How Giggle Poetry Reading Lessons Turn Struggling Readers into Happy Readers For Grades 25.Many struggling readers are embarrassed to read aloud. They are often intimidated or bored by texts that conventional programs require them to practice. So, instead of catching up, they fall further behind. Currently 67% of American fourth graders cant read grade-level text. Reading specialist Amy Buswell has spent eight years looking for remediation methods that work. What is needed, Buswell explains, is a program that improves the motivation of struggling readers, because that accounts for 90% of the problem. Four years ago, Buswell came up with a brainstorm.

She knew her best readers enjoyed reading Bruce Lanskys poetry books for pleasure. The more poems they read, the better their reading got. Why not use Lanskys kid-tested poems as texts struggling readers could practice on to improve their readingusing six research-based strategies: choral reading, echo reading, paired reading, repeated reading, sustained silent reading and say it like the character reading. This book is the result of that brainstorm and the resulting collaboration between Buswell and Lansky. It gives teachers and parents everything they need to help children improve their reading: -35 kid-tested poems by Bruce Lansky -35 customized reading lessons by Amy Buswell -35 off-the-wall illustrations by Stephen Carpenter -35 sets of zany performance tips by Bruce Lansky all of which is designed to make the process of reading improvement more like fun than work. What Amy Buswell and Bruce Lansky have created is the most entertaining fluency intervention ever. Thats why it is so successful at overcoming negative attitudes to improve reading skills and scores. Ninety-five percent of participating students made significant improvement in their fluency (reading rate).

And average reading scores on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) for Buswells school raised her schools rating to an A for the first time. In 2011, Buswells school achieved one of the highest-percentage reading gains in the county. Theres no reason parents cant get in on the fun, too. Parents will enjoy Lanskys funny poems and Stephen Carpenters delightful illustrations as much as their children. By reading the poems with their children and encouraging their children to try some of Lanskys entertaining performance tips (by adding gestures, sound effects, props and finding additional readers: be they friends, family or neighbors), they can dramatically speed up their childs reading progress (and have lots of fun in the process.).