3rd Grader Struggles to Read!
Okay, who doesn’t love new books!? Fun, shiny, pictures, on a topic in which your child is interested? A favourite cartoon character, farm-themed, books about pets, cooking for kids, so many fantastic books! Surely, these books will draw your beginning or struggling reader inside to actually read the text. But, will buying new books actually help your 3rd grader who struggles to read? If you’re wondering the same thing I am, then read on!
You know the weight you feel as a parent when your 3rd grader struggles to read. When she struggles to accomplish a task that is challenging. You worry if it’s too hard for them. You kick yourself for thinking you should have done more to support them. You feel guilt about perhaps not having the time or tools so support them in the ways that would have actually helped. You feel like your son or daughter’s frustrated outbursts are your fault.
If we’re talking about a core academic life skill, such as reading or mathematics, you begin to worry. You don’t know exactly what your child needs, or how to help him, so, in a desperate attempt to help your child read, you purchase more books. Surely, he’ll be interested in reading these books! You’ve got to try something! Before you buy, let’s chat for just a moment.
When Your 3rd Grader Struggles to Read
Yes, buying new books can help you teach your child to read. BUT, they need to be the right books! What do I mean by the right books? When your 3rd grader struggles to read, you need to purchase books that reinforce a specific phonics skill in a phonics lesson. These books should be phonics-based. The book should list the specific phonics skill your child will apply to read text inside the book.
For example, does the book cover reading CVC words using the letters a, m, s and t. Does the book include consonant blends at the beginning of a word. Does the book have plural words with the added ‘s’ sound at the end? Does the book focus on having your child read a specific short vowel sound? Does the book contain simple digraphs like ‘sh’, ‘ch’ and ‘th’ voiced and unvoiced? If the book has long vowel teams with various long vowel team spellings, you wouldn’t ask your child to read this as part of a phonics lesson.
Expect your 3rd grader who is struggling to read to successfully read only the books including phonics skills you have directly modeled and had them practice with you. Reading is easier when you know how. So, let’s put our child on a simple path to reading during phonics lesson, by asking them to read short, decodable texts that only have the sight word or sight words they’ve learned so far, as well as being expected to apply on the phonics skills they’ve learned so far to read the words on the page.
In short, your child should be able to read every single words in a short story or text at the end of a phonics lesson, because, you are asking your child to directly apply his/her knowledge of sound-symbol relationships you have modeled for her so far, along with any sight words, sometimes called heart words, that she is committing to memory.
If your child is expected to read simple texts on a page that include decoding words with phonics skills she hasn’t yet learned, this will yield frustration for both you and your child. So, in the context of supporting your child to experience success as a young reader during phonics lessons, use decodable texts include only phonics skills you have modeled, and practiced with your child to date.
Before expecting your child to read the whole book, (for teaching purposes during phonics lessons at home), ask yourself, “Have I taught my child this sound-symbol relationship using correct modeling and practice? Have I led my child through highly effective phonics reinforcement activities during our phonics lesson, such as word chains?
Has she had success applying this sound-symbol relationship in isolation to one word at a time using word chains before asking her to apply this phonics skill to read a new text on a page? This is where the magic happens. Your child is reading. It feels like magic. It feels like excitement when your child can read simple words on a page. But you know how it started? With a phonics skill correctly modeled and practiced.
What about all the other books that are not dedicated to one specific phonics skill? Is it worth spending money on these books too? Of course! When your 3rd grader struggles to read, these books can be read with your child for enjoyment, bedtime stories, etc… A book about farm equipment or a child’s bedtime devotional is not only going to include certain phonics skills. Of course not! These books are vital for building vocabular.
The National Reading Panel came up with the following 5 pillars of reading for beginning readers which are: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. When your child has exposure to low-frequency words, which means words that aren’t commonly used in everyday speech or reading, you are helping him build vocabulary, which is so important for reading comprehension. If you don’t understand what a word means, then how do you understand the text around it?
Your struggling 3rd grade reader should also be reading texts not exclusively meant for phonics instruction, you are supporting your child to Increase her vocabulary skills, which increase your child’ ability to orally communicate and comprehend the meaning of texts she reads. In addition to phonemic awareness and phonics, you are helping her set up this 3rd pillar, vocabulary, to set her on a path to reading success.
