Recently, a therapist on one of my WhatsApp groups sent out a plea for a resource for comprehension for a grade 2 child. There were a few suggestions, but most of them involved digging through websites and trying to find an appropriate level for the child.
As a speech-language therapist, when I work on reading comprehension there are a number of important underlying skills to consider. I addressed some of this underlying skills in my post Causes of Reading Comprehension Difficulties.
When I work on comprehension, I need to scaffold intervention (a method that involves gradually reducing assistance as the student increases their understanding) based on where the student is breaking down. This is not the same for every child and consequently, finding appropriate resources is not as simple as wading through a website and choosing a comprehension.
Twinkl is the solution to this problem!
Not only does the site have over 525,000 resources, but there are also more than 10 000 resources devoted specifically to speech and language.
Vocabulary
Good reading comprehension depends on knowledge of the meanings of the words in the text. The strong relationship between vocabulary and reading comprehension is well documented (Moorhouse, 2022; Nation, 2006, 2017). Twinkl has numerous resources for building vocabulary ranging from matching tasks, semantic classification, morphology (smallest significant units of words: prefixes, roots, suffixes, inflections, etc.), and inferencing skills.
Language Structure/Syntax
If you need resources for syntax, you can find resources from Colourful Semantics.
Colourful semantics is an approach aimed at helping children to develop their grammar but it is rooted in the meaning of words (semantics).
Story grammar structure can be addressed using story map templates and sequencing tasks that are well graded.
Verbal Reasoning
Resources for developing inferences, idioms, metaphors and other forms of figurative language can be found. Some of these resources are categorized according to theme/topic.
Text Structure
Most children are familiar with at least one text structure before they start school. This is the structure of stories.
There is a great deal of evidence that shows that children who are able to recall stories predict how well the child will do in reading comprehension later on at school.
Understanding and identifying the underlying text structure assists the reader in forming inferences which in turn facilitates comprehension.
There are numerous resources for describing, sequencing, comparing and contrasting, cause-effect relationships, and problem-solving with language.
Phonological Awareness
Readers must have awareness of the speech sounds that letters and letter combinations represent in order to move from a printed word to a spoken word (reading), or a spoken word to a written word (spelling).
Numerous activities for phonological awareness, phonemic awareness and decoding tasks are available.
Sight Words
Sight words are available as lists and with engaging games.
Twinkl really is a star
It meets your needs
No matter who you are
You can get access to unlimited Twinkl resources for just R49 /month or pay annually for R39/month.
Disclaimer: Twinkl sponsored a 3-month membership. All opinions are my own.
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