| Many of the EFL Junior High school students I | | | | 2. Breaking down Tasks. Things need to be clear. |
| taught for the most part were struggling, unable | | | | 3. Teacher Modelling and Guided Instruction |
| to decode simple one syllabic words. Many had | | | | I tried to incorporate a bit of everything from |
| challenging behavioral problems, which prevented | | | | phonic work to global reading. The students |
| me from initially teaching them. | | | | reading level and abilities were below standard |
| A reader profile was the first step in building a | | | | level of reading and so I went to work at a plan |
| reading program. This profile was created with the | | | | that would help me close the gaps at an |
| remedial recovery reader in mind. It was initially | | | | elementary school level. |
| helpful knowing the students' limitations and what | | | | I did not realize at the time of teaching |
| strategies need to be taught. | | | | elementary school children, how in essence, crucial |
| Research shows that the 99% lexical threshold is | | | | it is to close the gap before entering junior high |
| crucial to complete and adequate understanding of | | | | school. The children demonstrated a weakness in |
| a text. Many of my students in this remedial | | | | all areas of letter recognition and production |
| recovery class had taught themselves inadequate | | | | At the time, the plan was quite simple: |
| and false strategies in which to deal with regular | | | | 1. diagnosis and evaluation |
| classroom situations. When given a simple | | | | 2. reteaching the sounds in word formation. |
| worksheet containing a three sentence texts, | | | | I included a bit of everything including phonics, |
| students were expending all or most of their | | | | content reading, and tried to incorporate these |
| cognitive attention on the recognition of letters | | | | elements into a successful reading program. I |
| and words. They were able to retain very little | | | | didn't know the bigger picture yet in terms of |
| from what they had read. It was obvious that | | | | how early reading instruction can affect the |
| students could not possibly move from one phase | | | | transition to junior high. It is natural for a new |
| of reading to the next without being able to | | | | teacher starting out to put more emphasis on |
| quickly decode words. So I developed a | | | | accuracy in terms of grammar, vocabulary |
| structured learning plan to provide more | | | | development, punctuation, word-attack drills in |
| word-text attack skills: | | | | order to reach the required benchmarks and |
| Structured Learning - Making it Predictable | | | | domains. |
| 1. Focused lesson plan structure. | | | | |