About Different Reading Levels in the Same Classroom
Being a teacher is often a difficult job in itself, but it can be even harder when the students in your class have different reading skill levels. You may assign a story to the class, only to find out that some students can't read it, while others finish it in just a few minutes. Although this is a major challenge, teachers can work around it by providing students of different skill levels with different kinds of assignments.
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Reading Assessment
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Assessing a class's reading skill level is something best done at the beginning of the school year, before assignments have been developed and handed out. Some teachers have access to reading test software, which lets them see the reading grade level of every student who takes the test. Other schools hire professional testers, but this can be expensive. If a professional tester is not affordable, some teachers administer a standardized reading test to get a better idea of students' skill levels.
Beginning Readers
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Students who are just beginning to read or are struggling with reading need to receive special attention. Some teachers have these students read a story aloud, so they can hear words that they are struggling with. The teacher can then correct a mispronounced word until the student understands how it is read. Teachers may also have students make a plot diagram as they read. On it, students write the key events that occur as the story is read, which is a test of their comprehension.
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Average and Advanced Readers
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Average readers require little special attention when reading. They can usually complete a story assignment given to them in a timely manner and without struggling. They may, however, have questions about a few words that are unfamiliar to them. Advanced readers seldom need any help reading stories, and may finish them quickly. Readers with an advanced skill level can be given further material to read. If not every child in class is reading the same story, the teacher can provide the student with a book that is more challenging than the ones his peers are reading.
Advantages and Disadvantages
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Having students of various reading skill levels in a classroom can have its advantages as well as disadvantages. For example, in such a classroom, students can work independently or in groups, if desired. They can read at their own pace. The challenge of a multi-level classroom, however, is that several students may need individual attention, which may cause more advanced students to become bored and disinterested. Teachers must also find a variety of reading material to suit all levels of students.
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References
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