Reading Strategies

1. Shared Reading Project from Gallaudet University. I know we talked about this strategy in the beginning of the school year but I loved it and wanted to talk about it again. In SRP a deaf tutor visits a home one time a week and teaches parents how to sign a children's story book. The tutor leaves a packet which includes a book, dvd, tips, and a guide with activities. This program is designed for individuals who are deaf so there is no changes to be made. This program promotes language and literacy but is expensive.

2. Reading A to Z. This website (readinga-z.com) is amazing! It has books at all different reading levels and then has lesson plans and activities you can use in your classroom. I use this site all the time at my placement. The activities help students learn to blend sounds which can help them when they are reading and get to a hard word. Also there is comprehension checks and various activities that you can do with your students. The only down side is you do have to pay but I think it is worth it and I want to use this site in my future classroom.

3. Predict. This is a great strategy that is free to use! Have your students predict what they think the book might be about before you begin reading or what is going to happen next while you are reading. This gets the students excited to read and what to continue. This strategy is easy to do and can easily be modified for any student.

4. Comprehension Check. This strategy can be completed in two ways: with the use of a worksheet or just asking questions to the student. This is a great way to assess if the student was understanding the story. I do this is the classroom right now. I use a worksheet so I can use it as a grade. I then know if the student understood the story or if the story was too difficult for them to understand.

5. Retell. In this strategy you have the student retell the story without the use of the book. This will tell you if the student remembers and it helps the student recall as well. I use this is the classroom too. We will ask the student to tell us what the book was about and take notes. Then the student can use the book and tell us more details while they look at the pictures. It helps the student refresh their memory as we continue the story throughout the week.