Profile 7: "HIGH PRINT SKILLS (ALPHABETICS)"

Low Intermediate Group - Silent Reading GE 4-5.9

Suggestions for instruction for ASRP Profile 7 learners

Reading components work together. Increasing skill on any component increases skill on the others. ^RR

Profile 7 readers are not able to answer comprehension questions about passages that are written at their highest grade level mastery of Word Recognition. Because this group has good word attack development, they would benefit most from a large share of instructional time being spent on vocabulary development and comprehension strategies.

Word Meaning (Vocabulary)

• Select words that have high utility for learners' daily lives and for their reading comprehension.
• Assess learners' familiarity with signal words (also called function words). These are words that signal what is going to happen in a reading passage, how a connection of ideas is to be interpreted, e.g., but, although, nevertheless, however, next, since, until. Understanding signal words is necessary for comprehending connected text. Even text written for beginning readers will contain the function words, and and but. (See Fry, et al.)
• Learners reading at this low level have missed middle and high school social studies and science world knowledge. Bring in some information with words that will increase their understanding of these areas.
• Choose sophisticated vocabulary words for Word Recognition and Spelling instruction. Learners will then not only have your instruction in Print Skills (Alphabetics), but will have increased their bank of known words that they can read and spell as well.

Silent Reading Comprehension

• Profile 7 is one of three profiles of learners reading with comprehension at GE 4-5.9. All Profile 7 readers are reading with comprehension above GE 3, at GE 4 (75%) and 5 (25%).
• Elicit Background Knowledge before reading. Provide additional information.

Fluency

Many Intermediate Level (GE 4-8.9) readers read so slowly and laboriously that their comprehension is adversely affected.  Their reading includes many repetitions and self-corrections because they rely on context to decode unfamiliar words.  Assessment in Word Recognition reveals that they have difficulty with multi-syllable words and words that contain lower-frequency phonics patterns, such as vowel digraphs (-ai, -ay, -ea) and diphthongs (-au, -ow, -aw)  or ch pronounced as /k/, as in psychology.  These issues should be addressed in the Word Recognition and Spelling parts of the lesson.  In addition, learners in Profile 7 usually need to review more basic Word Analysis skills, such as those identified in Sylvia Greene’s Informal Word Analysis Inventory.

Non-native Speakers of English (NNSE) who are intermediates sometimes also read slowly, but they usually do so for different reasons.  They are able to decode unfamiliar English words, but they often slow down to figure out the meanings of unfamiliar words and unfamiliar grammatical features.

Texts chosen for Fluency practice for intermediates should be at or slightly below learners’ Word Recognition grade equivalent (GE).

Effective techniques for practicing Fluency can be found in Chapter 5 of McShane, S. (2005). Applying research in reading for adults: First steps for teachers.

Find more suggestions for instruction:

• To read more about strategies for instruction and supporting research, see related pages within the Reading Components section of this Web site, especially Fluency, Silent Reading Comprehension, and Word Meaning—the components that are of particular interest for Profile 7.
• McShane, S. (2005). Applying research in reading for adults: First steps for teachers. Washington, DC: National Institute for Literacy.
  http://www.nifl.gov/publications/pdf/applyingresearch.pdf (1.1MB)

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Last updated: Thursday, 23-Jul-2009 11:49:16 EDT