Teachers: What to do with a 9th grader who reads like a 2nd grader?

In My Humble Opinion
1

I am doing my student teaching this semester. My kids are 9th grade English–two blocks of college prep and one regular class. In my regular class there is a girl (call her Sue) who reads on about a second grade level. She is a sweet, cute girl who really tries, but her mother must have had a heavy drinking problem or something.

My first concern, of course, is for Sue, herself. Apparently they are going to do a round of testing with several of my kids. She is not special Ed, but clearly should have been placed in special Ed years ago. It is beyond my ability to teach her. She can’t seem to understand the differences between possessives and plurals–and I have explained the difference so many times, in so many ways. She can’t remember what a syllable is. Direct objects are simply beyond her. She has some sort of learning disability (apparently she shows up in the central office ever couple of days because she has lost her locker, or because her locker combination has 'stopped working" and it turns out to be the wrong locker).

Now, I hasten to say that I am not going to give up on this girl. I am going to keep trying to work with her, keep going over the same material, am willing to meet with her after or before school or whatever (though she isn’t, at this point. That may change after report cards.)However, I have thirty other students in that class, some of whom are just a little bit better off than Sue, and she is eating up a huge amount of my in-class resources. This is especially true in grammar, where she makes it impossible to build on anything that we have gone over in the past: it’s like she’s starting over every day, and it plays merry hell with my rhythm to have to stop in the middle of a discussion of verb tenses and go back over what a prepositional phrase is. She is a huge extrovert, and if she doesn’t understand something, she asks questions. I can’t bring myself to blow her off–I want to encourage asking questions, and I expect people to get confused and need review–but what should be a fifteen minute review of some grammar point before moving on to a new thing turns into a 45 minute sessions where I have to completely recover the topic because it’s like she’s never seen it before, and she isn’t shy about letting me know it, and the new thing never gets done at all. And the next day is the exact same thing.

I know she needs to be in a different classroom. However, I am not in control of that, and even if it happens, it won’t be soon. In the meantime, what can I do that allows me to both do right by her and do right by the rest of the class?

I know we have several full-fledged teachers here, who I hope can help, but I am also interested in the opinions of other Dopers, who often amaze me with our collective creativity in the face of problems like this.

2

I’m a first year teacher, so not necessarily fully fledged. All I can think, off the top of my head, is to pretty much consider doing two lesson plans - Sue’s and the rest of the class’. Whatever you’re doing with the rest of the class, figure on spending a few minutes getting Sue set up for individual work. If she’s at second grade level, it’s pointless throwing grammar at her. Take her all the way back to phonics and start drilling her. Over and over and over again. Giving Sue her own work will at least get her started on the remediation she so badly needs AND hopefully keep her out of your hair while you give your mini-lectures on prepositional phrases, verb tenses and active voice.

Your school should have some sort of reading or literacy resource you can lean on. Check Sue’s cum file and get her standardized test scores. If she’s that far behind, it’ll be obvious on the scores. Check with your master teacher (some are fantastic, some are horrible) to see how much help they’ll give you. Ask around in the English department. There’s always some guru there who is dying to load you with resources and may even help you advocate for Sue.

Also, see if she’s been tested for learning disabilities before and has an Individual Education Plan (that’ll be in her cum file as well). Talk to the special ed coordinator. Sue has a right to get the educational resources she needs, including testing, remediation, and aid.

You’re in a tough spot, Manda. As a student teacher, you have only as much authority over your students as your master teacher gives you. You also don’t necessarily know the federal, state, and district requirements, not to mention the district and school idiosyncrasies. Last thought out of my head is to also check with your professors in your program. One of them has to be teaching a Literacy or Reading course. They’ll be able to point you in helpful directions.

3

I am not a teacher but I am the parent of a kid with apparent LD. Nowhere near as severe as Sue’s though.

I second what Phouka said about two lesson plans. There’s no way that she can deal with grammar if she’s still at grade 2 reading level. Surely there’s some testing and an IEP somewhere in the system :(. If there isn’t, there damned well should be!

What I want for my kid is appropriate learning support where he needs it so trying to have him work at handwriting at the level of the rest of the class is demoralising and pointless. He acts out and wants inappropriate amounts of attention when he feels out of his depth. Is it possible this is true for Sue too?

I hope you can make a difference for Sue. Schools need more teachers who do make a difference for the better.

4

I’m very sorry for Sue. And I’m very sorry for Primaflora’s child. But I think it is so so wrong to shortchange 29 people for the special needs of one. In fact, quite the opposite, I think if a teacher is to single out a few students for extra time, it should be the above average ones.

I’m sorry to put this in these terms, but Sue is depriving your class of the education they are entitled to. I know that’s not her fault, but you need to take steps to get her into a program that’s more at her level.

5

I taught Special Ed for 10 years, and your student certainly needs to be receiving services. It is possible, however, that her parents have refused services for her in the past, and she needs to be referred again.
You definitely are going to need two lesson plans. Find a special ed teacher in your school and ask for some high interest/low vocab stuff, take a few minutes to get her going, and then work with the rest of the class.
Whether or not it’s a fair situation isn’t even a question for you now. You have to deal with it regardless.
When I taught special ed in a high school, I prepared up to 6 lesson plans per period. More and more inclusion is being done, and regular ed teachers are going to have to bear the brunt of the work, unfortunately.
[soapbox]
Now, before any regular ed teachers jump on me and beat me up, please understand that one reason I left teaching is because I wanted my kids in my room for 4 hours a day, so I could TEACH. I did NOT want them taking high school biology, with texts they couldn’t comprehend, kids they couldn’t keep up with, and tests they couldn’t manage, and with me somehow trying to make it all work from the sidelines. NOT my thing. Trust me, if you think the “normal” (note quotes) kids are being short-changed, you cannot imagine the injustice done to some of the handicapped kids.
[/soapbox]
Good luck, hope it all goes well. You won’t regret any extra time you put into helping this kid, trust me.
~karol

6

ummmm Bill? You’re obviously not aware that it is perfectly possible for a kid to be ‘above average’ and have LD’s. Many exceptionally and profoundly gifted kids are twice exceptional and have LD’s as well as very high IQ’s and high potential. The existence of an LD in no way implies that the kid is not above average.

7

True. My son has a sequencing disorder. They said he might never master reading and would have a difficult time with math. Last three state tests he scored perfect on reading and above 97% in math. He’s an honor roll student. Spelling will never come easy, he may never master it. He may never enjoy reading, but he’s overcome the learning disability. Although his test scores are not quite that high in math, he is making A’s and B’s. He’s taking an Honor’s Science class which he’s also Aceing.

8

Again, I apologize for any parents I’ve offended. I really do know that a LD doesn’t mean that the child can’t be gifted.

But I stand by my advice. The child needs to be put in a program where she can best learn. And equally importantly, the remainder of the class needs to have their curiculum kept at their own level, not constantly downgraded.

It’s my opinion that you, Manda JO, need to take steps in that direction. Even if it looks like it’s not possible or not in your power, you need to try. This is very important for the future of your entire class.

9

Bill, I am guessing that Manda JO wouldn’t disagree with this advice. At least that’s the impression I got from the OP:

I think she’s wanting to know what to do in the interim. Certainly, this girl needs to be in a special class. I assume that Mando JO will do her best to encourage this. Frankly, I worry that the rest of the class is going to become weary of the interruptions from this girl.

Unfortunately, I don’t really have anything very original to contribute, other than to say that I agree that two lesson plans seem the way to go.

10

OK Bill H, I’ll let you off the hook. I’m not offended - you’d be amazed at how many people do have difficulty with the concept of twice exceptional kids, including teachers who should know better. I still don’t agree with the idea that any kid should have more time just because they appear brighter.

::sigh:: sadly it doesn’t seem to be the case for Sue that she can compensate for the LD’s