[MOSAIC] Technology and Reader's Workshop

[Dave Middlebrook]

Hello Mary Beth,

Have you tried scrolls and textmapping with them?  I originally developed 
these methods for LD students -- and my first work in this area was with 
middle school students who were reading way below grade level.  I found that 
these students responded particularly well to scrolls.  They liked being 
able to see the whole text at one time.  Rather than getting bogged down by 
decoding problems, they were able to stand back a bit and think about the 
text as a whole.  They could then selectively zoom back down to the word 
level -- dropping down here and there to struggle with the words only after 
they had gleaned a foundation of information that could be used to help with 
the decoding.  They found this liberating since they were able to engage in 
comprehension at their thinking level, rather than being forced to work with 
texts that were intellectually less challenging and written at a much lower 
grade level that matched their decoding skills.  This had a feedback effect. 
With higher interest came more motivation; with more motivation came more 
progress on decoding; with more progress on decoding came more interest in 
reading.  The result was that while these kids still had (and will always 
have) learning disabilities, they did learn how to circumvent their 
weaknesses and instead use their strengths -- their visual, spatial, 
tactile, and kinaesthetic abilities -- to engage with and comprehend text.

It's a decidely low tech approach, but it is highly interactive and does 
give struggling readers a chance to read more demanding texts.  It also 
costs significantly less than high tech solutions -- all you need is access 
to a copier, tape or glue stick, and some colored markers.  If you try it, 
please let me know how it works for your students.  Don't hesitate to 
contact me off list if you have questions about implementation.

Best of luck to you and your students,

Dave Middlebrook
The Textmapping Project
A resource for teachers improving reading comprehension skills instruction.
www.textmapping.org   |   Please share this site with your colleagues!
USA: (609) 771-1781
dmiddlebrook at textmapping.org

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "LOOSE MARY BETH" <M.LOOSE at oakcreek.k12.wi.us>
To: "Mosaic: A Reading Comprehension Strategies Listserv" 
<mosaic at literacyworkshop.org>
Sent: Wednesday, December 13, 2006 9:15 AM
Subject: Re: [MOSAIC] Technology and Reader's Workshop


>I have a related question for the group...have any of you come across 
>worthwhile websites for interactive reading for middle school students 
>reading way below grade level (at first-third grade levels)?  It's hard to 
>find something a little more sophisticated, but yet matches their reading 
>level.  Any ideas?
> Thanks,
> Mary Loose