Welcome to a World of Learning

Plot

Reading comprehension and phonics can be a difficult concept for students who are special needs learners. These learners can have difficulty with organizing their thoughts in order to understand and recall details from stories read to them or stories that they have read on their own. Many times while reading, their ideas can be like puzzle pieces that do not come together to make one complete puzzle. This impedes upon their ability to gain the clarity they need to understand materials read. In order for these learners to be good readers they must have the ability to understand letters and words. Students at a young age need to know that letters, put together, form words.

I have learned that the most effective way to teach young students the concept of words is by teaching them their names. This approach gives letters a meaning to students. Once students have learned their names, then they can begin learning the concept of letter sounds. This helps them to understand the meaningful value of how letter sounds, help them to understand how letters are put together to make words. It will also help them understand the value of how words are used while reading. Having phonics skills and teaching phonetic awareness skills allows students to manipulate and understand the complexity of how to approach unfamiliar words while reading. It is important that these students are not viewed as having an inability to learn how to read, but rather, they learn through different methods and strategies.

Teachers need to work on building these learners’ self-esteem while teaching reading. Good instruction is needed in teaching these learners’ how to comprehend reading materials. It may not be an easy task, but it is an achievable task. I have designed this book for special education teachers. The lessons and activities in this book can be used as a supplementary tool to enhance students’ reading comprehension, phonics and vocabulary skills. I have left the math, science, social studies and ELA sections of each unit plan open for you to include your school’s standards or other activities as needed for each subject area. The bases for each lesson were derived from various children’s books. I hope that you will find these activities and lessons found within this book helpful in meeting the academic needs of your learners.