Need help with this learner!

[coconutty011]

I have a student that is having the problem with the following:

summarizing things beyond verbatim
comprehending multiple textbook sections
responding to questions that require explanation
writing with "flow" and transitions
peer teaching

I am a fourth grade teacher -- what would you suggest that I try?

[Boxcar]

One way to explain summary is to ask the student to write "headlines" for the paragraphs. Tell him/her that one or two sentances should tell you what was inside the reading. I myself struggled to learn how to summarize. It isn't an easy skill for a fourth grader. I don't think I correctly learned how to do it until I was well out of elementry school.

Re-stating the question before answering might help this student. If she/he answers "Yes, plants need water to live." have this child add a "because" to all his/her answers to start with. Children ask "Why?" all the time. So, ask lots of "why" type questions.

Writing with flow is another hard thing for fourth graders. I know that I don't do well with making paragraphs. I've never really got that down, but I do okay. Maybe providing a list of possible tranistions to choose from will help. Start with the basic First/Second/Third type transitions.

Peer teaching is the last step. It isn't going to happen if the student doesn't understand the material. Peer teaching is one way to assess that the student is ready to move on to a new skill. Try not to expect it until late in the lesson.

[Brit]

for summarizing things beyond verbatim: I start with verbatim, with first, then, next. but the next step I use is to say "so if you could tell me the whole story/article in one sentence, what would you say?" I support that with "what is the one thing you should learn/remember from this text?"

elaborating on answers: perhaps ask things that have direct text answers to begin with -- no inferring. that way, you can show him that he doesn't need to pull the answers out of thin air -- he just has to find them in what he read. It can help with comprehension, too. Try to use the same langague in your question as is in the answer in the text. this can be used to slowly scaffold towards inferring, which, it sounds like, is the big skill he's missing.

peer teaching -- perhaps have him teach only what he really knows well -- which might mean teaching to children a grade younger than him. If there's anything I know about teaching after my first few years, it's that you can't teach waht you don't deeply understand. If he's having comprehension problems, then he'll likely be having teaching problems.

[lynn bambusch]

Those are all really big ideas to try to attack at once. Writing with flow takes practice, the more he writes, the better he will get. Hang up a list of transition words on the wall in your room. Show him how the first and last sentence of most paragraphs summarize for you. Fourth graders are just emerging with these talents. Just keep them writing!

[Brit]

for writing with flow -- how is his speech? does he speak in connected complex sentences? maybe let him audio record his ideas before he writes, and play them back to himself. Or use something like Kurzweil voice-to-type to help him get his ideas down.

[David]

For summarising beyond verbatim get the student to write headings for each paragraphs and then write the key words( not in sentence form ) then when they rewrite they are using the key words in sentences that they have formed.

[Ebeth]

Try having the student write a "COW" while they are reading. As they are reading their book/passage, they are looking for Connections (to themselves, their friends or family, another book, or something they watched on TV. Looking for Observations about the character or story. Wonderings about the character, plot or words they do not understand. My students do this for homework every night. It only takes them 30 minutes as they are reading and writing at the same time. I have noticed that their comprehension has improved and they are a lot more engaged in what they are reading.