Locating and Correcting Reading Difficulties

by Shanker, James L.; Ekwall, Eldon E.

• ISBN13: 9780130313959
• ISBN10: 0130313955
• Edition: 8th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-01-01
• Publisher: Allyn & Bacon

Summary

Updated and reorganized to be even more useful, this popular book's twenty-nine chapters divided into six major sections once again provide busy pre-service and in-service reading teachers the essential tools they needspecific, concrete methodsfor helping struggling readers become successful readers.KEY TOPICSThe authors' easy-to-read language effectively explains what to do in the diagnostic/remedial process; and twenty-four exceptionally thorough appendices offer hands-on tools for doing it. While individual instruction is clearly identified as the ideal, numerous strategies are also offered for both small- and large-group instruction. Emphasis is on direct instruction, motivational learning activities, and "practice, practice, practice."For elementary school reading teachers.

Table of Contents

How to Use this Book.
Reading Diagnosis Chart.
Making Your Own Diagnostic Kit from the Appendices.

PART ONE: INTRODUCTION.

Introduction: Important Principles and Useful Methods for Teaching Students with Reading Difficulties.

PART TWO: EMERGENT LITERACY ABILITIES.

1. Phonemic Awareness.
2. Alphabet Knowledge.

PART THREE: DECODING ABILITIES.

3. Basic Sight Words Not Known.
4. General Sight Vocabulary Not Up to Grade Level.
5. Phonics Difficulties: Consonants.
6. Phonics Difficulties: Vowels.
7. Phonics Difficulties: Blends, Digraphs, or Diphthongs.
8. Structural Analysis Difficulties.
9. Contractions Not Known.
10. Inadequate Ability to Use Context Clues.

PART FOUR: SPECIFIC ORAL READING DIFFICULTIES.

11. Poor Pronunciation.
12. Omissions.
13. Repetitions.
14. Inversions or Reversals.
15. Insertions.
16. Substitutions.
17. Guesses at Words.
18. Word-by-Word Reading.
19. Incorrect Phrasing.
20. Voicing, Lip Movements, Finger Pointing, and Head Movements.

PART FIVE: COMPREHENSION ABILITIES.

21. Word Meaning/Vocabulary Knowledge Inadequate.
22. Comprehension Inadequate.

PART SIX: STUDY SKILLS AND OTHER ABILITIES.

23. Low Rate of Speed.
24. Inability to Adjust Reading Rate.
25. High Rate of Reading at the Expense of Accuracy.
26. Inability to Skim or Scan.
27. Inability to Locate Information.
28. Undeveloped Dictionary Skills.
29. Written Recall Limited by Spelling Ability.

APPENDICES FOR LOCATING READING DIFFICULTIES.

A1: Code for Marking in Oral Diagnosis.
A2: Preparation and Use of Materials for Testing Phonemic Awareness.
A3: Preparation and Use of Materials for Testing Letter Knowledge.
A4: Preparation and Use of Materials for the Quick Check for Basic Sight Words.
A5: Preparation and Use of Materials for Testing Basic Sight Words and Phrases.
A6: Preparation and Use of Materials for the Phonics Assessment.
A7: Preparation and Use of Materials for the Structural Analysis Assessment.
A8: Preparation and Use of Materials for Testing Knowledge of Contractions.
A9: Preparation and Use of Materials for the Quick Survey Word List.
A10: Preparation and Use of Materials for Testing the Ability to Use Context Clues.
A11: Preparation and Use of Materials for the Reading Interest Surveys.

APPENDICES FOR CORRECTING READING DIFFICULTIES.

B1: Books for Emergent Readers.
B2: Basic Sight Word Sentences.
B3: A Phonics Primer.
B4: Phonogram Lists.
B5: Words for Teaching Short and Long Vowels.
B6: Words, Sentences, and Stories for Teaching Structural Analysis.
B7: Prepositional Phrases.
B8: Prefixes and Suffixes.
B9: Using the Cloze Procedure.
B10: Repeated Readings Chart.
B11: Precision Reading Form and Charts.
B12: Charts for Graphing Words per Minute and Comprehension.
B13: Suggestions for Interviewing Parents of Disabled Readers.
Glossary.
Index.

Excerpts

The eighth edition of this book, like previous editions, is organized to provide reading specialists, teachers, tutors, and reading education students with specific, concrete methods for locating and correcting reading difficulties. It can be used in classroom or remedial situations and is designed so that busy practitioners can find in one place the essential information they need to help struggling readers overcome their literacy difficulties. Direct instruction, motivational learning activities, and abundant practice in the act of reading are stressed. As in the previous editions, instruction in individual reading skills is recommended where appropriate; however, emphasis is also placed on the use of strategic approaches to the teaching of reading. ORGANIZING TO ASSIST STRUGGLING READERSThis book is composed of 29 chapters, divided into six major parts, which cover the full range of reading and reading-related skills. While the major features of the previous edition have been retained, this new edition has been updated and reorganized to make the information within more accessible to the reader.Methods and Approaches.The first section of this book is an introductory chapter that provides information on important principles of effective instruction for students who have reading difficulties. It is hoped that these principles will guide your reading throughout the remainder of the book. This chapter also presents useful techniques or approaches for teaching students with reading difficulties. These techniques/approaches are included in this chapter because they apply to many of the specific reading problems that are the focus of subsequent chapters. The first approach describes a number of oral reading techniques that have been shown to be unusually effective in helping students as they struggle to master decoding skills. Equally important, these techniques are among the most powerful teachers can use to develop students' reading fluency and build a foundation for better reading comprehension. A second method is the language-experience approach, which benefits both beginning and remedial readers. In this section, you will find a thorough description of these approaches and many practical activities for application in the classroom or tutorial setting.As with previous editions, the Reading Diagnosis Chart (see page xiii) matches the logical development of various reading skills and corresponds to the order of the chapters. The basic format of each chapter is the same. A section titled "Recognized By" defines and/or describes the reading difficulty. The "Discussion" section provides additional background information and explains how to test or otherwise determine if a student is experiencing difficulty in this area. The "Recommendations" section offers an alphabetical listing of specific strategies or activities you may use to help the student overcome the problem. In most chapters, these suggestions are followed by a variety of "Games and Exercises" that may be used to provide students with independent practice.Emergent Literacy.Part 2 addresses emergent literacy skills. In this edition, Chapter 1 is now devoted entirely to phonemic awareness, reflecting recent research affirming the importance of this area in early reading development. Alphabet knowledge is now addressed separately in Chapter 2. Tests for phonemic awareness (in Appendix B-4) assess rhyming ability, initial sound recognition, phoneme blending, and phoneme segmentation. Specific instructional procedures added to Chapter 1 are matched to each of the skills tested.Decoding Skills.In previous editions, Part 3 consisted of chapters focusing on a variety of different oral reading problems. In nearly every case, these problems are caused by some weakness in the reader's decoding skills. For this reason, decoding skills are now presentedbeforeoral reading difficulties. In these chapters you will