Able but still reluctant reader - now what?

[aegeansky]

DS was levelled 3 in his end of key stage 1 assessment. He has a large vocabulary, a really good understanding of how language works, and voluntarily chooses (for him) interesting stories between NC level 4-5+

But can I get him to pick up a book for pleasure? Nope. He'll comply with a suggestion that it's a good way of filling the time, but is still always counting the pages or chapters. He doesn't really get 'lost' in a story, as some of his friends (3
girls, gotta say,) do.

His teacher last year was initially astonished when she first levelled him about 9 months ago. At the time he was a faltering, slow reader when reading aloud, yet her assessment over the year showed that he had fantastic comprehension despite this.

Still, he's not the fastest reader and I wonder if working on this would help him. It's not really decoding individual words that slows him (he read 'inhospitable' on sight the other day), just the whole thing isn't particularly fast. One of his characacteristics is that he is distracted by not knowing a word and asking what it means (things like 'bulkhead',) and by cross-checking facts and the story's development. These are good habits, I think, but do slow him right down.

He won't read easier stuff because the content is now too dull.

Sorry if rambling about to have 4 of his friends round to play...

[Mowgli1970]

Have you tried comics, like the National Geographic for Kids? That should be interesting to him, but in bite size chunks rather than a long story thread. He can discuss each page. If he's fluent when reading small chunks of text I wouldn't worry. Some people are faster readers than others. I read a sentence by skimming through it, but dh methodically reads every word.
Or you could say "Let's read this page to the end and we'll discuss any questions at the end".

[ViveLaFrak]

He's being a boy. It sounds self-evident but there is a reason I said that! It's normal for him to respond like that

IME boys do better with factual books than stories. They also respond better to short chapters packed with useful info than plot development/background.

What kind of stuff is he voluntarily reading? Will he read the back of a cereal box if it's got something interesting on it? What about comics where the action is visual and he only has to read the dialogue?

[seeker]

Comics. "easy' books. I think sometimes able readers are "overfaced" by too hard books at this stage. And relax about it - if it feels like a chore he's resist!

I suggest buying some short but exciting books "BeastQuest"are brilliant, and suggesting he can have an extra half an hour before lights out if he reads.

Read in for pleasure only comes once the whole process is completely automatic and they don't have to think at all about how they are doing it - if you see what I mean.

Oh, and my ds loves reading - he's 9 - but he has to be physically tired before he can sit still long enough. That's why the bed time idea works for him.

[seeker]

Oh, and how about an aodio book he can listen to, with a copy of the book as well? Cressida Cowell's Dragon books are great for this - really funny and original. And read brilliantly by David Tennant (always a pleasure!)

[ClaireyFairy82]

I my experience boys can get just as stuck into books as girls, and it does't just have to be factual books. It's about finding the author or genre that really 'switches him on' to reading and hooks him in. Lots of boys i teach love reading funny books like Flat Stanley or Horrid Henry, and they're a series so he can go from one to another.

Being a slower reader isn't a problem, if he was a level 3 at the end of Y2 then he's reading and comprehending to a really good standard. But I think L4/5 books will be a bit beyond him without support. We share books which are slightly above their reading level for guided reading, so that the children are supported when reading texts that stretch them.

How about sharing a book together? You can take it and turns reading pages and enjoy discussing the characters as you're going along. Something like Harry Potter, Beast Quest (can't remember author sorry) or Percy Jackson (Rick Riordan) would be great to stretch him, but you will need to discuss unfamiliar words and it can be a really special time between you both.

I love reading stories to my class, even year 5s and 6s. They especially love spooky stories read by candlelight like Room 13 (Robert Swindell) and Clockwork (Philip Pullman). And I can gurantee that anything I've read them will spend the rest of the year being passed from child to child as they all clamber to be the next one to read it.

Children also really benefit from having positive reading role models, so it would be great if he can see you reading and enjoying books at home too.

Hope this helps x

[aegeansky]

ViveLaFrak - thank you, very interesting on gender. I wasn't sure if this was an urban myth, but subjectively, from what I've seen, it's absolutely right.

As a strategy to be allowed to stay up for longer by reading in bed, he voluntarily reads short excerpts from graphic novels (classical greek myths like the minotaur are big faves), books about science (he likes thinking about big numbers, infinity, space, that whole thing)and horrible histories are high on the list. Also the usual stuff about chivalry, piracy blah blah.

He also does read street signs, traffic signs, billboards, blurbs on books, newspaper headines and standifirsts, and attempts to keep up with movie subtitles (but doesn't.)

[mrz]

Have you tried graphic novels our boys love them

www.lovereading4kids.co.uk/genre/com/Graphic-Novels.html

Did you know?

• the fastest growing section of public libraries is the comic book "graphic novel" section?

• Librarians have discovered that once high-quality graphic novels are put on the shelves, kids can't get enough.

• a growing number of schools are using comics in the classroom to teach kids narration, dialogue, and visual design.

[aegeansky]

okay, I've got to the bottom of it. HE wants to be a faster reader because the 'fastest readers get more interesting work' (in his opinion.) Actually the table he is on reads exqactly the same books as the top table but the work is slightly differentiated (volume as well as complexity). This is HIM, not me saying this (but I'm paraphrasing - obviously he doesn't say 'differentiated.')

In reality, he has no chance of being on this table any time soon, as it includes the oldest children in the class, 1 who nobody will catch in primary,as well as a cluster who are hungry readers, more accomplished writers, and already at the next stage of academic maturity (they're his friends so I know them very well.) So I need to be kind to him and re-set his expectations, while still building on the excellent progress he has already made.

[aegeansky]

Update: Sorry this is long! Right, so he's happily reading away silently on the sofa. BUT every so often he finds a word that he can decode but doesn't know (Today we've had 'collision', 'gait', 'swipe.' ) Phrasal verbs are also a problem, as logic can't sort them out.

He always wants to find out, not because he can't guess the approximate meaning in context, but, I think, because he likes words and understands their power.

Could anyone with expertise in this area recommend a suitable strategy?

Should he:


*skip the words and keep the flow going

• asttempt to guess the meaning but skip over the words (difficult, with his way of thinking) and ask later? (Requires him to remember where they are, which is a big ask at this stage; reduces independence, so not instinctively keen)
  
  *write them down and check later, with support as needed?
  
  Is there a suitable dictionary anyone could recommend and that is suitable as a first dictionary?
  
  Remember, this is a male reader of 7 years, levelled NC3 (school doesn't say what sub-level) at end of KS stage assessment.
  
  He reads stuff like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Although his decoding is great, he still prefers books with medium type, likes to see the end in sight (prefers max 80 pages), and prefers to read just a chapter of long fiction at a time. A couple of friends of his (girls) read similar books but demolish them in hours to days. One of these girls is exceptional and reads like an 11 year old. He's not going to be that type of fiction reader anytime soon and I'm not trying to force him to.
  
  BUT because, and only because of the school's obsession with fiction, I'm trying ot get him to be a more willing fiction reader. It's a shame, because he is much more interested in factual books, which never feature in reading/writing activity at school.

[mrz]

If he can read the words and wants to know what they mean I would encourage him to find out. It's a good reading exercise to read definitions and it will help his understanding in the long term.

Did you see this report www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/7943041/Comic-books-help-boys-to-read.html

[aegeansky]

Mrz, thanksvery mujch, that is very interesting.

Can you recommend suitable dictionary? Even if he looks up one word a day, that's a great start!

[aegeansky]

Sorry mrz, meant to say he loves and has access to Denis and Gnasher, especially. He also produces pictures with speech bubbles and graphic novel style text commentary

[mrz]

The Oxford Junior Illustrated Dictionary

[acebaby]

do you still read to him? Even completely fluent readers of 10 still love to be read to, and this can help them develop a true love of reading. How about suggesting the book of something he watches on TV (I think there are some Doctor Who books for example)?

Perhaps if he were able to get into a series he would find himself more familiar with the vocabulary and plots, and maybe able to go a little faster.

[aegeansky]

Acebaby, that's very helpful - good point. Yes, I still read to him, for example, reading Harry Potter to him right now at bedtime, even though he could manage it by himself.

I can see how this helps with intonation, developing a sense of who the characters are, and so on.

[aegeansky]

mrz, thanks so much - hooking up to amazon right now...

[mrz]

I've just found this link on my LA website
www.wordpool.co.uk/rr/rrcontents.htm
I can't comment but at first glance it looks interesting