| Strategy & Rationale |
How to Use It |
More Resources |
Neurological Impress Method (NIM)
Using the Neurological Impress Method, the student hears a fluent reader model appropriate rate and phrasing while viewing and reading a text. Using this method you will probably see a great increase in your child's ability to read fluently. If a student reads at the 1st-grade level, s/he might be expected to be reading materials at the 3rd-grade level after an accumulated total of 2 hours and that after an accumulated total of 6 hours, the student might be reading materials at the 5th- or 6th-grade level of difficulty. One of the reasons for the tremendous success that students often experience with the neurological-impress method is that the student is exposed to many words, many times, in a relatively short period of time. For example, a student reading for a period of approximately 15 minutes may be exposed to from 1,000 to 2,000 words.
From Everett Public Schools
|
1. Sit your child slightly in front of you, so you can point to the material he/she is reading and so you can read directly into his/her ear.
2. Begin reading material that is easy. As you continue to work, you can increase the level of difficulty of the material.
3. Tell your child that you are going to read the material and that s/he is to read along with you as you point to the words. Then begin to read at a slightly slower pace than normal rate for you. While reading, be sure to point to each word as it is read. This part of the procedure is extremely important. Your child may complain, at first that s/he is unable to keep up with you. This should not, however, keep you from using the procedure.
4. As you work with your child, you are likely to notice a sharp improvement in ability to read. Begin to increase your rate of reading as his/her reading improves.
5. Read for periods of 5 to 15 minutes two to four times per day. |
Watch these videos to see how it is done:
|
|
Readers Theater helps to….
develop fluency through repeated exposure to text.
increase comprehension.
integrate reading, writing, speaking, listening in an authentic context.
engage students.
increase reading motivation.
create confidence and improve the self-image of students.
provide a real purpose for reading.
provide opportunities for cooperative learning.
|
This can be done with your child or with the whole family! Select a read-aloud piece from the links to the right. Print it out, distribute it among those reading, then practice and perform the piece similar to a stage show, without all the props, acting and such (though you certainly may do that as well!) The focus is on performing the text, not simply reading it. |
|
|
Partner Reading
Reading with your child helps them to hear how a fluent reader reads the text, emphasizing key parts and creating meaning. Despite creating more engagement with the text, this method also exposes the students to a wider range of words more quickly than he/she would do on his/her own. When the student gets stuck, you are there to help them decode difficult words or fix up their comprehension.
|
Sit elbow to elbow, knee to knee (EEKK) with your child, both looking on the same text. You can take turns reading paragraph to paragraph, page to page. Resist the urge to overcorrect - if it becomes too laborious, your child will not want to read with you in the future. When the child comes across a word he/she has difficultly with, give them a few seconds to sound it out. If needed, have them cover parts of the word until they are able to fully decode the word. |
|
|
Repeated Reading
(what we call Fluency Practice in class)
Reading the same text over and over again helps the student to see the words in phrases instead of individual chunks, similar to seeing words as words instead of individual letters.
|
1. Have your child read the text aloud. You may or may not choose to time or grade them on rate, expression, or phrasing.
2. Read the text aloud to or with your child to ensure proper pronunciation.
3. Have your child practice the text on their own in many different ways: fast, slow, high voice, low voice, tons of expression, monotonous, whatever way you or he/she can think of that would be fun.
4. After multiple practices, have your child read you the text again. You should see improvement from the original reading.
|
The school library has a program called One Minute Reader that's a formal version of this strategy. See me to learn how to use this resource. |
|
Books "On Tape"
Hearing books read aloud by fluent readers models advanced expression, phrasing, and rate. It also exposes students to a greater amount of words in a shorter time. Similar to NIM or Partner Reading, it helps to impress upon students sight-word recognition for more difficult but commonly used words. For the struggling reader, sometimes it's easier for them to tune in to a book when read aloud to them, helping them to progress more easily through their books.
|
Read-alouds are widely available at our local library through CD check out, though many now have a vast collection available for download. Smartphones or iPods have streaming apps such as OneClickDigital that allow for up to a three-week checkout with unlimited renewals.
Mr. Dersom has a handful of inexpensive MP3 players available for student check-out, along with a few popular titles all ready to go.
|
|
