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Author Topic: 6th Grade students who can't read  (Read 465 times)

Eribee

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6th Grade students who can't read
« on: May 27, 2010, 12:05:32 pm »
Hi Everyone

I have 3 students in my 6th Grade class who can't read English. I'm a little worried about them but feel like there is nothing I can do to help them because I have to get the class through the curriculum and it would waste the other 10 students' time to learn the alphabet. I have the same situation with a few 5th Grade students too.

2 of the students have special needs and I don't know if they get any support for English in their special classes. I don't think they do.

Does anyone know if students are supposed to be able to read English by the time they reach Middle School? I work in a small elementary school and am the only English teacher, my co-teachers are all home-room teachers so they don't have time to teach the children who are falling behind. I don't want to create a problem for the English teachers at the middle school either though.

Does anyone have any ideas for addressing this if it is a problem?

Thanks!
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BBetz1985

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Re: 6th Grade students who can't read
« Reply #1 on: May 27, 2010, 12:59:22 pm »
I think your best bet would be to ask the students and their homeroom teachers if they are interested in having extra help sessions during your lunch break or after school. I realize that your break time may be the only chance you have during the day to unwind, but I have taken 15 minutes out of it for a similar group of students (although not for falling behind, for discipline purposes) and have had a lot of success.

Food for thought.
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thesmittyguy

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Re: 6th Grade students who can't read
« Reply #2 on: May 27, 2010, 04:17:07 pm »

I do an after school class every Monday and Friday for 1hr.  I just teach basic phonics and other sounds.  It seems to be helping as a few students are now able to understand the basic sounds and how they come together to form the different vocab they are learning.

To be honest I have about 10 kids in all my classes that have no idea how to read the English language.    In my school they were never taught how to read, they were only taught how to listen and repeat.   
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complex303

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Re: 6th Grade students who can't read
« Reply #3 on: May 27, 2010, 04:40:29 pm »
I have a 'green' class that has 5th graders that can't read.  They've all got learning problems, mostly ADD and dyslexia.  They have trouble focusing on phonics videos and worksheets.  So I don't even bother with those... Instead we play an alphabet/phonics game for 20 minutes.  I say a letter or sound and whoever can write it down first (on a piece of paper, or better yet, on the whiteboard), gets one point. 

One day during break time, two of my green students wanted to play the alphabet game.  Other students wanted to join in, so I changed the rules so that the higher-level students had to write in cursive. 
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Eribee

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Re: 6th Grade students who can't read
« Reply #4 on: May 28, 2010, 02:15:48 pm »
Thanks for the ideas! I appreciate the input.

I will suggest my co-teacher builds in time in the schedule for the next native teacher to do extra, mixed classes focusing on reading and writing.

Unfortunately I have 21 different classes to teach each week (there is only one class per grade so I can't repeat anything) so I need all the additional time I can get to plan those lessons.

It's such a shame though, I really worry about those children once they hit middle school. I don't know how they've just sort of drifted through the system to end up not even knowing the alphabet after at least 4 years of English lessons!
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jehall

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Re: 6th Grade students who can't read
« Reply #5 on: May 28, 2010, 03:52:43 pm »
Yeah, I have similar problems. I teach a special class to grade 5 and 6 students who failed their English tests and more than half of them refuse to say anything in English. Not even, "Hello." Unfortunately, every grade of every subject will have the occasional student who has "drifted" through the system. If you're situation is like mine, the best I think you can do is to teach them phonics. If they can leave you knowing the sound of each letter on sight, then you've accomplished something.
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Eribee

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Re: 6th Grade students who can't read
« Reply #6 on: May 31, 2010, 09:07:04 am »
Thanks for the reassurance. I will try to get them to learn the sounds of the letters at least. I was so shocked that my Grade 5 students didn't even know those!

Good luck with those kids who refuse to even say Hello!
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