REV UP!
I had just begun reading with 17 Intermediate aged students (11 & 12 year olds) using the ‘Quick 60’ resource REV UP in Term One when a family member experienced an injury that meant I was only able to fulfil some of my already part-time teaching role for the rest of that term! Because of this, this intervention has only been implemented since the beginning of this term. (term 2)These students come to me for 30 - 40 minute sessions, 3 times a week and mostly at a time that is outside their usual Literacy class time.
December - Summary & Conclusion
All these students had reading ages between 7.5 and 9 years at the end of 2017.The reading cards in this programme are in 3 parts, of approximately 100 words each. We mainly used the non-fiction texts.
How the programme works:
- The students listen to the first passage being read.
- They identify unknown vocabulary & concepts which are then unpacked and discussed.
- The students practise reading the passage with the goal of being able to read it fluently and accurately in 60 seconds or less.
- Each students reads the passage and is timed while doing so, and records the time and errors (if any) on the provided sheet. The group gives feedback about fluency.
- When a passage has been mastered, they move onto the next one using the same structure.
- At the end of each reading card there are questions to check comprehension of the text.
Almost all the students were very engaged by the programme and the texts which were carefully levelled to be of high interest and age appropriate despite being at a lower reading level. Some of the students’ attendance in the groups was sporadic and this was probably the main reason for their lack of progress.
After working with struggling readers in this age group for some years now, a few patterns have become more obvious:
- It’s difficult to break through the 8.5 - 9 year reading age threshold
- While it can appear that progress is being made while working in a supportive group, many of these students don’t test well
- Vocabulary knowledge is very weak, affecting comprehension
