May 28, 2015


A Struggling Reader

We went to the school again today. This time we had a lesson prepared. Unfortunately, when we got there plans had changed. Although in the end everything worked out, we were confused about what we were to do. The students were working on their reading skills with workbooks. The teacher had us divide among the students to help them read and answer comprehension questions. The catch though was that their work was all in Spanish. I was given the opportunity to work with a student who did not know how to read and he was eight years old. He would sound out each letter of a word without putting the letters all together. I noticed that on some words he would chunk letters to try and read the word. This tells me that he is still in the beginning stages of reading. Also, sometimes he would lose his place in the reading and skip to a line that he had already read but he never realized that he had already read it. This tells me that he is not comprehending what he is reading. He needed frequent breaks and looked up at me for approval often. I did not observe that this student was given any extra support in class. He acts out in class as well. I assume this is because the work is too hard for him but the teacher does nothing. After analyzing his reading behavior, I think I have a better understanding where he is at academically. If I were his teacher, then I would use this data to come up with instruction that meets his particular needs. No matter if the student is English speaking or Spanish speaking the signs of a struggling reader are the same.

On a more positive note, I love my family. My tica sisters asked to do my hair tonight. It was so much fun getting to know them better. Even though it is hard to communicate, I can read their personalities by their body language. 

My buddy :)

 

My Tica Sister