Comprehension Strategies

Students with SLD

• Aptitude achievement discrepancy

• SLD can cause a person to have trouble learning and using certain skills. – most often affected are: reading,

writing, listening, speaking, reasoning, and doing math.

• Limited time for intervention prior to graduation or dropping out (Faggella-Lubby & Deschler, 2008)

Students with Learning Disabilities

Luisa• NAEP (national assessment

of educational progress) findings: – 26% eight grade students c/n

read for daily living– 68% secondary student below

proficiency (McCardle & Chhabra, 2004).

• Reading primary area disability is manifested

• Years of failure– motivation

• Limited decoding skills• At risk because of

underachievement

Greatest Hurdle

• Good readers like to read..

• Poor or struggling readers have years of failure…likely to give up earlier….must increase time on task so they can “fall into” or engage

Engagement• Vocabulary instruction

improves students comprehension– Direct– Computer-assisted– Keep word banks

• Domain knowledge– Retention is critical– Assume greater

knowledge than have

Write down everything you know about Civil War (6th and 7th)

Motivation increases when students play active role (Vaughn et al., 2000)

• Self-monitoring– Did I understand this?

• Self-questioning?– How does this relate to

• Summarizing– I have learned

• Written questions– Teacher made

• Provide alternate modes for answering

Cooperative Learning

• Several research studies have demonstrated the benefits of cooperative learning (e.g., Gersten et al, 2001).– Mixed group – accountability

Instructional Pedagogy

• Primary Elements (Swanson, 1999)– Daily review of previously

covered material– Teacher statement of

objectives– Presentation of new

material– Teacher guided students

practice– Independent practice– evaluation

Simple Suggestions

Self-Adjustable Eyeglass Lenses“In developed countries, getting glasses is a simple matter: Visit an optometrist, get a prescription and have it filled at a corner store. Not so in the developing, world, where…

Self-adjustable Eyeglass Lenses

• Visual– More than 7 letters

• domain knowledge or concept

• Receptive language– Have greater receptive

vocabulary than reading one

“In developed countries, getting glasses is a simple matter: Visit an optometrist, get a prescription and have it filled at a corner store. Not so in the developing, world, where…