Reading Failure real or imagined?

Are all students who fail to read unable to do so? Research has shown that failure to read is not always because students are unable to read. Listed high among the list of reading failure is students’ lack of motivation. A number of sources show that students may lack motivation due to the fact that they give up easily and do not pursue assignments past the point of difficulty; they give up on the first try. Once prodded that same student may demonstrate understanding of the reading process and a capability to read fluently.

How can a Reading Specialist help? Knowledge of reasons why children fail to read and the problems that may occur as a result of this would help. Reading Specialists must be ready with a “bag of tricks”, to solve students’ reading problems. Children learn well when learning is fun; they experience less drudgery when tasks are interesting and yet challenging. Therefore part of a Reading Specialist tools would be some aspect of technology; this would certainly guarantee excitement while students’ succeed.

Technologies shared during this course would prove useful to non readers despite the nature of the reading problem. The variety of tools shared would add richness to a Reading Specialists’ “bag of tricks”. Not only the technology, but the creative and diverse ways in which these can be presented, would add fun and flavor to the reading task.