Problem: for Five Years, I Have Taught Reading to Deaf Students

Reading One Size Does Not Fit All

Problem:

I have been teaching students with multiple handicaps for six years now. The one consistent problem I have run up against is teaching my students to read more than single words. Most mentally challenged students are either only taught word recognition skills or people assume they will never be able to read and don’t teach them anything. There are many books on the market about using one reading approach or another as if one size fits all. So I continued to search and the following is what I have found to work.

Solution:

A couple of years ago I went to a summer workshop on Guided Reading. While again this was not one size fits all I did discover that may of these techniques were easily modified to fit my students’ varying needs. This year I began to have guided reading and guided writing with my students at least once a week. While I do not consider that enough time it was at least a beginning. I started using the leveled readers from the “Reading A-Z” website. I would take those books and adapt them for some of my students by paring picture communication symbols with the words in each sentence. Most of my students were very familiar with these pictures and were then able to read these small books semi independently. This gave them a tremendous boost. Later we were able to remove some or all of the pictures and they could then read their books and be successful For guided writing my students and I would write each week about a recent experience. Each Wednesday we would to on a fieldtrip and while on the trip we would take digital pictures. After printing the pictures I would have the students pick one or two pictures. We would use the pictures as illustrations for our stories. I would then have the students explain to me what was in the pictures and together we would write it. Still later we would type them and make a book that they were able to read, if not word for word at least they could tell the story using the illustrations. Impact:

After a lot of practice my students are all able to read at least a few words and are able to tell someone else about and event in their life. I plan to continue to practice guided reading and writing next year. Having just used it a few times this year if nothing else my kids consider themselves readers and that’s a big step forward in my book. Contact: [email protected]