Marcus is a student who very frequently miscues by substituting words that start with the same letter or first few letters of the word in the text, but his substitutions often are not syntactically or semantically acceptable (they neither sound right grammatically nor make sense). What possible teaching strategies would you suggest to help Marcus?
What Marcus needs is to work with a peer or teacher in order to help him "catch" these miscues. Allow him to participate in guided reading experiences, where he will be able to follow along with the text as the text is being read out loud for the class to hear. As either a class or small group, have the students, including Marcus, predict what the text is going to be about using the title and pictures throughout the book. Throughout the guided reading it would also help Marcus if you were to stop frequently to ask questions about the text, so that he will understand that the text is supposed to make sense. Marcus could also be apart of listening and reading along with tape-recorded books because he will have the same experiences with the text and its meaning. It will also be important that while Marcus is following along, that his teacher be pointing to each word being read so that Marcus "can begin to make connections between the spoken words and the written words" (Weaver, 2002, p.245). Along with guided reading, it would be helpful if Marcus participated in guided writing so that he can focus on the letter sounds and patterns found throughout words.
While working one-on-one with Marcus, the teacher could tape him reading a specific text, and then allow him to listen to it as he follows along in the text. With Retrospective Miscue Analysis, he can see where he has messed up, and understand that what he said did not make sense within the passage. Throughout the reflection process, it is important to allow Marcus to pick out his miscues, particularly the ones that change the meaning of the sentence. This will also allow for discussion between Marcus and the teacher as he begins to explain why specific spots were an issue and then together talk about different strategies that may be effective. Along with retrospective miscue analysis, the teacher can use a "think-aloud" strategy where the student is able to read aloud while verbally talking through the student's reading strategies. "This procedure in effect placed the highest emphasis on meaning and the lowest on whether the miscue looked and/or sounded like the word in the text" (Weaver, 2002, p.226). There are also four questions that Marcus could answer either by himself, with a teacher or with a group that will assist him in truly understanding his miscue: "1. Does what the read said mean the same as what is in the book? (semantic similarity) 2. Does what the reader said still sound like language? (syntactic similarity) 3. Does what the reader said look like what is in the book? (graphic similarity) 4. Does what the read said sound like what is in the book? (phonic similarity)" (Weaver, 2002, p.226).
Krista,
ReplyDeleteGreat ideas. Taping a child and allowing him to listen to it can have very positive effects, but some children do not respond to it as well as others. I think you would obviously know Marcus better (If this was a real scenario), but some children would break under pressure if they knew they were being recorded (that is [pretty intimidating). I think if the stunted was comfortable with this and had a strong confidence in himself, it would be great. He could follow along and listen to himself, and see where he is messing up.
Krista, I love your idea of a peer help Marcus “catch” these miscues. I also believe Marcus would benefit from small group or buddy reading because they can stop frequently to monitor their comprehension. I agree that Marcus should use tape recordings to not only to listen to texts but also to record his readings so he could compare his reading to others. I agree it is essential that Marcus picks out his own miscues instead of being corrected. This is more valuable and he will learn more this way. Also, it is important to help Marcus with guided writing during his reading time so he can focus on the letter sounds and start some basic recognition of repeated words. I love the four questions that you mentioned Weaver discussed in her book and think that would help Marcus with his reading skills.
ReplyDeleteKrista,
ReplyDeleteI would also tape record a retrospective miscue analysis with Marcus so that he could hear what he was reading; I would be interested to see if he could catch those miscues on his own. I like that you mentioned a picture walk and I also included it in my list of strategies; I think these pre-reading activities are so important for activating schema. I also thought about writing as a way to help Marcus when he’s reading. I would have him keep a reading journal to help him reflect on what he’s reading. This is a strategy that I used with the kids I’ve tutored and they absolutely hate to write so I give them some sentence starters until they get the idea of what it means to respond to text. And the four questions you referenced are perfect. He could keep a copy of a notecard with those questions on it and refer to it as needed.