Supporting Emergent Readers
Another strategy that could be to support emergent readers is the strategy of predicting what is going to happen next. When the students have the ability to tell you what they think is going to happen, it encourages them to listen to the story to whether or not they are right. In "I Went Walking, by Sue Williams, students love to hear this story and they can try to predict what animal will be coming next. This is one of those stories that can not only be interactive for Orlando, but can help him with his ability to comprehend the story because it gives him the power to have a voice. If students feel like they are part of the solution, they are more likely to understand what is being read to them.
Have students summarize what was just read to them is another strategy that can be used to help support emergent readers. Small little parts of a paragraph can help the student feel like they understand what is being read to them. When there is too much information given to the child at one time, they are less likely to comprehend. One of the books that would be good for this strategy is "The Cat In The Hat". This story can be broken up into sections so that it's easier for the reader to comprehend what is being read to them. Reading the whole book at one time may just set students, like Orlando, up for failure. But if you read this book in sections, and have the students summarize what has gone on in the story section by section, the students will be able to comprehend what is happening in the story.
The retelling of a story to me is one of the most effective ways that I would help support Orlando in his comprehension difficulties. Orlando is an active, happy student and have him interact in a story would be the best way to support his comprehension. Student theater is one way to implement this and it is one way I encourage comprehension in my classroom. Many of the students in my preschool class have trouble comprehending the simplest stories I read to them, but I have notices if I get them involved in retelling the story or acting out the story, the story becomes real to them, which in turn helps with comprehension. A couple of the stories I would use for this would be either "Little Red Riding Hood" or "The Three Billy Goats Gruff". Which each of these stories you have the main characters which can all be used to act out the story. Based on the time and materials you can give the students props or you can just have them. act out the story. Making the props for the each story can also help with comprehension because not only are they acting out the story but they have props to go with them.
Using graphic organizers can help teach Orlando to organize his thoughts so that he can comprehend the story that is being read to him. By putting the title of the story in the center he can center his thoughts around that. We can right down the characters in the story which will help him with either retelling or acting out the story. The setting of the story will help him visualize where it the story takes place and having the problem spelled out for him and putting the solution down on paper will help with reading comprehension.
As educators, we have to remember that no all students learn the same and it is our job to differentiate our instruction so that we can reach as many students as we can. Using different strategies to create one outcome is what should be effective in teaching young students. All students learn differently and we have to find out what works in our classroom each year based on students learning styles.
