Teaching Reading to Special Needs Learners

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Teaching Reading to Special Needs Learners

• By Traci Morris

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• Reading furnishes the mind only with materials
  of knowledge it is thinking that makes what we
  read ours.
• --John Locke

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Special Needs Learners

• Who are students with special needs?
• ?Culturally Diverse
• ?Learning-Disabled
• ?Gifted
• Meaningful literacy experiences should
  facilitate learning to all types of learners.
  There are several methods that teachers can use
  in order to make reading understandable and
  enjoyable. The following resources further
  illustrate on the ideas introduced in Chapter 11
  of Brozo, W.G., Simpson, M.L. (1999).
  Readers, teachers, learners Expanding literacy
  across the content areas (3rd Edition). New
  Jersey Merrill Prentice Hall.

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Student Groupings for Enhancing Reading
Instruction

• Since the Individuals with Disabilities Act was
  passed in 1997, students with disabilities now
  have access to the general classroom and
  curriculum. Because of this, teachers need to
  know the best ways they can manage their
  classrooms in order to ensure that each student
  is receiving the best possible education. This
  article points out grouping strategies to aid
  teachers in reading instruction. Research from
  the U.S Office of Special Education Programs
  proves that these strategies work better for
  students with disabilities than whole class
  instruction. These reading strategy groupings
  include
• ?Peer Tutoring
• ?Cross-Age Tutoring
• ?Small Learning Groups
• ?Combined Grouping Formats

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Literacy Resources for Special Needs

• This site provides easy access to a variety of
  literacy sources that teachers with special
  needs students will find very helpful. All of
  the resources are linked making it very simple to
  find information on various websites devoted to
  reading instruction for special needs learners.
  This site is especially helpful for those
  teachers searching for fresh, new ideas for
  teaching reading comprehension. All of the
  latest research and ideas can be found on this
  website through an array of organizations such as
  Special Education News, Special Education
  Advocate Newsletter, Disabilities Website and
  many more.

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Using Poetry to Teach Reading To Special Ed.
Students

• Since there is a large gap between special
  education students age and reading level, it is
  very difficult to find good material to use when
  teaching them reading. This site specifically
  suggests that teachers use poetry in order to
  teach reading to special education students.
  Poetry is an excellent way to teach these
  children because it can be read aloud. Plus, the
  rhyme and rhythm in the short, simple poems make
  reading fun and interesting for the students.
  There are also a few lesson plans at the end of
  this site to aid teachers in implementing poetry
  into their reading curriculum.

• Suggested Poems
• Mr. Nobody (anonymous)
• Thirty Days (anonymous)
• The Guinea Pig (anonymous)
• Im Glad the Sky is Painted Blue (anonymous)
• Poor Old Lady (anonymous)
• The Ant and the Cricket (adapted from Aesop)
• George, Who Played with a Dangerous Toy and
  Suffered
• Catastrophe of Considerable Dimension (Hilaire
  Belloc)
• Western Wagons (Stephen Vincent Benet)
• The Fish (Elizabeth Bishop)
• Humpty Dumptys Recitation (Lewis Carroll)
• The Lesson for Tonight (John Ciardi)
• November (Elizabeth Coatsworth)
• Im Nobody! Who Are You? (Emily Dickinson)
• March (Emily Dickinson)
• May (Ivo 0. Eastwick)
• September (Edwina Falls)
• December (Aileen Fisher)

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Success for ESL Students

• This site focuses particularly on an idea
  discussed on page 395 in our textbook (Brozo,
  W.G., Simpson, M.L. (1999). Readers, teachers,
  learners Expanding literacy across the content
  areas (3rd Edition). New Jersey Merrill Prentice
  Hall.) The text talks about cultural diversity
  in Americas schools, meaning that teachers who
  are accustomed to teaching students of one
  culture might have to teacher students with
  varying language backgrounds. This site pays
  special attention to students in ESL (English as
  a Second Language). The site provides several
  tips to helping second language learners. Here
  they are
• 1.) Assess needs. 7.) Read and reread books
  aloud.
• 2.) Empathize. 8.) Provide opportunities
  for success.
• 3.) Foster a sense of belonging. 9.) Keep
  track of language process.
• 4.) Assign a buddy. 10.)
  Value bilingualism.
• 5.) Use sheltering techniques.
  11.) Encourage family involvement.
• 6.) Teach key words. 12.)
  Foster an appreciation of cultural
• diversity.

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Success for Learning-Disabled Students

• This site provides several teaching strategies
  for the learning-disabled. Those sections
  include high frustration and short attention
  span, difficulty in attending to learning,
  challenges in completing assignments, difficulty
  in remembering information, difficulty reading,
  difficulty speaking, difficulty writing, and
  difficulty listening. In the Difficulty
  Reading section, there are several ideas to aid
  in reading instruction. Here are those ideas

• 1.) Teach vocabulary word before you start
  reading
• 2.) Preview the content of the reading with a
  photo, picture, or video clip.
• 3.) Read the passage aloud to the students.
• 4.) Use high interest reading material.
• 5.) Develop word flashcards from the reading.
• 6.) Encourage the students to use a ruler to
  focus on one line at a time.
• 7.) Use shorter passages, or break longer
  passages into segments.
• 8.) Screen all students for physical vision
  problems.

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Success for Gifted-Talented Students

• Oftentimes, gifted-talented students are
  overlooked in reading classrooms. However, even
  the gifted-talented students have special needs
  and need a specific kind of reading instruction.
  The site first points out several ideas about
  gifted readers that should be noted
• ?They have usually mastered basic skills by
  the time
  they come to school.
• ?They tend to have an internal locus of control.
• ?They need reading instruction that is different
  from regular classroom instruction.
• ?Instruction should focus on developing higher
  level comprehension skills.
• ?Reading instruction to gifted readers is more
  than a skills-oriented approach.
• ?Books for them should be selected with quality
  language.
• ?Gifted reading programs should foster a desire
  to read.
• ?Gifted reading programs should have a variety
  of reading materials and strategies.

• This site is also very beneficial because it
  goes on to offer suggestions as to how to teach
  reading to the gifted-talented students. Some of
  these approaches include
• ?Critical and creative reading This approach
  allows a higher order of thinking.
• ?Reading Programs These programs should take
  into account individual characteristics of the
  children and pay close attention to the gifts
  each students possesses.
• ?Whole Language Classrooms This approach
  eliminates ability grouping and makes it more
  challenging for the gifted students.

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Other Important Resources

• Heimburge, J.A., Rief, S.F. (1996). How to
  reach and teach all students in the inclusive
  classroom Ready to use strategies, lessons, and
  activities for teaching students. Paramus, New
  Jersey The Center for Applied Research in
  Education.
• This book provides an array of ideas for
  helping special needs learners boosting
  self-esteem, teaching all students, behavior
  management, etc. Section 14 (Strategies for
  helping students with reading and writing
  difficulties) is especially beneficial for
  teaching reading to special needs learners.
  The book discusses that the goal in the United
  States is by third grade for every student to be
  a fluent reader. Many fall short of this goal.
  This section gives some great strategies for
  helping special needs learners with reading
  comprehension. These methods include
• ?graphic organizers
• ?oral reading
• ?word recognition activities

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Other Important Resources

• Jensen, E. (2000). Different brains ,
  different learners How to reach the hard to
  reach. Brain Store, Inc.
• This book does not necessarily go into
  specific strategies about teaching reading
  comprehension. However, this book is still very
  beneficial to teachers because it gives a clear
  understanding of how to reach special needs
  learners. The book states that nearly 40 of all
  students have some kind of learning disability
  and many of those impairments go undetected.
  This book is a guide to the latest brain research
  and to teaching strategies that help reach those
  special learners.

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Other Important Resources

• Polloway, E.A, Patton, J.R., Serna, L.
  (2001). Strategies for teaching learners with
  special needs (7th Edition). Upper Saddle River,
  New Jersey Prentice Hall, Inc.
• This book provides strategies for teaching
  learners with special needs. Chapter 8
  introduces reading and word recognition as a
  helpful way of aiding special needs learners. It
  should be noted that word recognition is a
  strategy that has come up time and time again.
  Chapter 9 deals with reading comprehension
  strategies. This book is beneficial for teachers
  of all content areas because the chapters are
  broke down into all subjects (math, science,
  social studies, etc.). I just concentrated on
  the reading chapters.

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Other Important Resources

• Trelease, J. (2001). The read-aloud handbook
  (5th Edition). USA Penguin Books.
• Reading aloud is strategy I have read about
  several times in my research of special needs
  learners. This book provides an extensive list
  of read-aloud books for all ages
  kindergarten-12th grade. The book explains that
  the main purpose of the read-aloud strategy is
  SSR (Sustained Silent Reading). The text
  suggests if these techniques are used with
  learning-disabled students then their skills will
  only get stronger. Most importantly, the book
  suggests to find what interests the child and
  feed those interests with every book or magazine
  there is to find.

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• Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the
  body.
• --Sir Richard Steele