National Institute for Literacy - Assessment Strategies & Reading Profiles - Suggestions for Instruction: Profile 9 - Low Intermediate Group: "LOW EVEN PERFORMANCE"

Reading components work together. Increasing skill on any component affects skill on the others.^RR

We know that if a Native Speaker of English (NSE) born in the U.S. is in the ABE system and is reading between GE 3-5, he/she is probably reading or learning disabled. Thirty-two percent of Profile 9 NSE received academic assistance in K-12.

The main suggestion for teachers of Profile 9 readers is to realize that the Non-native Speakers of English (NNSE) will probably learn more easily and faster than the NSE, who have had years of reading problems. All will need a systematic presentation of phonological components of reading from phonemic awareness to spelling rules, but the NSE will need a great deal more repetition, practice, and individual attention. If your center is able to divide this group into NSE and NNSE classes, it would be easier to be effective in teaching each language group.

Word Recognition:

Phonemic Awareness (PA) - (sounds of letters):
- Any kind of practice that involves only the sounds of letters--not the letters themselves--will help focus learners' attention to "sounding out" a word before spelling it. Give them a PA assessment, such as the Test of Auditory Analysis Skills (TAAS) (5 minutes per learner) to see where their mastery of consonant deletion gets shaky. Five minutes of a PA game (see the Spelling page in the Mini-Course) before you start a spelling lesson will prompt the learners to listen to and manipulate sounds before they put symbols to the sounds in the lesson itself.

Phonological Awareness:
- To find out just which letter combinations and syllable forms that a learner has not mastered, you can administer a simple word attack assessment. It will save instructional time in that you will be able to zero in on just those phonic elements that are holding up a learner's progress.

Spelling:

Have your learners mastered these prerequisite skills to accurate decoding (reading) and encoding (spelling):
1. Do they know the names and sounds of the consonants with automaticity?
2. Do they know the names and the long and short sounds of the vowels with automaticity?
3. Do they know the principles of open and closed syllables?
4. Do they understand segmentation/chunking practices?
If you know they have not mastered the above skills to the point of being able to apply them when they begin to spell a word, teach through the sequence, even beginning with sounds of the consonants.

Visual Memory:
- We did not assess visual memory and it may very well be that these readers, especially the NSE, are not very good at remembering sequences of letters and syllables. You can assess visual memory by giving the class a trial lesson in recognizing and spelling an irregular word, e.g., laugh, language, half. Teach them at the beginning of a class and see if they are able to read or spell them at the close of class. Are they able to remember them at the next class session? It's of value to know about the learners' visual memory aptitude because we have to use visual memory to read and spell irregular word families.
  
  On the other hand, dependence on memory to read and spell phonetically regular words leads to a limited reading vocabulary because there is a limit to how fast and how many words can be retained in memory.

Word Meaning (Vocabulary):

Even as they become able to read text at a higher level, you cannot trust their vocabulary learning to getting word meanings from context. They will need direct teaching by seeing a word in several contexts and expressing its meaning both orally and in writing.
Only a fifth of the group (21%) scored as high as "low average" on the WAIS information subtest. They have limited information of the kind that is taught in middle school and high school. Teaching new concepts and information will automatically involve teaching unfamiliar words.
As often as possible, select vocabulary words that are also appropriate for the word recognition and/or spelling skills you are teaching. There will be a reciprocal reinforcement of all three components of silent reading comprehension.

For more information on strategies for instruction and supporting research, please read the sections in the Mini-Course on Word Recognition and Word Meaning.

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Browse Profile 9: "LOW EVEN PERFORMANCE"Low Intermediate Group - Silent Reading GE 3-5

Suggestions for Instruction for Profile 9 Learners

Browse Profile 9: "LOW EVEN PERFORMANCE"
Low Intermediate Group - Silent Reading GE 3-5