Intervention Strategies for Struggling Readers

1. Intervention Strategies for Struggling Readers Nicole Pearson

2. Main Thrust The purpose of this presentation is to provide educators a comprehensive source of research based intervention strategies that help struggling readers reach their full potential.

3. Defining Struggling Readers For the purpose of this presentation, we will define “struggling readers” as students who are lacking skills in one of the five essential areas of literacy. This deficit negatively affects their academic performance, and they would benefit from remediated instruction or extra practice in an identified area of weakness.

4. Why do they struggle? • There are many different theories of why certain student struggle to learn to read. • The following are four common causes for underachievement in reading according to Linda Campbell Ph.D. and Crystal Kelly MA.Ed., authors of Helping Struggling Readers: • Reading role models and life experiences. • Acquisition of reading skills, specifically phonics and comprehension • Visual processing • Learning disabilities

5. What are the essential skills for reading success? The Fab 5 • Phonological Awareness • Phonics • Fluency • Comprehension • Vocabulary

6. How do we “fix” the problems of struggling readers? • Many districts are implementing Response to Intervention (RtI) programs, where a team of professionals work to improve the essential skill for reading success, so that each child can reach their fullest potential. • Now, let’s examine specific strategies to improve identified areas of weakness in the primary grades.

7. Phonological Awareness Phonological awareness is one’s sensitivity to, or awareness of the phonological structure of words. This is considered an “umbrella” term which encompasses many aspects of sound identification and manipulation of language. Intervention strategies can be applied at any stage of the skill process. http://www.classroomclipart.com

8. Phonological Awareness • In Kindergarten and first grade, phonological awareness can be examined by looking at six critical skills: rhyme, alliteration, sentence segmentation, syllables, onset and rimes, and phonemes. • In second and third grade, phonological awareness is separated into phoneme matching, phoneme isolating, phoneme blending, phoneme segmenting, and phoneme manipulating.

9. Phonological Awareness Intervention Strategies Kindergarten and First Grade

10. What are the necessary skills for kindergarten and first grade? • Rhyme is words that are similar in sound, especially with respect to the last syllable; "hat and cat rhyme“. • Alliteration is repetition of usually initial consonant sounds in two or more neighboring words or syllables (as wild and woolly). • Sentence segmentation is breaking down sentences into individual words. • Syllables are units of spoken language. • Onset is the part of the syllable that precedes the vowel of the syllable and rime is the part of a syllable which consists of its vowel and any consonant sounds that come after it. • Phonemes are the smallest contrastive unit in the sound system of a language .

11. Rhyme-Oh! FREE K-1 Phonological Awareness- Rhyme • Rhyme-Oh! • Students practice working with rhymes by matching rhyming picture cards to pictures on a game board until they fill the card.

12. K-1 Phonological Awareness- Alliteration • Tongue Twisters • At a listening center, students listen to taped tongue twisters. • After listening to one sentence, the student pauses the tape and repeats the sentence to a partner, who then repeats it back to them. • Students continue to practice saying sentences that use alliteration.

13. K-1 Phonological Awareness- Sentence Segmentation • Crinkle Creepers • In this activity, students are segmenting sentences into individual words. First, students count the number of words in a sentence that is printed on a sentence strip. • After counting, students fold the paper in half and put it into a cup with the corresponding number of words labeled on front. The boy ran home. Mom and Dad ate pizza.

14. K-1 Phonological Awareness- Syllables • Syllable Hopscotch • Create a hopscotch board on the floor. • Students select a picture card, says the word pictured, segments the word, and then counts the number of syllables by tapping their fingers. • Students then hop the corresponding number of syllables on the hopscotch board. Di-no-saur Hop 3! https://www.tstshop.co.uk/images/hop-scotch.jpg

15. K-1 Phonological Awareness- Onset and Rime • Onset and Rime Picture Puzzles • In this activity, students are practicing saying the onset and rime of a word. • Students will match picture parts and say the pictured word by blending the onset and rime to say the whole word. • Ex. /sn/ /ake/ snake! • Ex. /d/ /og/ dog!

16. K-1 Phonological Awareness- Phonemes • Hoop it! • This activity can be used to practice any targeted sound. Choose a targeted, or troublesome sound and go from there. • Students will select “basketballs” with a picture card on the front. • If the card contains the targeted sound, they put it in the basket with a picture of that sound. If it does not contain the target sound, they put it in the “no” basket. http://www.hoopsvibe.com

17. Phonological Awareness Intervention Strategies Second and Third Grade

18. What are the necessary skills for second and third grade? • Phonemes are the smallest contrastive unit in the sound system of a language . Therefore… • Phoneme matching is matching the sound. • Phoneme isolating is finding a particular sound in a word. • Phoneme blending is combining multiple sounds. • Phoneme segmenting is breaking down words into individual sounds. • Phoneme manipulating is changing particular sounds within a word.

19. 2-3 Phoneme Matching • Initial Phoneme Picture Match • Students will sort cards and place in the column under the appropriate initial sound. p b t

20. 2-3 Phoneme Isolation • Photo Scavenger Hunt • Students will follow a list of directions to mark pictures that end with a targeted final sound. • This activity can be used as remediation for students that have not mastered a crucial phoneme or need additional practice with a particular phoneme. • Ex. Circle all the pictures that end in /ch/. Touch! Branch!

21. 2-3 Phoneme Blending • What’s My Word? • Students will listen to a tape or reader saying a segmented word. They then blend the word together and mark the matching picture. • Ex. Put a 1 by /c/ /a/ /t/. Put a 2 by the /d/ /a/ /r/ /t/.

22. 2-3 Phoneme Segmenting • Phoneme Sort • Students will sort picture cards by saying the word, segmenting the word into phonemes, and tapping their finger for each phoneme. Students then place the picture under the corresponding number. 3 4 5

23. 2-3 Phoneme Manipulating • Phoneme Position Sort • Students will sort cards showing a change of the initial, middle, or final phoneme under part of a segmented picture.

24. Phonics • Phonics is defined as the study of the relationship between letters and the sounds they represent. The goal is for children to use the sound-symbol relationship to read and write words. • It is important to note that phonics skills progress in difficulty and may require intervention at any stage.

25. Phonics • In Kindergarten and first grade, phonics includes six critical skills: letter-recognition, letter-sound correspondence, onset and rime, word study, syllable patterns, morpheme structures. • In second and third grade, phonics is separated into letter-sound correspondence, high frequency words, variant correspondences, syllable patterns, and morpheme structures.

26. Phonics Intervention Strategies Kindergarten and First Grade

27. What are the necessary skills for kindergarten and first grade? • Letter-recognition is the identification of individual letters by name and/or sound in a variety of contexts. • Letter-sound correspondence is making a connection between individual letters and the sounds they represent (graphophonics). • Onset is the part of the syllable that precedes the vowel of the syllable and rime is the part of a syllable which consists of its vowel and any consonant sounds that come after it. • Word study is the process of using strategies to figure out or decode unfamiliar words. • Syllable patterns are common or repeated units of speech. • Morpheme structures are the smallest meaningful unit in the grammar of a language.

28. K-1 Phonics- Letter Recognition • Alphabet Arc • Students choose a letter from a container. Students say the letter and match it to the letter shown in the alphabet arc. ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

29. K-1 Phonics- Letter-Sound Correspondence • Touchable Letters and Picture Match • Students will first put a set of tactile letters (sandpaper, clay, felt, etc.) in alphabetical order, saying the name of the letter as they touch it. • Students will then match pictures showing the initial sound with each letter.

30. K-1 Phonics- Onset and Rime • Onset and Rime Slide • Students slide a piece of paper with different onset sounds through a window that matches them with the same rime. Students say the word and then write it on the paper. d h r t br gr sl sw im

31. K-1 Phonics- Word Study • Ex. Silent “E” Changes (Blending) • Students will draw strips of paper, write it on the short vowel side, and then add a final ‘e’ and change it to a long vowel sound. Short vowel sound Long vowel sound man mane plan plane cub

32. K-1 Phonics- Syllable Patterns • Word Syllable Game • Using any game board and game pieces, students first draw a word card. Students say the word, count the syllables, check with a peer, and then move the same number of spaces as there were syllables in the word. “Playground…move 2!”

33. K-1 Phonics- Morpheme Structures • Compound Word Memory • Students turn a set of cards upside down. They select two cards and try to match the pictures and words to form a compound word. If it is a match, the students says the compound word and keeps the cards.

34. Phonics Intervention Strategies Second and Third Grade

35. What are the necessary skills for second and third grade? • Letter-sound correspondence is making a connection between individual letters and the sounds they represent (graphophonics). • High frequency words are the most commonly used words in reading and writing. • Variant correspondences are letters that have multiple sounds that can be represented by that letter. • Syllable patterns are common or repeated units of speech. • Morpheme structures are the smallest meaningful unit in the grammar of a language.

36. 2-3 Letter-Sound Correspondence • Initial Sound Memory • Students will shuffle and place cards upside down. Students work to match a picture with the letter that creates the initial sound. m t p f

37. 2-3 High Frequency Words • WORDO • Play this game like BINGO! Chose a targeted set of 24 high frequency words and have students write them randomly on a blank card. Put a free space in the middle. A student called selects words from cards until a student gets WORDO!

38. 2-3 Variant Correspondences • Long and Short Sort • Students work with a partner to sort a set of words into a long vowel category and short vowel using the same letter. back snake fan paper mat shade

39. 2-3 Syllable Patterns • Add-a-Car • Students will sort words to add to a train engine showing the correct number of syllables. Students are to say the word, tap the syllables, and then place the card by the number of syllables. dinosaur measurement dictionary luminescent

40. 2-3 Morpheme Structures • Compound Word Concentration • Students turn a set of cards upside down. They select two cards and try to match simple words to form a compound word. If it is a match, the students says the compound word and keeps the cards. light moon Moonlight!

41. Fluency • Fluency is the ability to read text quickly, accurately, and with appropriate expression. • This stage is seen as the bridge between word recognition and comprehension.

42. Fluency • In kindergarten and first grade, there are four critical skills in developing fluency: letter recognition, letter-sound correspondence, high frequency words, and oral reading. • In second and third grade, there are six skills that contribute to fluency: letter sound correspondence, word parts, words, phrases, chunked text, and connected text.

43. Fluency Intervention Strategies Kindergarten and First Grade

44. What are the necessary skills in kindergarten and first grade? • Letter-recognition is the identification of individual letters by name and/or sound in a variety of contexts. • Letter-sound correspondence is making a connection between individual letters and the sounds they represent (graphophonics). • High frequency words are the most commonly used words in reading and writing. • Oral reading is students reading a selection aloud.

45. K-1 Fluency- Letter Recognition • Racing Alphabet Arc • Using an Alphabet Arc, students try to beat their previous time for pulling a letter, saying the letter name, and matching it to its spot on the arc. ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

46. K-1 Fluency- Letter-Sound Correspondence • Fluency Letter Wheel • Students take turns timing one another for a set period of time. During the time period, students spin the wheel, say the letter and the partner places a counter into a cup if the correct letter is said. Students then switch roles and try to improve the number of chips each time or graph their results.

47. K-1 Fluency- High Frequency Words • Reading Rally • Students race the clock to read as many of 50 chosen target words during a minute as possible. Students record each try on a reading rally log. Reading Rally! 1st try ______ words 2nd try ______ words 3rd try ______ words

48. K-1 Fluency- Oral Reading • Techno Reading • Students listen to a story either on the computer, CD player, or MP3 player. The goal is to listen for intonation and phrasing. At the end of each page, the student is to pause the recording and read it aloud themselves.

49. Fluency Intervention Strategies Second and Third Grade

50. What are the necessary skills in second and third grade? • Letter-sound correspondenceis making a connection between individual letters and the sounds they represent (graphophonics). • Word parts are common non-word syllables patterns as well as affixes. • Words are high frequency words as well as word families. • Phrasing is reading text naturally, pausing appropriately with intonation. • Chunked text is text broken into natural groups of words. • Connected text is reading text in a smooth, connected way.