Reading issues in Beyond....

[annaz]

My 8 yr old dd can read, but is having big problems with comprehension. She doesn't go too fast and knows most of the words, but when it comes time for the emerging reader questions, she does poorly. She gets about 1/3 of the questions right. None seem to be of a certain type, whether analytical (although this would be the worst) or comprehension, knowledge or evaluation. There's no pattern.

However, if you give her a bible story, she gets every question right. Like in the bible readers, all were right. Right now we're reading Prairie School. She did okay up till Buffalo Bill.

I'm confused as what the problem could be here. Any help?

[my3sons]

Hi Annaz! Both of our dc could read well out loud long before then could answer questions about their reading well. We are doing the Emerging Reader's Set now too, and we're in the Nature Reader. His comprehension keeps getting better day by day, but it was pretty basic at the beginning. Two things that helped him - I have him practice reading it by himself first, and then he reads it out loud to me. He's read it twice then, and he remembers it better. Other thing that helped him - I asked the question right after he read the part about it rather than asking all of the questions at the end. For example, yesterday we read about 3 spiders. After we read about Spider #1, I asked him question #1; after spider #2, question #2, etc. He gets the answers right then. If you can start out by asking the question right after she's read the answer to it, that may help her understand how to be thinking about the reading as she's doing it. I just do that sporadically now, and my ds can usually answer most of the questions at the end now, but if he starts having difficulty, or if there are several different topics he'll be asked about, I still do it that way. I know he'll grow out of needing that little help because my oldest ds did, but it's a little trick to remind him to always be thinking about his reading. Maybe you could give that a shot? If you try that, and she still can't answer the questions, have her reread it. We have done that twice. It drove home the point that the purpose of reading is not only to correctly say the words on the page - but to think about what is being read. He didn't want to read it again, and because of that, he tried harder to think about it the next day. HTH!

In Christ,
Julie

[Carrie]

Great advice, my3ons, you gave away all of my words of wisdom that I was going to share! Seriously though annaz, I agree that kiddos can often read the words earlier than they can comprehend the meaning. It's a typical stage kiddos go through as they have to learn to read AND comprehend at the same time.

With the Bible stories, kiddos have often heard them read aloud so many times that they are already familiar with the story and can answer the questions based on that. When kiddos get to new material, with an unfamiliar storyline, the real work of comprehending begins!

I, too, have my little guy read the assignment once on his own prior to reading it to me. I do ask the questions where they fit within the story if needed. We have been known to reread too.

Blessings,
Carrie

[annaz]

I'm staring to think that it's vocabulary issues. She can read almost any word. I gave her this quickie test and she doesn't know the meaning of words, even though she can read them. She has about a grade ahead reading level, but not comprehension. Like "often". Simple word, but has no clue what it means! So this could be an issue. Because she can remember other stories. Mmm...I'll try your idea as well.

[annaz]

With the Bible stories, kiddos have often heard them read aloud so many times that they are already familiar with the story and can answer the questions based on that. When kiddos get to new material, with an unfamiliar storyline, the real work of comprehending begins!

Blessings,
Carrie

You and I posted at the same time. I never thought of that the bible stories could be duplicated....good point. But I'm also glad it's a stage. I had problems growing up w/comprehension and never learned. So I'm real weary of her not knowing. But if it's a stage then I'll keep an eye on it and look for improvement.

[Carrie]

annaz,

Think of learning to comprehend as a process. First off, kiddos have to learn to read. Then, they have to learn to read fluently. Somewhere in there they have to start listening to what they're reading out loud (at the same time that they're reading it) in order to figure out what is going on in the story, which takes some practice. That's why we design our follow-up activities to prod kiddos to listen to themselves and what they're reading in order to be able to do the follow-up activity later. We're guiding them to focus in order to understand, instead of just saying the words. At first this is tough on kids, because we used to get excited whenever they were just reading the words correctly (and now we want them to do more than that). It's a skill to grow into over time.

Blessings,
Carrie

[lmercon]

Here is something that I have done with my emerging reader. I will read the text to him after or even before he reads it. While I realize that I'm tapping into listening comprehension, it still allows him to understand the content that he just read. As his reading comprehension develops, I'll drop doing that. Just an idea.
Laura

[annaz]

annaz,

Think of learning to comprehend as a process. First off, kiddos have to learn to read. Then, they have to learn to read fluently. Somewhere in there they have to start listening to what they're reading out loud (at the same time that they're reading it) in order to figure out what is going on in the story, which takes some practice. That's why we design our follow-up activities to prod kiddos to listen to themselves and what they're reading in order to be able to do the follow-up activity later. We're guiding them to focus in order to understand, instead of just saying the words. At first this is tough on kids, because we used to get excited whenever they were just reading the words correctly (and now we want them to do more than that). It's a skill to grow into over time.

Blessings,
Carrie

That's fantanstic insight, Carrie. I wish this type of teaching stuff was in a book somewhere. It would help w/my stress level. This is exactly the type of things that I lack in teaching skills; these learning processes and what to expect or not to expect. Makes such complete sense. But I always panic since I'm one who never learned to comprehend what I read. It's a real bummer and I'd hate, hate, hate for that to happen to my dd. Thanks Carrie.