3 Misconceptions of Struggling Readers

posted in: KS2 Literacy, Post-16 & Adult Literacy, Secondary literacy |

Lacking an MRI scanner, I have to depend on intuition (ie mind reading) when trying to figure out what’s going on inside the brain of a struggling reader. Following are a few of the more common misconceptions that struggling readers live with but never vocalise unless asked. When my son was four, someone asked him is he was going to go ice-skating. He replied, “First I’m going to get my balance, then I’m going to start skating.” He didn’t understand … Read More

Llywio Darllen – TRT in Wales

posted in: Secondary literacy |

We’ve finally finished adapting and trialling Llywio Darllen, the Welsh adaptation of ThatReadingThing. It doesn’t translate directly into English but roughly means “being steered into reading”. The Year 6 pupils in Cardiff had eight hours of LLywio Darllen over two weeks and made substantial progress in both reading and spelling. Many thanks to Eirian Lloyd Jones and the Welsh Dyslexia Project/ Prosiect Dyslecsia Cymru for all their hard work and support. If you’re interested in Llywio Darllen please get in … Read More

Evidence 4 ~ One Story

posted in: Evidence, Secondary literacy |

One particular line of numbers caught my attention. F 13 05:11 06:05 00:06 5 hrs continuing White British truancy It’s the “Data Story” of a thirteen year old white British girl with truancy issues who struggles with reading and agreed to start meeting with a ThatReadingThing tutor.  I’m going to call her Amber. At their first session, her reading age was 5 years and 11 months which is what we would expect of a child at some point in Year … Read More

Evidence 3 ~ A Second Look

posted in: Evidence, Secondary literacy |

Here is the same data with a few extra details.  Here are the things I notice: Those with the greatest gains, started with a reading age of 8 or so One of the girls made a 2 year gain in one week.  I would assume that her spelling age is now well behind her reading age. Of the three with the smallest gains, one has English as an additional language and a head injury, one is very new to the … Read More

Evidence 2 ~ Another Project

posted in: Evidence, Secondary literacy |

These numbers come from an inner city volunteer literacy project.   The reading ages were measured using the Burt Reading Assessment which is available free from here. I’ll add more details about the learners as I get them.  It will be interesting to see who has statemented learning needs, who speaks English as an additional language and who has particular behaviour problems. (Or all three.) A huge thank you to all the tutors and young people for their hard work! Sex … Read More

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