Dear Ruth,

I am a rather inexperienced teacher of an 8th grade reading class. Last week I came across a student who reads on a second to third grade level. He makes predictions about words and is almost always wrong. For instance, when given the word 'upstairs' he would read 'upsized.' With the exception of reading, he has tested into the gifted classes at school.

Other professionals I have questioned attribute his odd reading behavior to the fact that his parents speak another language. I have a real problem with this explanation and I feel that there is something more at stake here.  Am I making a big deal out of nothing?

J.G.

Dear J.G.,

A wide gap between reading ability and other skills is certainly a big deal. You notice that your student predicts odd words which, presumably, do not fit the context. Sometimes students have struggled for so long that they do not expect their reading to make actual sense! Now, since reading is fundamentally a process of making sense out of written words, this may be a good place to start.

How can we help students to expect the words they read to make sense? One way is to have them read their own words. Write down something they have said--be the 'secretary'--and read it back to them. Have them read it back to you, prompting as much as you need to in order to keep their reading flowing. Write down their comments, narratives, jokes. Add to the collection day by day, and review frequently. They understand that they made sense when they spoke the words. If you spend some time with this kind of successful, accurate practice, students will come to expect that their reading will make sense as well.

Best Wishes,
Ruth Alice Jurey, M.S.
Speech/Language Pathologist