Most Commonly Seen Struggles and Interventions

 

I have been teaching reading in the intermediate grades for ten years. Every year I see a wide range in reading abilities, however there is generally a common trend. Typically about twenty percent (give or take) of my students struggle with reading comprehension in some way. Usually a small handful of those are, or become, identified with a learning disability or medical diagnosis that contributes to their performance, and receive special services to meet their needs. So what about the other struggling students? These ones we say “fall through the cracks”. Why do they continue to struggle though they are receiving adequate instruction? Furthermore, what can we do as their teacher to intervene?

Word Recognition and Fluency

A large body of research has suggested the lack of foundational competency in word recognition and phonics knowledge to be a great contributor to deficiency in reading comprehension by third and fourth grade (Rasinski, 2017).  Students who struggle with decoding usually have a deficit in phonological processing, meaning they struggle to manipulate the sound structure of language (Sesma et al., 2009).  Many research based phonics programs that address specific phonological skills are used successfully to address these deficits.

Even with accurate decoding abilities, students may still struggle with reading fluency. When students are not reading with accuracy and automaticity, they are having to use too many of their cognitive resources on the surface level of the text,  making comprehension more difficult (Sesma et al., 2009). This explains why research has shown a strong correlation between lack of reading fluency and reading proficiency in the intermediate grades (Rasinksi, 2017). Reading fluently with prosody requires students to chunk ideas and meanings together coherently. Students lacking this ability are missing quite a bit of implied and emotional meaning behind text. Difficulties with fluency can have a snowball effect on students’ other reading skills as they grow older and the content becomes more difficult (Rasinski, 2017).

Some of the most commonly used and researched based interventions that address fluency deficits include repeated and continued reading. Repeated reading exposes students to the same text multiple times in order to improve accuracy and speed. This method sets a child up for success, which could help to improve confidence. The practice of continued reading on the other hand, requires students to read a new text aloud each session. The theory behind this method is that the increased reading across many texts will improve overall reading abilities, and also avoid the boredom that comes with repeated readings. Studies have shown the effectiveness of both practices (Oostdam et al., 2015).

Other practices such as echo reading and read-aloud can provide students with an ideal model for what their reading should sound like. The practice of echo reading pairs a dysfluent student with a fluent student. The fluent student will read a sentence and the dysfluent student will echo, concentrating on phrasing and prosody (Ozbek, 2017). This method shares a similar ideology as read-alouds by providing modeled reading and pre-listening opportunities, but also places the student in a position of immediate engagement and practice.

More recent studies have analyzed the effectiveness of students listening to recordings of their own reading to improve fluency. Students will familiarize themselves with a passage, record themselves reading, and then analyze different aspects throughout the week. Results of this method have been quite successful (Born & Curtis, 2013).

The following video provides authentic examples of these methods as used in the classroom.

Vocabulary and Syntax

It is commonly understood and illustrated by research that a student’s lack of breadth and depth of vocabulary knowledge has a direct impact on comprehension (Eason et al, 2012). Simply put, a reader cannot understand a text if they do not understand what the words mean. However, studies have shown that understanding the structure of words as used in written language has just as much of an impact (Adolf & Cats, 2015). Syntactic understanding of how each word’s meaning relates to and builds meaning with the overall idea of text is an important component of comprehension. The absence of this skill prevents readers from understanding differences in phrasing, figurative language, and the ability of a word to be used in multiple ways.

Simple practices in the classrooms, such as modeling and read-alouds, are used to help build vocabulary knowledge (Santoro et al, 2016) . More explicit approaches are used to address specific morphosyntactic knowledge (Adolf &Catts, 2015). Word studies and word plays such as word investigations, hink- pinks, and cinquains are engaging practices to improve syntax knowledge.

Higher Order Thinking

The lack of critical thinking skills is arguably the strongest cause of a student’s insufficiency in reading. Studies have shown that when students still struggle with reading comprehension despite having mastered word reading skills and becoming fluent readers, it is due to inadequate higher-order thinking skills (Sesma et al., 2009).  Execution functions, metacognition, critical thinking, organizing, and inferencing skills are crucial to the comprehension process (Kendeou et al., 2014). Without the ability to apply these mental processes, students will be unable to synthesize text in order to build meaning.

Due to the abstract nature of these skills, many students struggle to even understand these processes, much less apply them. A simple way to support the development of these skills in the classroom is through teacher modeled think-aloud. This is where the teacher doesn’t just say what they are thinking, but explains why and how they are synthesizing information (Dobler & Eagleton, 2015, p.197)

 Guided reading is one of the most commonly used practices to address reading comprehension difficulties (Oostdam et al., 2015). In this method, teachers differentiate instruction and utilize small groups to teach and guide students in applying specific comprehension strategies while reading. Teachers are able to address specific skills and strategies needed by each student.

A more specific, metacognitive approach to provide intervention in small groups is the use of close reading and reciprocal reading. With close reading, the teacher scaffolds students as they analyze and critique text extremely closely in order to build as many connections as possible (Kendeou et al., 2014). This process basically places text under a microscope, allowing students to apply their critical thinking skills in slow motion. Reciprocal teaching goes a step further by placing students in the role of facilitating small group discussion surrounding the cognitive processes and strategies used while reading (Gomaa, 2015). This practice allows students to take on more of the responsibility of their learning, thus creating more authentic experience in which they are able to become more aware of their thinking while reading. Experimental research has supported the efficacy of this practice in improving reading comprehension (Gomaa, 2015). I have found close reading and reciprocal reading to be the most effective and authentic interventions in supporting my students who struggle with comprehension. 

The following video illustrates the use of the reciprocal teaching process.

Final Thoughts

Comprehension is an extremely complex process that involves the simultaneous applications of many skills, functions, and strategies. Discovering exactly where each student encounters difficulty is a challenging, but necessary piece in determining appropriate intervention. It is also important to take into consideration the continuously changing ways in which we share and interact with information. Being able to read and comprehend text is no longer enough to be truly literate in our society (Johnson, 2014). We have to take in to account the new literacies and how they impact students’ comprehension. These ideas will be explored in my next post.

                                                                                                      

 References

Adlof, S. M., & Catts, H. W. (2015). Morphosyntax in poor comprehenders. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 28(7), 1051–1070.

Born, M. & Curtis, R. (2013). (Re)Discovering retrospective miscue analysis: An action research exploration using recorded readings to improve third-grade students’ reading fluency. i.e.: Inquiry in Education: 4(2), Article 4.

Dobler, E., & Eagleton, M.B. (2015). Reading the web: Strategies for internet inquiry. The Guilford Press.

Eason, S. H., Goldberg, L. F., Young, K. M., Geist, M. C., & Cutting, L. E. (2012). Reader-text interactions: How differential text and question types influence cognitive skills needed for reading comprehension. Journal of Educational Psychology, 104(3), 515–528.

Gomaa, O. M. K. (2015). The effect of reciprocal teaching intervention strategy on reading comprehension skills of 5th grade elementary school students with reading disabilities. Online Submission, International Journal of Psycho-Educational Sciences, 4(2), 39–45.

Johnson, D. (2014). Reading, writing, and literacy 2.0: Teaching with online texts, tools, and resources, K-8. Teachers College Press. 

Kendeou, P., Broek, P.V.D., Helder, A., Karlsson, J. (2014) A cognitive view of reading comprehension: Implications for reading difficulties. Learning Disabilities Research & Practice, 29(1), 10-16.

Oostdam, R., Blok, H., & Boendermaker, C. (2015). Effects of individualized and small-group guided oral reading interventions on reading skills and reading attitude of poor readers in grades 2-4. Research Papers in Education, 30(4), 427–450.

Rasinski, T. V. (2017). Readers who struggle: Why many struggle and a modest proposal for improving their reading. Reading Teacher, 70(5), 519–524.

Santoro, L. E., Baker, S. K., Fien, H., Smith, J. L. M., & Chard, D. J. (2016). Using read-alouds to help struggling readers access and comprehend complex, informational text. TEACHING Exceptional Children, 48(6), 282–292.

Sesma, H. W., Mahone, E. M., Levine, T., Eason, S. H., & Cutting, L. E. (2009). The contribution of executive skills to reading comprehension. Child Neuropsychology : a Journal on Normal and Abnormal Development in Childhood and Adolescence, 15(3), 232–246.