Speed Reading for Students of English as a Second LanguageA Middle School Reading Pilot Program Imagine you can read but its such a struggle you loose the meaning of the words. Then imagine after reading for over 30 minutes you just dont understand what you read. The students we just finished working with at a Florida middle school didnt need to imagine. They were struggling with every page they read. The question on our minds was, "Can children needing remedial reading benefit from a speed reading program. After all, the students in question were considered "slow." They were stuck and their teachers frustrated. We wanted to give this new idea a try. It took several attempts to create a schedule that allowed students to use the speed reading program at least 3 times a week for 30 minutes. We knew the pilot program would not last long and negotiated 12 sessions each for each child. The sessions were sporadic but the students seemed to enjoy reading the stories and taking the test on the computer. We just finished the speed reading pilot program. The program focused on students with difficulty reading and comprehending. The students were also second language speakers. In most cases English is not their first language. The students were children of migrant farm workers. What that means is that they move around the country going from school to school while their parents pick fruit to make a living. The sample of students we worked with was small. The results however were eye opening. Here are the highlights of the pilot study: = 5 migrant students reading at a remedial level (remedial is 100 words per minute or less/the average reading speed is 250-300 words per
minute) How did they do it? The five students used a speed reading computer software program called AceReader. After using the program 12 times they increased their reading speed and in some cases their comprehension. The speed reading program paced them. It began by starting the students at their remedial level then slowly moving them forward at a comfortable pace. As their reading speed increased they were quizzed on the material they were reading. This last step is crucial. Speed Reading is worth nothing if the level of comprehension does not keep up with the speed. In this case speed and comprehension were both either maintained or increased. After working with these students it became clear to me that if they could make such remarkable progress in 12 sessions almost anyone out there that has fewer challenges to reading better and faster should be able to move themselves forward with even greater results. There is of course a need to continue the research but these findings do point to a promising method of increasing fluency. Fluency is the term used by reading specialist to determine a students ability to read at an average rate of speed and comprehend. Magda Santos is an author, researcher, and learning specialist with over 24 years of experience teaching reading. Magda offers a Free 5 Day Speed Reading Program on her informational web site http://www.speed-read-now.com. |
|
