Friday, August 28, 2009

4 Kinds of Secondary (any level?) Reader (learner?)

This is from Teaching Reading in the Middle School by Laura Robb

There are 4 kinds of Secondary Readers:
  1. Struggling reader - This student avoids reading; s/he is often disfluent - meaning s/he reads word by word; s/he has a limited vocabulary due to a lack of reading. The goal is to teach word attack strategies and build prior knowledge for reading materials.
  2. Reluctant reader - This student does not enjoy books - and never has. The goal is to find books that create personal connections. We should strive to find THAT book that turns this reluctant reader into a reader. The goal is to hear, "I couldn't put it down!" Think outside the usual genre with this reader!
  3. Grade Level Reader - This student reads at grade level, but s/he is often balancing many different interests. Sports, school work, social life issues may take the place of reading. The goal for this read is to read more and continue to increase vocabulary. We don't want good reading strategies to allow vocabulary to stalemate.
  4. Proficient Reader - This student understands and uses a lot of reading strategies. Goals for this reader are to think more deeply about mood, tone and theme. Deeper, more meaningful connections are also important to keeping him/her interested.

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