Standard Two: Curriculum and Instruction

• Provide appropriate in-depth instruction for all readers and writers, especially those who struggle with reading and writing.

From the courses I have taken this past semester and the activities I have conducted, I have learned that there is more than just one way to define a struggling reader. In this case, there is also more than one way to assist a struggling reader. Since I had never been a struggling reader, I had difficulty wrapping my head around the concept. I thought a struggling reader was someone who could not sound out words, and in some cases, that may be, but in several cases that is not the problem. A struggling reader can have difficulty with phonemic awareness, blending, comprehension, inferencing, character traits, etc. The most important thing is to pinpoint the problem to begin the assistance. During this course, I discovered that even though my one student had extreme difficulty with phonemic awareness when read to, he had average comprehension skills. I also discovered that my other student could sight read well and sound out words, but his blending was a little weak. He also had low comprehension skills. Using the answer frames from the book, I tried to build on their strengths to help with their weaknesses. I believe that some of these activities were a little hard for my students, but others helped them think a little deeper. I've made some of my own conclusions about how to help these students and the school has helped me decide what I can do to help them as well. For some of my students, further assistance from outside sources are needed, but for the other students, I can adapt my lessons to fit their needs.

Using questioning during reading is one way to help with comprehension.

Relating to how a character feels within a story is another strategy to aid comprehension.