternsSpelling Patterns

• Teach word recognition (and spelling) by presenting common patterns seen in words

• Teach word recognition by analogy


Common Spelling PatternsCommon Spelling Patterns


• Think about what a word looks like, e.g., words with ea: bead, bread, dead, instead, great, read, treat, break.

• Identify the spelling and group them according to pronunciation, e.g., for ea we have

– bead, read, treat (long E sound)

– bread, dead, instead, read (schwa sound)

– great, break (long A sound)

• Examine the spelling of word families, e.g., great: greater, greatest, greatly

• By teaching common spelling patterns in small words, adolescents can be assisted in decoding multi-syllabic words by recognizing the same patterns.

AnalogyAnalogy

• Once students learn spelling patterns in small words, they can begin to see these same patterns in multi-syllabic words and begin to make sense out of them

• Teacher demonstration, read-aloud rhymes, and repetition will reinforce these patterns and help students begin to extend the analogies independently


Building on Prior KnowledgeBuilding on Prior Knowledge

• To obtain knowledge from text, readers must think while reading and construct meaning

• Depending upon a student’s knowledge of a subject, he/she will gain more or less information from a given text on that subject

• Teachers assess what students already know to prepare them to actively read


Assessing Prior KnowledgeAssessing Prior Knowledge• Having students give oral or written definitions of key

words/concepts

• Oral free association

• Multiple-choice tests

• Judgements on whether statements would be included in a text

• Predictions of what is in the text

• Graphic organizers/maps

• Word splashes for pre-writing


Vocabulary InstructionVocabulary Instruction

• After new words are introduced through texts or in formal vocabulary lessons, students need to:– Tie them to concepts they already know

– Personalize words by using them in a context that intersects with their own lives

• Only then will they stand a good chance of remembering it for the long term


Word ConceptualizationWord Conceptualization• Clustering word meanings

– When teaching one word, a group of synonyms, a cluster, is taught

– Thus, in teaching scamper, one would also have run, dash, gallop, jog, sprint, trip, trot

• Using semantic feature analysis– Introduce a topic and then elicit all the words that pertain

to it

– Under footwear we would have sneakers, pumps, sandals, high-heels, spats, clogs, thongs, flip-flops...


Word PersonalizationWord Personalization

• Students are given opportunities to use new words in connection with their lives

• For instance, “My Life Cards”

• Students write everything they know about a word on one side of a card, and then write or draw the word as part of their life

• See example


“My Life” Cards*“My Life” Cards*

Word: mercenary

What I learned about this word The word in my life

(NOUN) A mercenary is a person whodoes things just for money; someonewho is greedy

(ADJECTIVE) Serving only for money

My brother is mercenary because hewon’t do anything I want unless I givehim something. I wanted him to helpshovel snow and he said only if I givehim $5.00. I said he could go take aflying leap.

* Caldwell, J.S. & Leslie, L. (2005) Intervention strategies to follow informal reading inventory assessment.New York: Pearson Education, Inc.


Comprehension Strategies for Expository Text

Comprehension Strategies for Expository Text

• One of the greatest challenges to students in middle school is the transition from reading largely narrative text (i.e., stories) to expository text (i.e., factual)

• Expository text is vastly different from narrative and requires a different set of skills

• In earlier grades, students learned to read; now they must read to learn


Head StartHead Start

• Provides numerous services for children from low income families

• Serves children with disabilities, age 3 to 5

• Visit their Web site: Head Start


International Reading AssociationInternational Reading Association

• Provides resources for parents and teachers on various literacy issues

• Among them are position papers with solid, researched-based information on ways to help children improve their literacy skills:– Literacy Development in the Preschool Years

– Supporting young adolescents’ literacy learning


http://www.reading.org/downloads/positions/ps1066_preschool.pdf

http://www.reading.org/downloads/positions/ps1052_supporting.pdf

National Council of Teachers of EnglishNational Council of Teachers of English

• Provides online resources, articles, activities, and publications specifically for parents of children in all grade levels

• Visit their Web site: www.ncte.org


http://www.ncte.org/parents/parents

http://www.ncte.org/



Success Begins at HomeSuccess Begins at Home

• “Family involvement in a child’s education is a more important factor in students’ success than family income or education” (International Reading Association)

• Children’s participation in conversation helps oral language

• Being read to enhances listening and comprehension skills

Click here to continue

Success Begins at Home (continued)Success Begins at Home (continued)

• Having books in the home develops print awareness

• Literacy development begins at the earliest of ages and is a lifelong experience (International Reading Association Family Literacy Committee)




InfantsInfants

• Talking with baby, answering baby sounds

• Talking/touching games– Peek-a-boo

– Pat-a-cake

• Reading to baby and encouraging baby to engage with books


ToddlersToddlers

• Talking to toddler often– Naming objects, clothing, colors, sizes, shapes

– Asking open-ended questions

– Answering toddlers’ questions

• Reading together

• Pointing to and identifying illustrations


PreschoolersPreschoolers

• Share the alphabet

• Continue to read together

• Write together– Encourage scribble writing that children then

“read” themselves

– This type of writing is a precursor to formal letter formation (Levy, 2006)


AlphabetAlphabet

• Sing the “Alphabet Song” together

• Encourage writing the alphabet– Research has shown that writing at this age positively

influences letter recognition and phonemic awareness• Phonemic awareness is the understanding that words can be

segmented into constituent sounds

• Some research shows phonemic awareness is the single greatest predictor of later success in reading (Institute for Education Reform)


http://www.csus.edu/ier/reading.html#References

KindergartnersKindergartners

• Connect with school and reinforce skills at home

• Continue to read together

• Write with your child


Elementary School ChildrenElementary School Children

• Continue to connect home experiences with school through frequent communications with teachers

• Take trips to the library and book store

• Read daily through everyday experiences

• Encourage writing


AdolescentsAdolescents

• Today’s adolescents encounter more literacy demands than at any other time in history (Supporting Young Adolescents’ Literacy Learning)

• There is much families can do to support and develop adolescent literacy


http://www.reading.org/resources/issues/positions_young_adolescents.html#References

http://www.reading.org/resources/issues/positions_young_adolescents.html#References

Reading With KindergartnersReading With Kindergartners

• Use books that have repeated text and a predictable story line

• Encourage your child to:– “Read” passages that are familiar

– Memorize text

– Read to others

• Discuss how your own parents shared stories with you


Writing With KindergartnersWriting With Kindergartners

• Create books together

• Discuss adult writing in everyday occurrences like newspapers, magazines, grocery lists, signs, captions, etc.

• Encourage invented spelling


Invented SpellingInvented Spelling

• The use of non-standard spelling to write a word, such as “rnjr” for “ranger”

• Research shows that such invented spelling and experimentation with language is essential for building self-confidence and understanding of language (Martens, 1999)


Open-ended QuestionsOpen-ended Questions

• These are questions that generate discussion and lead to analysis and opinion

• They usually begin with: – “Why...” or

– “How…” or

– “What do you think about…”


Trips for BooksTrips for Books

• Reinforce material being studied in school

• Help to find books on your child’s reading level

• Choose your own books as well:– Children learn by example

– Share elements from your own reading (vocabulary, a character, a story, etc.)


Everyday ReadingEveryday Reading

• Follow directions together (recipes, crafts)

• Read and share different parts of the newspaper, including the comics

• Read cards, signs, labels, captions


WritingWriting

• Write books, cards, letters

• Create memory books

• Keep journals and diaries

• Make lists

• Label objects around the house


Support Adolescent LiteracySupport Adolescent Literacy

• Be a positive role model by reading and writing yourself

• Continue to be involved in school activities

• Give gifts of writing and high-interest books

• Keep up communication

• Connect literacy to other media


Teen Book SourcesTeen Book Sources

• Grouchy Café

• Teen Space

• New York Public Library’s TeenLink

• YALSA (Young Adult Library Services Association)

• Garden State Teen Book Awards


http://www.grouchy.com/angst/index.html

http://www.ipl.org/div/teenread/

http://teenlink.nypl.org/index.html

http://teenlink.nypl.org/index.html

http://www.ala.org/ala/yalsa/booklistsawards/booklistsbook.htm

http://www.njla.org/honorsawards/book/teen.html

CommunicationCommunication

• Discuss news articles, current events, books

• Write letters and notes to each other

• Discuss school activities

• Stress the importance of education

• Encourage the use of interviews and conversations as springboards for reading and writing


Other MediaOther Media

• Discuss television programs and movies and connect them to literature

• Capitalize on adolescents’ knowledge of technology and treat them as experts:– Have them write “how-to” directions for

different computer functions

– Work with them to gather information about the world through an enlightened use of the Internet


Internet UseInternet Use

• Keep dialogue open concerning the good and bad applications of the Internet

• Warn adolescents of the dangers of Internet predators

• Learn how to determine whether a Web site is a valid source of information or not

• Discuss plagiarism and its implications for their school work




Interviews and ConversationsInterviews and Conversations

• Encourage adolescents to interview older family members (Faust, 2004)– They thereby gain varied perspectives on life

– They can then connect these perspectives to:• Their own lives

• Texts they are reading

• Their own writing


Support and EncouragementSupport and Encouragement

• Encouraging an incremental view of intelligence and discouraging the notion of entity theory and its negative consequences

• Attribution retraining and teaching effective effort

• Responding to students’ ability-based belief statements

• Giving positive feedback and effective praise


Positive FeedbackPositive Feedback

• Feedback is “information designed to enable (students) to accurately self-assess and self-correct—so that assessment becomes ‘an episode of learning’” (Wiggins).

• “Feedback is positively related to student engagement rate. Students who are given accurate information about the correctness and quality of their work spend more time working on academic assignments” (Bellon).


Effective PraiseEffective Praise• Contingent: the praise is for something earned

• Specific: e.g., “You included a topic sentence in every one of your paragraphs.”

• Genuine: the teacher really means it

• Appropriate: matched to the student, his/her level, the type of person he/she is

• Varied: not the same all the time

• Attributed to performance and effort: tone is that the student obviously had the ability to do well, but because of effort exerted things turned out so well


Responding to Ability-based Belief Statements

Responding to Ability-based Belief Statements

• Acknowledge student’s frustration and feelings• Make a “not yet but you will” statement• Identify what the student does know about a lesson • Give a cue or ask a cuing question about the next step • Continue to give cues until the student resumes working• Make an “I appreciate…” statement about the student’s

effort• Leave the student• Come back later and praise the student’s efforts if he/she

has continued to try


Incremental View vs. Entity Theory*Incremental View vs. Entity Theory*• An incremental view of education is the notion

that people can get smarter by learning things and trying hard

• Although most students start school with this kind of thinking, by middle school many buy into the fallacy of “Entity Theory:”– You are born with a certain amount of intelligence

– It’s fixed; you’re either smart or you’re not

*Steinberg, A. (1992). When bright kids get bad grades. The Harvard Education Letter, III(6), pages 1-3.


Consequences of the Entity TheoryConsequences of the Entity Theory• “Students who held entity theories and had high

confidence at the start of seventh grade showed the most pronounced decline of any group” (Steinberg)

• They give up easily and explain their failures by their lack of ability

• They predict future failures

• Entity theory must be vigorously rejected in the classroom and replaced by the notion that students will “get smarter” through strategic work


Attribution RetrainingAttribution Retraining• Key messages of attribution retraining:

– This is important

– You can do it, with effective effort

– I won’t give up on you

• Counter “I can’t do…” with– “You can’t do it yet, but I’ll teach you how”

– “You can’t do it yet, but I’ll teach you strategies to help you get it”

– “Let’s figure out what part is confusing, because you do know how to…”

Click here to go to next slide

Attribution Retraining, cont.Attribution Retraining, cont.• Share own personal stories

• Ask students to recall examples of how they succeeded when they didn’t give up

• Give examples of people who have succeeded through great effort

• Explicitly teach learning strategies

• Prior to tasks, have students identify which strategy they will use

• When students succeed at a task, have them identify the strategies that contributed to their success


Effective EffortEffective Effort

• Hard work

• Learning strategies students deliberately use to “get smarter” at important knowledge and skills


Hard WorkHard Work• Time: willingness to spend the hours needed to finish the job well

• Focus: no TV or distractions; focusing only on the work

• Resourcefulness: knowing where to go and whom to ask for help when you’re really stuck

• Use of feedback: looking carefully at teacher responses to work so you know exactly what to fix

• Commitment: being determined to finish and do your very best

• Persistence: if one strategy isn’t working, keep trying different ones until you find the one that works


Expository Reading SkillsExpository Reading Skills

• To adequately read expository text, students need to be able to:– Tackle unfamiliar material

– Pick out important information

– Put information in correct sequence

– Generally make sense out of what is being said

– This is difficult for many students, and they are in need of strategies for improving expository reading


Improving Expository ReadingImproving Expository Reading

• Expository expectation grid

• Expository idea map

• Main idea map

• Teaching of these concepts– Teacher modeling

– Students gradually assuming greater role in generating and completing grid until mastery

Caldwell, J.S. & Leslie, L. (2005) Intervention strategies to follow informal reading inventory assessment.New York: Pearson Education, Inc.


Expository Expectation GridExpository Expectation Grid

• Students fill in grid with information they already know about a topic in preparation for reading– Activates what they already know about a topic,

no matter how little

– Helps to organize information

• They then fill in details as they find them in the reading

• Example of such an expectation gridBack to Previous Slide

Expository Expectation Grid Example*Expository Expectation Grid Example*

paramecium Where it lives

What it looks like

How it behaves

Its enemies Click here to see how students fill it in

Back to Previous SlideAdapted from Caldwell, J.S. & Leslie, L. (2005) Intervention strategies to follow informal reading inventory assessment.New York: Pearson Education, Inc.

Expository Expectation Grid Filled InExpository Expectation Grid Filled In

parameciumWhere it lives

freshwaterponds, lakes

What it looks likemicroscopic

contains visible nucleusvacuoles may be seen

edges have hairs for movement (cilia)

How it behavesswims freely

eats smaller particles in water

Its enemiesnot mentioned

Adapted from Caldwell, J.S. & Leslie, L. (2005) Intervention strategies to follow informal reading inventory assessment.New York: Pearson Education, Inc.


Expository Idea MapExpository Idea Map

• Students need to make sense out of nonfiction text by analyzing it for various parameters description, sequence, cause/effect, comparison/contrast

• An excellent way to teach these skills is through an expository idea map:

– Description

– Sequence

– Cause and effect

– Comparison and contrast


Expository Idea Map for DescriptionExpository Idea Map for DescriptionDESCRIPTION

Pterodactyls

Lived in the late Mesozoic period, about 251 to 65 million years ago

Type of pterosaur ("winged lizards"). Not considered a true “dinosaur”

The term dinosaur refers to terrestrial animals (those who walk on land)

Their fossils have been found in found in North America, United Kingdom, Europe,

Africa and Australia

They had wingspans of between a few inches up to over 40 feet long

It was a carnivore (meat eating creature) that flew long distances. They had above average eyesight to help

them catch their prey

In creating the pattern in this organizer, students will better understand, remember, and be able to retell the information from the text. They will read “actively” and retain more of what they read (Caldwell).


Adapted from Caldwell, J.S. & Leslie, L. (2005) Intervention strategies to follow informal reading inventory assessment.New York: Pearson Education, Inc.

Expository Idea Map for SequenceExpository Idea Map for SequenceSEQUENCE

The PROPHASE of Mitosis

The nucleolus disappears

Chromatin in the nucleus begins to condense and becomes visible in the light microscope as

chromosomes. and.

Some fibers cross the cell to form the mitotic spindle.

Centrioles begin moving to opposite ends of the cell

Fibers extend from the centromeres



Expository Idea Map for Cause & EffectExpository Idea Map for Cause & Effect


Cause: Invention of the television

National borders are no longer barriers

Education and communication reach worldwide

Excessive watching causes eye strain

Obesity is widely observed in people who like watching TV and eating snacks every day

Effect: Physical problems

People cannot get away from it – it is addictive

This map can also be used for Problem/Solution texts.


Expository Idea Map for Comparison and Contrast Expository Idea Map for

Comparison and Contrast Compare—Contrast:Fresh vegetables

Compare—Contrast:Canned vegetables

Great flavor - all natural

All natural vitamins and minerals are still inside

Cheaper

Available seasonally

Lacks flavor because of chemical additives

Lose nutrients due to long storage, additives, chemicals; can become toxic if too old

More expensive

Available all year round

Requires more preparation time (peeling, chopping)

Little preparation time (just open, heat and serve)

Part of a balanced diet Part of a balanced diet

—DIFFERENT—

—DIFFERENT—

—DIFFERENT—

—DIFFERENT—

—DIFFERENT—

—SIMILAR—


Main Idea MapMain Idea Map


Finding the Main Idea in a passage is often a difficult task for a reader. Here is one approach.

Step 1: Find the topic (this is often a title)

Step 2: Fill in boxes that contain relevant details

Step 3: Locate and generate a main idea statement

(If you cannot find a main idea statement, at least you’ve identified the topic and details and can write a decent summary.)

Topic: The appearance of the octopus

Detail: Looks like a monster spider

Detail: Eight tentacles attached to a bulbous body

Detail: Tentacles are studded with toothed suction discs

Detail: Enormous parrot-like beak with which the octopus tears its food or enemies to pieces

Detail: Lidless eyes often as large as saucers

Main Idea Statement: The appearance of the octopus is like that of a monster

Documents

Your Adolescent’s Struggles With Reading: A Guide to Understanding and Helping