5 Activities For Struggling Readers
Table of Contents
Parents of struggling readers often reach out to me and ask how to help their child at home. Below is a list of activities and resources for struggling readers that is applicable to almost any age.
Follow Along To Audiobooks
Websites such as Epic provide free virtual reading material for all levels, including books that are narrated. Learning Ally is a great resource for audiobooks that was created for children with learning differences however it is paid subscription.
Why is this important?
Epic offers a “Read To Me” section. The book is read aloud by a narrator in an engaging way, and the words are highlighted on the page as they are read. This allows children to make an association between the written word and the spoken word. Children who struggle to read need more exposure to print over a longer period of time. The “Read To Me” option allows children to grow their reading skills, be exposed to print, and not be bottlenecked by their decoding skills. Reading 20 minutes daily allows children to read an average of 1.8 million words per year. Reading 4 minutes daily averages about 282,000 words per year. All children will benefit from reading exposure, but for children who struggle with reading, it is necessary. Follow this link to learn more about why audiobooks are so helpful for struggling readers.
How to implement:
Set up your free account on Epic and choose a book from the “Read To Me” section that your child will enjoy. It’s important to make sure you are choosing books that interest your child. Once you pick a book, allow your child to spend at least 20 minutes a day, 5 days a week, reading or following along with a narrated book. Audiobooks make great activities for struggling readers who want some independence. Some of the books have quizzes at the end that check for comprehension. You can also talk about what was read in the book by asking open-ended questions. Open-ended questions lend themselves to higher-level thinking skills such as inferencing, and predicting.
Florida Center For Reading Research
The Florida Center for Reading Research is a website that provides research and evidence based activities for struggling readers.
Why is this important?
This website is widely used by dyslexia therapists because the activities are based on research. All activities are organized by grade and are developmentally appropriate. Each activity provides you a list of materials and explains how the activity should be executed.
How to implement:
Below is a link to the website’s activities divided by grade. Next to each grade is the skill sets they target. Try some of the activities with your child based on their grade. You can always pull activities from the lower grades if the grade level activities are too difficult.
Prekinder: Alphabet Knowledge, Phonological Awareness, Language, and Vocabulary
Kinder and First grade: Phonological Awareness, Phonics, Fluency, Vocabulary, Comprehension
Second and Third grade: Phonemic Awareness, Phonics, Fluency, Vocabulary, Comprehension
Fourth and Fifth: Advanced Phonics, Fluency, Vocabulary, Comprehension
Practice Phonological Awareness Skills
Phonological awareness is the ability to hear and manipulate sounds in words. The term includes every skill from recognizing word boundaries to breaking words into individual sounds. Please follow our link to the importance of phonological awareness for a more in-depth explanation.
- Why is this important?
Phonological awareness skills are the precursor to reading. The main issue with dyslexia is the inability to hear individual sounds in words. Children must first break words into individual sounds before they can tie letters to those sounds. The ability to break words into individual sounds is called phonemic awareness. Phonemic awareness is under the phonological awareness umbrella and has been identified by the National Reading Panel as the first component needed for reading.
How to implement:
Skills such as rhyming, syllable awareness, and manipulating individual sound are in words are all phonological awareness skills. Please visit our guide to teaching phonemic awareness skills for easy exercises to do at home. You can also visit the Florida Center for Reading Research for more options divided by grade. Phonological awareness skills focus on sounds so they can be taught without using letters. These skills make great activities for struggling readers who are resistant to reading because their lack of letter-sound knowledge. Focusing on foundational skills like phonemic awareness is a great place to start.
Read With Your Child
Why is this important?
Research shows that a neurotypical child needs to read an unfamiliar word four times correctly for it to stay in long-term memory. Children with dyslexia need more exposure to reading and over a longer period of time for words to be stored in their long-term memory. There is no magic number of exposures that exists for struggling readers. One thing we know for sure is that children who struggle with reading need to exercise their phonological muscles and read every day. Reading with your child will also ensure that they are sounding out words correctly instead of guessing words based on context. For example, a child who struggles with reading might say the word car when the actual word in the book is automobile.
How to implement:
Do a daily read-aloud with your child if they are in the emergent stage of reading. Alternatively, you can read with your child if they have some phonics foundations and can associate letters and sounds. Pick a book that they are interested in and make it a goal to sit with them for 20 minutes every day and listen to them read. You can also take turns reading. Ask open-ended questions to stimulate critical thinking skills. Help them sound out unfamiliar words by breaking words into syllables for them. Reading with your child will also help them have a positive association with reading. This is important for children who struggle with reading.
Read Decodable Books
The English language follows a set of phonics rules that apply to the majority of words we read. Unfortunately, there are many words that do not follow the rules and are particularly difficult for struggling readers. Reading decodable books is a great activity for struggling readers because they focus on using the words that follow the reading rules.
Why is this important?
Decodable books will give your child the best chance at reading independently. Independent reading will help them build fluency and gain the confidence to continue pushing forward on their reading journey. It’s difficult to want to practice something that exhausts your brain and you still end up unsuccessful. Decodable books help children feel successful and focus on their growth instead of their struggles.
How to implement:
Below is a list of decodable books to choose from.
Bob’s Books: Bob’s books have been around for over 40 years. The book levels start at emerging readers in the pre-reading stage and build to developing readers working on long vowels and digraphs.
Whole Phonics: Whole phonics books are a great option for leveled, decodable readers. The series begins with books that cover CVC words and have between 2 and 4 words per sentence and page. Their highest level has about 40-50 words per page and covers suffixes, compound words, and vowel combinations. The illustrations are also highly engaging and make them a great option for readers.
Simple Words Books: Simple Words Books offers decodable chapter books, perfect for older students who don’t want to read “baby” books. They are highly decodable but don’t have all the bright illustrations of a children’s book. Each chapter book has at least 5,000 words total and includes at least 19 chapters.
Have you found any unique ways that helped your child grow on their reading journey? Let us know in the comments or reach us via our connect page!
One Comment
Kelly Krebs
Thank you so much for posting this! My oldest son is struggling with reader and now I have some activities we can use to help him. Thank you!