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Comprehension struggle with silent reading
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We started school for the year and I’ve noticed an issue with my 6th grader. She seems to struggle comprehending what she is reading when she reads silently. She wants to read everything aloud which takes a lot longer. A couple of things have changed this year. First, we added in narration, which we haven’t done in the past. So, she seems to be more concerned about understanding what she is reading. Second, her books are harder.
It’s curious I’ve never noticed a comprehension issue in the past. For free reading I have noticed that she chooses books that are generally below her grade level OR books that she has heard on audio. She loves audio books.
So, my question is do I assign her less reading and allow her to read it aloud? Or is silent reading comprehension a skill that I need to encourage?
Interesting dilemma. I’d love to chime in but please know that I’ve not had this issue with any of my dc nor do I have any experience with this. So I’m answering purely from an “if-I-were-in-your-shoes” perspective.
I think I would go back to basics. Your question was whether to do less reading (yes, I think so) or allow her to read it aloud (I’d think no). You also asked about silent reading comprehension. I think that is an important skill to develop, but maybe some kids perfect it earlier, some later.
Have you ever had her read with a straitedge so she doesn’t lose her place? Start her out narrating the types of books she picks for her free reading. Ask very specific questions that have very specific answers, things that you are pretty sure she will know, and set her up for success. Hopefully this will build her confidence.
Then in other areas, give her written chores with a ‘list’. Write them in a place where she either has to remember them or come back and reread, not on a paper she can take with her. Ask her to do three (or whatever number of) things when she goes to the garage, for instance. Help her focus and try very hard to remember them. I think I would try to make the directions written versus verbal since this is the area she struggles with. We have a dry-erase board that I would prop up in the kitchen with a list, then have kids read from it and recall everything they were to do before coming back to the kitchen. Hint- make them easy at first, like all starting with or containing the same letter (empty Garbage, Get the mail, Give the dog water), or things that rhyme (get the book, look for dad, hang coat on the hook).
I remember a cartoon from TV when I was a kid that showed a little girl trying to remember the shopping list for her mom. She kept repeating over and over, “a loaf o’ bread, something else, stick o’ butter”, I find that if I don’t write something down, I will forget it. When I go into the store and have only three items to get, I have to say them over and over or assign an item to each kid so they can help remember for me.
I have incredible reading comprehension, but some things I just have a hard time remembering. It’s possible your daughter either just isn’t skilled in comprehension YET, or she may not ever develop those skills. In either case, it would be great to help her develop some tools to help her cope with a temporary (or maybe longterm) gap like I have done.
One more thought I had for working with her in her reading would be to have her read very short passages for many months before going on to longer selections.
Again, I’m not any kind of authority on this, but I just wrote what I think I would try with my own kids if this was an issue. Hope something in there helps a little,
Jenni
IMO, it sounds like your daughter may be an auditory learner. We are all visual/kinesthetic in my family so I do not know much about the auditory style. Here is one link that was provided by our ps for kids to discover their own styles. There are tons more.
http://www.whatismylearningstyle.com/auditory-learner.html
However, I don’t think anyone fits every component of a single learning style so I just use trial and error with some of the strategies. One thing I liked doing with my son was/is reviewing how he thinks he learns best and then if we are struggling with that area, review that information and get his input on how we can fit the material into his preferred learning methods.
I vaguely remember one strategy from a class I took about learning styles. Maybe have your daughter whisper the words to herself as she is reading. Eventually, I think she could move to just moving her lips silently.
Here are some more links that specifically mention that auditory learners have trouble with comprehension of silent reading.
http://www.uniquefamilyvision.com/2011/03/auditory-learners.html
http://www.custom-homeschool-curriculum.com/auditory-learners.html
http://www.helium.com/items/1915427-understanding-the-auditory-learner
HTH,
Stephanie
My son did this up until late last yr! He HAD to read aloud! I was worried about it, but I just let him continue to do it. The only thing was while he was doing it he had to be alone in a room because no one else could concentrate! He is no longer doing it. Maybe it is just an adjustment period for you dd!
@Jenni, that cartoon..was Sesame Street! 🙂 A loaf of bread, a pint of milk, and a stick of butter
Yep — I remember that cartoon, too.
I agree that your dd is most likely an auditory learn, like my ds (and me). Auditory learners learn best when they are able to hear themselves. I would not completely discourage the reading aloud. I know, personally, that if I am reading something non-fiction that doesn’t have my complete interest, I have to read it aloud, even in a whisper, to let it begin to sink in. When I read silently, I have to hear the sound of each word in my head.
Has she somewhere she can read where she is not a distraction to others? If she is working in a room with many distractions she may feel a need to read aloud because she can’t hear, or concentrate on, her own voice in her head while others are moving or talking around her.
Thank you all for your replies! I actually checked her standardized test from the spring and she scored in the 80th percentile for comprehension. Granted, the passages they read are short. It makes the dilemna curious.
Jennie, I like the straight edge idea. It also brought to my mind that her eye dr. said she should wear her glasses most of the time and she only wears them for computer and TV. I wonder if she loses her spot when reading silently because her eyes are moving faster.
srlord, thanks for the links. She defintely does seem to be an auditory learner.
2flowerboys, thanks for the encouragement.
4myboys, yes, there are plenty of rooms she can go in. She likes to read to someone so she often grabs her 7 year old sister to be the listener (in exchange for back scratching).
I think I will shorten her assigments. I know she is finding some of the books boring and difficult (Louis Pastuer by Tiner) so it may be partially an attitude issue. I think I will encourage her to whisper as was suggested when she is reading aloud.
Thanks, ladies.
I can just share what we have experienced with our own child who just turned 11.
For us, the whole issue has been multifaceted. ….part of the problem was some eyesight problems. Her vision in each eye is fine but her eyes do no,t work together exactly right. Vision therapy was recommended initially but the dr. we see now recommended sort of reading glasses that help a lot!
She is also a strong auditory learner.
She also developed the habit of skimming so, in order to work on her habit of skimming, last year we had her read out loud to us every day – one page at the start of the year and then built up to 7 or 8 pages by the end of the year. This was recommended by a someone in my area who has a lot of experience with teaching reading and tutoring kids with reading issues. I think that I did notice some improvement after doing this but still needs some work.
I talked to Sonya about how to further address this habit of skimming and she said to have my child read one page silently then I am supposed to quiz her on some key concepts from that page. I need to double check on this advice but I am pretty sure this is what she said to do.
This next year, I am going to continue having my child read out loud but also include reading one of those pages silently and then “quizzing” her on the key word/concepts of that one page. I think that the key will be consistency.
I hope this helps you in some way!
Thank you, Lishie, that is a good reminder that it could be more than one thing. I know she is not skimming, in fact, she is reading every….single….word, which I think is slowing her down. Maybe it is a speed issue. When you read so slow you forget what you have read or your mind wanders. We are currently working on the habit of attention so maybe that will help.
There’s so much great advice in this thread! It’s amazing how we as homeschooling mothers have such a handle on these situations and know how to work with our children. Even if we don’t, we always have communities like this one to learn from each other.
My daughter is really good at reading fiction, I think her creative mind just absorbs it better and it sticks. When it comes to reading anything more scientific or nonfiction she struggles with comprehension skills and then retaining the information enough to tell me about it. This year we’re going to try a program from Zaner-Bloser for teaching informational text, but it is going to cover comprehension skills, vocabulary, and fluency through oral reading practice (which might be something you’d want to look into!). Maybe you could take a look at all the information on the Zaner-Bloser website and see if there’s anything you can integrate into your own lessons from the Read for Real strategies.
I love all these ideas! My son is having issues with this, too.
@Jenni, Oh, it’s a carton of milk. One of my favorite Sesame Sreeet memories. ;0)
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