A Response to Learning from Text

After reading Learning from Text by Dave Edyburn, one thing that really struck me what a quote on page 16.  “For most literate individuals, the challenges of struggling readers are incompressible.” (Edynburn, 2003).  As an avid reader since age 4, I do find it hard to realize the struggles of my young readers.  It has been a real learning process for me, supporting them during time to practice, or independent reading.  I have come to the conclusion that other supports need to be in place for students during independent reading to help support their love and attention to the task, no matter their age.  Some of things that I have done in my younger elementary classroom in the past are games with matching beginning and ending sounds, letter recognition activities, Hearbuilder and other supports for reading, like for example Tumblebooks, RazKids or Starfall.  Without these supports I have found that struggling students start to act out during reading, disengage and eventually hate the task of reading.

The balance between remediation and compensation strategies can be a fine balance, as Edyburn notes on page 18.  In my opinion it is important to put in place compensatory strategies for struggling readers at times when reading the text would not be possible without these strategies.  For example, as a Grade 4 teacher, it can be hard to find materials that are appropriate during other subjects, like Science and Social Studies, due to the large shift around Grade 3-4 from learning to read to reading to learn.  With the use of an iPad, students can use programs like ReadIris to support them when reading textbooks or other materials like detailed Science experiments.  Also, there are a variety of interactive textbooks and subject related books, which allow access for all learners.  These compensatory strategies allow accessibility for all students, when reading is not the main target, Science outcomes are. 

Using remediation strategies is important during instructional time, when the main focus of the lesson is in fact reading.  At this time there are a number of apps that students can use to help them develop the reading skills that they are lacking.  These remediation strategies are extremely important to the development of struggling readers during independent reading time, because without them many students become disengaged and unmotivated.  I think that as soon as it is obvious that you have a struggling reader, these alternate remediation strategies should be put in place.  A link to some examples of some great remediation apps is listed in my previous blog post. 

“Historically, the need for assistive technology has been demonstrated with the rationale that there simply is no other way to complete the task.” (Edynburg, pg. 19).  I think that the most important word in this quote is historically.  As the capabilities of assistive technology continue to develop, it is important that we stop considering it as simply a “crutch” and begin to focus on how it can be used as a teaching tool which can support student learning.  Without both compensatory and remediation strategies, many students begin to drown in their own struggles and often become disengaged with the task of reading by the time they are hitting middle elementary.  As educators, we need to focus on allowing them opportunities to feel successful and engaged using whatever modes possible, including technology and apps that were developed for these purposes. 

A link to the article can be found here.