Reading Difficulty Sharing by Joanne Martin https://padlet.com/martinj43_1/o390ou5vffz1 Based on the information in the powerpoint, where would your students have struggled and why? en-us 2017-03-28 18:16:52 UTC 2025-10-19 20:03:32 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet.com/martinj43_1/o390ou5vffz1/wish/368375240 Students would have struggled both with the vocabulary and the sentence structure.  Most are not likely to be familiar with satellite imagery and the relevant terms there.  More importantly, the sentence structures require a sustained attention they are not at all accustomed to maintaining.  Most texts students encounter have been significantly simplified.  

]]> 2019-06-19 20:47:48 UTC https://padlet.com/martinj43_1/o390ou5vffz1/wish/368375240 https://padlet.com/martinj43_1/o390ou5vffz1/wish/368816352 Students don’t always distinguish important ideas from less important ones and sometimes have a difficult time synthesizing information within and across texts and reading experiences.]]> 2019-06-23 16:49:51 UTC https://padlet.com/martinj43_1/o390ou5vffz1/wish/368816352 My students would have definitely struggled with the lack of background knowledge as well as the vocabulary. I feel like it would be useful to provide visuals with the key terms so that they could begin to build a working understanding and picture of what the article was telling them. https://padlet.com/martinj43_1/o390ou5vffz1/wish/370681168 2019-07-09 23:11:22 UTC https://padlet.com/martinj43_1/o390ou5vffz1/wish/370681168 I find students struggle if there is not a visual of what they are reading about, also with vocabulary that they don't know what the word means. https://padlet.com/martinj43_1/o390ou5vffz1/wish/370871151 2019-07-11 14:18:17 UTC https://padlet.com/martinj43_1/o390ou5vffz1/wish/370871151 Two areas of difficulty are the lack of background knowledge in Geography and Global Issues and the inability to assess what content is most important. The best way to deal with it is to present some background knowledge (not too much), then clarify what it is that they are to be learning (what question are they gathering evidence to answer). https://padlet.com/martinj43_1/o390ou5vffz1/wish/372579471 2019-07-29 14:16:18 UTC https://padlet.com/martinj43_1/o390ou5vffz1/wish/372579471 The students https://padlet.com/martinj43_1/o390ou5vffz1/wish/373094379 2019-08-02 21:08:06 UTC https://padlet.com/martinj43_1/o390ou5vffz1/wish/373094379 The students I coteach with in Biology most likely not understand the NASA connection, satellite imagery and other vocabulary used. They would have benefitted from a picture of what NASA provides to make connections. I felt it go a little to difficult with the sentence structure in the middle and most would skip to the end to see the end result. https://padlet.com/martinj43_1/o390ou5vffz1/wish/373094382 2019-08-02 21:08:06 UTC https://padlet.com/martinj43_1/o390ou5vffz1/wish/373094382 I find students struggle without an adequate buy-in to the reading. Background knowledge and connection are critical to student success in reading. https://padlet.com/martinj43_1/o390ou5vffz1/wish/373198946 2019-08-05 00:04:35 UTC https://padlet.com/martinj43_1/o390ou5vffz1/wish/373198946 https://padlet.com/martinj43_1/o390ou5vffz1/wish/373460864 I feel a lot of my students struggle to make inferences from the text. They fear that they will make wrong assumptions and therefore, try to avoid inferences at all costs. This can hinder their comprehension of a text as a long of novels and short stories leave pieces up to the reader's interpretation. ]]> 2019-08-06 18:35:33 UTC https://padlet.com/martinj43_1/o390ou5vffz1/wish/373460864 I often find that if my students can't get solid reading comprehension from a piece of text, most give up instead of trying to reread or pick up on inferences that might help the understand what they are reading. https://padlet.com/martinj43_1/o390ou5vffz1/wish/374026173 2019-08-11 21:08:28 UTC https://padlet.com/martinj43_1/o390ou5vffz1/wish/374026173 The connections seems to be the most difficult part in some readings. It would be important to give the students the necessary background information prior to the reading assignment. https://padlet.com/martinj43_1/o390ou5vffz1/wish/374397873 2019-08-13 20:44:13 UTC https://padlet.com/martinj43_1/o390ou5vffz1/wish/374397873 I find that students often struggle with the buy-in. Especially in High School. Many students want to know why they are being asked to read a text. They need to know how it is relevant to them and the goal that the teacher has for them before they begin. I work with special ed. students and many of them have a disability in reading. When a text is too difficult for them, many just give up rather than looking up vocabulary or rereading the assignment, especially when reading non-fiction. If there are diagrams, tables, or graphics that provide a visual they are more apt to push through and usually have a better understanding of what they have read. sullivanj9_1 https://padlet.com/martinj43_1/o390ou5vffz1/wish/375511489 2019-08-19 19:38:20 UTC https://padlet.com/martinj43_1/o390ou5vffz1/wish/375511489 Areas of most difficulty... https://padlet.com/martinj43_1/o390ou5vffz1/wish/648451698 I think my students probably struggle equally in at least two main areas: vocabulary and making inferences. Teaching adequate vocab skills is always a struggle. I try to make it as homogeneous as possible, but also realize that with a large class, the abilities and skills to pick up on new or challenging words is all over the place. It is probably the area in my own teaching that I have to differentiate on the most. Likewise, I find that most of my students, even the college-bound kids, are hesitant to make inferences. They fear being wrong and want instant gratification that they are on the right path. I find it frustrating at times to try to get them to be bold in guessing, and that a wrong guess is in many ways more valuable to learning than a correct guess. ]]> 2020-07-06 16:24:36 UTC https://padlet.com/martinj43_1/o390ou5vffz1/wish/648451698 Reading Difficulties https://padlet.com/martinj43_1/o390ou5vffz1/wish/652023846 In my ELA Direct Instruction classes, students consistently have difficulties with making inferences, summarizing/drawing conclusions and synthesis. These concepts/strategies are difficult for students because they are higher level complex skills. Students need to be taught the difference between summarizing and synthesis through explicit instruction, modeling, guided practice, and application. ]]> 2020-07-10 20:38:10 UTC https://padlet.com/martinj43_1/o390ou5vffz1/wish/652023846 https://padlet.com/martinj43_1/o390ou5vffz1/wish/653420626 I read an article recently about how reading levels haven't changed in over 20 years. All the programs we try come and go with little effect. The problem the article claimed was that we're so busy teaching the skills that students lack the background knowledge. They know the process of making inferences, but don't have the background knowledge to do it. I feel like that's what is happening here. Student get a little bit lost because they lack background for context and vocabulary, making summaries difficult. If they can't do a basic summary, logical, well-reasoned inferences are out of the question. ]]> 2020-07-13 16:39:13 UTC https://padlet.com/martinj43_1/o390ou5vffz1/wish/653420626 Students will always struggle with inferences. We must teach them what inferences are and how to recognize them within a text. We need to teach students how to read and not just expect them to be able to do so. https://padlet.com/martinj43_1/o390ou5vffz1/wish/659467846 2020-07-21 18:53:46 UTC https://padlet.com/martinj43_1/o390ou5vffz1/wish/659467846 hydel3_3 https://padlet.com/martinj43_1/o390ou5vffz1/wish/670726808 I could see students being bored with the subject, causing them to wander and lose focus. The vocabulary could also be a struggle. Even the references to the geography may pose a challenge for them.]]> 2020-08-05 23:15:27 UTC https://padlet.com/martinj43_1/o390ou5vffz1/wish/670726808 clarkej34_1 https://padlet.com/martinj43_1/o390ou5vffz1/wish/676345441 I believe that students would have found the article interesting, though I do not believe they would have understood the gravity of what they were reading. They lack the background knowledge necessary to understand that the technological advancement that have occurred either before their lifetimes, or within their early years, allow for the observations and knowledge presented in the article.]]> 2020-08-11 21:28:42 UTC https://padlet.com/martinj43_1/o390ou5vffz1/wish/676345441 Reading Difficulties... https://padlet.com/martinj43_1/o390ou5vffz1/wish/684741078 I think that the vocabulary and the background knowledge would really trip students up. I noticed right in the beginning they were talking about Tanzania. They also were comparing 1972 to 1999, which minds well be 100+ years in the past, because my students have no concept of how long ago that was. It has no relevancy to them. Additionally, the fact that the second 2 pages were just text would really be a challenge for many of my students who lose focus easily. ]]> 2020-08-18 13:32:48 UTC https://padlet.com/martinj43_1/o390ou5vffz1/wish/684741078