Beef Up Reading Skills
For children who struggle to read, here are 5 ways to keep ADD/ADHD and LD students on track and on the same page.
Many children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADD/ADHD) excel at reading. If a book holds their interest, they can read with good comprehension and recall. When the text is boring or difficult for them, they lose focus. Here are strategies to keep them on track and engaged:
Teach students how to paraphrase a paragraph or section of the text, putting the main idea and significant details into their own words. Letting a child do this task by talking into a tape recorder is also helpful.
Have students jot down questions about things they don’t understand on sticky notes. The notes can be placed next to main ideas for fast reference.
Build in stopping points at strategic locations in the text to discuss, summarize, predict, clarify, or record the material.
Help children learn to check their comprehension by asking themselves questions while reading: “What is the problem or conflict?” “What part does not make sense?”
Make or get audio recordings of books for individual or group listening. While listening to a recording, the child should follow along in the text.
More on Reading and Literacy Skills
What’s Your Child’s Learning Style?
Adapted with permission from sandrarief.com, How to Reach and Teach Children with ADD/ADHD, Second Edition, copyright 2005, and The ADD/ADHD Checklist, Second Edition, copyright 2008, by SANDRA F. RIEF, M.S.
