Beers, Kylene (2003)
When Kids Can't Read--What Teachers Can Do: A Guide for Teachers 6-12.
Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Facing the terrible dilemma as a first year middle-school teacher not knowing how to answer a parent when he asked, "Why can't my son read and what are you going to do to help him?" Kylene Beers drew a blank. Embarrassed by the situation which occurred over two decades ago she became determined to find out "what to do" about students who can't read.
Today Beers teaches reading and English methods classes at the University of Houston. In this paperback she outlines what teachers can do to help youngsters who can't read. Beers explains that the reason an older student can't read can be rather complex. He may have comprehension, vocabulary, word recognition and fluency, or spelling problems. Or, the individual may just need help in responding to literature and finding books that are of interest. Obviously a person having trouble reading might be having difficulty in a combination of these potential trouble areas.
Beers provides concrete information on how to deal with all of these areas of concern. Practical strategies and suggestions on how to improve students' skills and help them overcome reading difficulties are explained in each of the 15 chapters. The topics covered include assessing dependent readers' needs, instruction in comprehension, learning to make an inference, constructing meaning, developing vocabulary and fluency, and improving word recognition.
Classroom tested techniques are clearly explained and supported with student transcripts and some reproducible material. Enough suggestions for dealing with a given problem are provided so that if one thing doesn't work or seem appropriate, another strategy can be tried. The extensive appendices offer a range of material such as templates for capturing questions about a text as a student reads or investigating word meanings. Useful lists of roots, Fry and Dolch words, spelling rules, and book titles based on subject matter will also be found at the back of the book.
Certainly there is no quick fix when it comes to helping a struggling
adolescent overcome a reading problem. Beers does provide a way of
diagnosing the situation, though, and she also suggests concrete remedies.
For example, what should one do if a student stumbles through many words or
decodes the first few letters or first syllable of a multisyllable word and
then makes up the rest or gives up? Turn to the book's back cover for a
list of potential student problems and the course of action that one might
wish to follow. There one it directed to the chapters on word recognition,
spelling and fluency to devise a way of helping the youngster. Anyone not
trained as a reading specialist will find this volume extremely helpful.
