Practice Pages for Reading Comprehension and Vocabulary

These workbook/practice pages are a compilation of fun and engaging activities that I have used for students needing comprehension and vocabulary practice.  They are particularly geared towards adults learning how to read or improve their reading skills.

The printable file is on the very bottom of this page.  Just scroll down to the end.

Helping adults to Improve Their Literacy Skills

In a few weeks I will be taking a tutoring course geared toward helping adults become better readers.  I'm excited because as a former elementary school teacher I have never lost my desire to teach reading.  So learning to become an adult tutor will be similar to teaching 5 year olds to read and yet very different.

Teaching anyone how to read is a step by step process.  It begins with teaching the alphabetic principle or simply learning the names of the letters and sounds.  Next is phonemic awareness which involves hearing the sounds that are being spoken.  Clapping the syllables in words, pointing to words and word parts, and rhyming are all examples of phonemic awareness.  The next step is learning the phonics rules involving the pronunciation of the letters and letter combinations.  As students master the beginning skills they move on to vocabulary and comprehension instruction.  

A reader is someone who is able to read fluently with speed and expression, understands what they are reading, which includes the vocabulary in the story, and is engaged and enjoying the reading process.  Sounds like a daunting task!  It can be a difficult challenge especially for adults who for some reason never learned how to read fluently.  

I'm looking forward to the challenge of becoming a reading tutor.

Welsh Ponies Are My Favorite Ponies

Today I'm going to write about my special pony Murphy.  I have 2 other horses that are in their 20's and really wasn't considering getting another horse.  However, someone I know was going through a divorce and had to quickly give away their Welsh pony.  I couldn't pass up a pony that had been trained in both the English and western riding style for the show ring..  I have been taking lessons on Welsh ponies for over 10 years and have always wanted one of my own.  So...I have had Murphy for about 6 months.

Murphy is a very sweet and versatile pony.  He has won many ribbons in the show ring in both english and western and is also trained to jump over small jumps.  I have taken him out on trail rides and he does pretty well.  His main quirk is that he think he's the boss or lead pony, so he insists on being out in the front.  If anyone challenges him for the lead he will speed up and go out in front.  We definitely have to work on that! Even though he is 15 years old, he has many years ahead of him.  Welsh ponies tend to live to 30 and beyond with good care.  I love Murphy and no doubt we will have many happy years together.