Reading comprehension is a fundamental skill that underpins academic success and daily living. For students in special education, developing strong reading comprehension skills is essential. These students often face unique challenges that require targeted interventions and strategies to support their learning journey. This blog post will explore various goals and objectives for enhancing reading comprehension, tailored to meet the diverse needs of special education students.
Key Takeaway
Special education teachers can significantly improve their students' reading comprehension by setting clear, measurable goals and using a variety of strategies to address specific reading challenges.
Awareness of Letter/Sound Relationships
Liam, a kindergartener, struggles with recognizing letter sounds. His teacher uses flashcards and letter-sound games to help Liam identify and match sounds. Over time, Liam shows improvement in his ability to produce correct sounds, enhancing his phonemic awareness.
By (date), [student's name] will demonstrate awareness of letter/sound relationships by identifying a minimum of letter/sound correspondences, improving phonemic awareness skills from (current level) to (target level) as measured by (assessment method, e.g., running records, probes, anecdotal records, work samples, etc.).
Objectives:
[Student's name] will identify letter/sound correspondences in 8/10 trials.
[Student's name] will match letters to corresponding sounds in 8/10 trials.
[Student's name] will produce the correct sound for a given letter in 8/10 trials.
Reading High Frequency Words
Emma, a first-grader, often encounters difficulty with high-frequency words. Her teacher incorporates sight word games and interactive writing activities into lessons. Emma begins to recognize and write these words more confidently, improving her reading fluency.
By (date), [student's name] will read/write a minimum of high frequency words, improving word recognition skills from (current level) to (target level) as measured by (assessment method, e.g., running records, probes, anecdotal records, work samples, etc.).
Objectives:
[Student's name] will read high frequency words in 8/10 trials.
[Student's name] will write high frequency words in 8/10 trials.
[Student's name] will recognize high frequency words in context in 8/10 trials.
Using Letter Cues to Predict Words
Noah, a second-grader, finds it challenging to decode new words. His teacher uses word prediction exercises, focusing on beginning, medial, and ending letter cues. Noah's ability to decode unfamiliar words improves, boosting his reading confidence.
By (date), [student's name] will use beginning, medial, and ending letter cues to predict unknown words, improving decoding skills from (current level) to (target level) as measured by (assessment method, e.g., running records, probes, anecdotal records, work samples, etc.).
Objectives:
[Student's name] will use beginning letter cues to predict unknown words in 8/10 trials.
[Student's name] will use medial letter cues to predict unknown words in 8/10 trials.
[Student's name] will use ending letter cues to predict unknown words in 8/10 trials.
Locating Specific Words and Patterns
Sophia, a third-grader, enjoys reading but struggles with word recognition. Her teacher uses familiar texts and highlights specific words and patterns for Sophia to find. This exercise helps Sophia become more adept at recognizing words and patterns in different contexts.
By (date), [student's name] will locate specific words, phrases, word patterns, and sight words in familiar text, improving word recognition skills from (current level) to (target level) as measured by (assessment method, e.g., running records, probes, anecdotal records, work samples, etc.).
Objectives:
[Student's name] will locate specific words in familiar text in 8/10 trials.
[Student's name] will locate phrases in familiar text in 8/10 trials.
[Student's name] will identify word patterns in familiar text in 8/10 trials.
Reading Predictable Pattern Books
Aiden, a first-grader, finds joy in reading predictable pattern books. His teacher uses these books to help Aiden make predictions and discuss patterns. Aiden's reading comprehension improves as he becomes more engaged with the texts.
By (date), [student's name] will read predictable pattern books, improving reading comprehension skills from (current level) to (target level) as measured by (assessment method, e.g., running records, probes, anecdotal records, work samples, etc.).
Objectives:
[Student's name] will read predictable pattern books independently in 8/10 trials.
[Student's name] will predict what comes next in predictable pattern books in 8/10 trials.
[Student's name] will discuss the patterns found in predictable pattern books in 8/10 trials.
Reading Dictated or Self-Written Texts
Liam, a second-grader, enjoys writing stories but struggles with fluency. His teacher encourages him to read his own stories and provides support for self-correction. Liam's reading fluency improves as he practices with familiar texts.
By (date), [student's name] will read dictated or self-written texts, improving reading fluency from (current level) to (target level) as measured by (assessment method, e.g., running records, probes, anecdotal records, work samples, etc.).
Objectives:
[Student's name] will read dictated texts fluently in 8/10 trials.
[Student's name] will read self-written texts fluently in 8/10 trials.
[Student's name] will self-correct errors while reading dictated or self-written texts in 8/10 trials.
Understanding Letter/Sound Correspondence
Emma, a third-grader, struggles with recognizing blends and digraphs. Her teacher uses interactive phonics games and blending exercises to help Emma identify these sounds in different positions. Emma's phonemic awareness improves significantly.
By (date), [student's name] will demonstrate understanding of basic letter/sound correspondence in all consonants and most blends, digraphs, and vowels in beginning, medial, and final positions, improving phonemic awareness from (current level) to (target level) as measured by (assessment method, e.g., running records, probes, anecdotal records, work samples, etc.).
Objectives:
[Student's name] will identify consonant sounds in beginning, medial, and final positions in 8/10 trials.
[Student's name] will identify vowel sounds in beginning, medial, and final positions in 8/10 trials.
[Student's name] will identify blends and digraphs in beginning, medial, and final positions in 8/10 trials.
Understanding Word Families and Patterns
Noah, a first-grader, enjoys learning new words but struggles with word families. His teacher introduces word family charts and fun activities to create new words. Noah's understanding of word families and patterns enhances his word recognition skills.
By (date), [student's name] will demonstrate an understanding of basic word families and patterns, improving word recognition skills from (current level) to (target level) as measured by (assessment method, e.g., running records, probes, anecdotal records, work samples, etc.).
Objectives:
[Student's name] will recognize word families in 8/10 trials.
[Student's name] will create new words using known word families in 8/10 trials.
[Student's name] will read words with common patterns in 8/10 trials.
Reading High Frequency Sight Words
Sophia, a second-grader, has difficulty with sight words. Her teacher uses flashcards and sight word games to help Sophia practice. Over time, Sophia reads more sight words fluently, enhancing her overall reading skills.
By (date), [student's name] will read 150 high frequency sight words from the district list, improving word recognition skills from (current level) to (target level) as measured by (assessment method, e.g., running records, probes, anecdotal records, work samples, etc.).
Objectives:
[Student's name] will read 50 high frequency sight words from the district list in 8/10 trials.
[Student's name] will read 100 high frequency sight words from the district list in 8/10 trials.
[Student's name] will read 150 high frequency sight words from the district list in 8/10 trials.
Setting specific, measurable IEP goals for decoding and word recognition can help special education students make significant progress. By focusing on these targeted objectives, teachers can support their students' growth in reading skills, leading to greater academic success and confidence.
For more resources and tools to support your teaching, explore our IEP Goal Bank, Lesson Plan Templates, and TeachTastic Store.
