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Good reader but poor comprehension book suggestions please

37 replies

Daisyfield · 10/06/2013 16:51

Ds can read well at about level 2a/3c but his understanding is very poor. Can anyone suggest a scheme that will challenge his reading whilst supporting his lack of understanding?
Thanks

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EllenJanesthickerknickers · 10/06/2013 21:12

It is quite unusual for DC to have decoding skills beyond their comprehension skills. My DS2 was quite hyperlexic and still struggles with his language comprehension compared to his general IQ. He found Language for Thinking very useful.

lougle · 10/06/2013 21:17

Is it unusual, Ellen? I wish DD2's (lovely) school would realise that she's got this mismatch Confused

Leeds2 · 10/06/2013 21:31

Would second the Boys Rule series suggestion.

EllenJanesthickerknickers · 10/06/2013 21:35

I think it's usual if you are on the autistic spectrum, Lougle, but not that common otherwise.

Daisyfield · 10/06/2013 21:41

Thank you all.
He is given ORT to match his comprehension but they don't challenge his reading skills.
Ds does have a speech and language therapist but she isn't helping with this. I have looked at language for thinking and wondered if it was suitable to do at home? Is it daily exercises?
I'm not sure if there are any books out there to help him as he can read quite well although he is behind.
Ds didn't do well in year 2 sats and is on school action plus at the moment. I'm wondering if he might need more help than I can give.

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Daisyfield · 10/06/2013 21:44

I'm not convinced that Ds can decode. I'm not sure but I think he's memorising all apart from very basic words! I think finding all the w words difficult makes discussion difficult too.

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lougle · 10/06/2013 22:00

LfT would certainly be suitable for home. On the Special Needs section there are at least 7 or 8 of us using it right now Smile

You start by doing a short (5 minute) assessment - there is a picture accompanied by 4 or 5 short sentences. You ask the questions and note the exact answer your DS gives. The questions range from 'Where is Philip?' 'What is Philip doing?, etc., to much more abstract questions 'Philip doesn't have any money for popcorn, what could he do?', etc. For each question you give a score (0-3) depending on how relevant and accurate the answer was. That score indicates a 'starting point' for the scenarios.

The idea is that you are starting at a level your child will cope with, so that you and they see progress.

Then, you use a scenario. Again, no more than 5 minutes. Afterwards you go over the scenario with the child, discussing the questions and modeling 'good' answers as you go. You make sure you have recorded everything they said. You also record their score.

The next day you do the same scenario. The hope is that by going over it the day before, you have helped your child to develop their understanding. You follow the same procedure.

The third day you do the same scenario one last time. Again, you discuss afterwards and model good answers.

It's important to do it no more than 3 times, because you risk the child rote learning the answers, rather than building their language.

Obviously, if your child does perfectly well at the scenario, you don't need to repeat it.

So, you may find that your child scores 11/18 on day 1, 12/18 on day 2 and 15/18 on day 3.

On the 4th day, you do the next scenario, which you may repeat on day 5, and 6.

There are 3 'modules' - picture and text read by you, picture and text read by your DS, then just text. There are also 3 'language levels' A, B and C, which denote the complexity of the questions. Most people find that as they move up a module, they have to move down a language level at first.

Daisyfield · 10/06/2013 22:10

This sounds just right for us! I will order it tomorrow and hopefully we will see some improvement over the summer. My guess is that it will be slow as Ds progress is generally slow and I find I have to break things down into tiny steps. Looks like the book might be doing that for me.
Thank you

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lougle · 10/06/2013 22:18

Oh good! I'm so glad. Feel free to click on the link to the Special Needs bit - that's the thread where we're discussing our progress on it.

Your DS doesn't actually have to have SN for you to join in with the thread -we'll take any old riff raff there Grin

Daisyfield · 10/06/2013 22:24

This riff raff might need to be over there! We have a few issues that I have probably been trying to ignore but things are becoming more obvious with Ds both academically and in other areas.

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lougle · 10/06/2013 22:39

Ahh, you won't be alone there Smile Come on over.

FeeFoo · 10/06/2013 22:51

My son absolutely loved 'The Spiderwick Chronicles.' Definitely worth a read. Someone mentioned earlier, that maybe you could read and then both discuss. I think this seems like a good idea. Alternatively, he could read a paragraph each page and you read the rest. Good luck with the reading, sounds like you're doing a good job! Once he gets his confidence up, he'll be flyingGrin

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