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LEVEL 1 - You can use paragraphs from periodicals such as the Reader’s Digest or Sports Illustrated, depending on the interests of the student. Read the paragraphs one at a time to the student or have the student read them aloud to you. Then ask the student questions about the paragraph. Begin with 2-sentence “paragraphs”. Give a minute in between each set but do about 3 or 4 per session, if tolerated.

LEVEL 2 - Increase the length of information read (either by you or the student, as both are important). Try 5-sentence paragraphs, ½ page stories and page-length stories. Always follow the reading with questions. The questions can be multiple choice, yes/no, fill-in-the-blank or narrative answer.

LEVEL 3 - Have the student begin incorporating daily reading, either from the newspaper, magazines, or a book of their choice. Ask the student daily what they have read. If they have trouble relaying any information, ask more direct questions, (for instance, “Who was in the story?” and “What happened to the person in the story?”).

LEVEL 4 - Read the newspaper, listen to the radio news or watch news programs on the television. Pick out one major news event that the student is to recall on request during the day. Provide cueing as needed. Cueing can consist of re-reading the article or listening to the news story more than once during the day. Cueing can also consist of asking the student “WH-questions” (for example: What was the news about? Who was it about? Where did it happen?) A great way to assist the student is to ask these things during the reading or listening to the newscast or story, not only when you want the person to answer your question. Another method of cueing is to use a sentence completion task that leads the person to the answer (for example: “The woman in the news story was trapped in a _________.”

LEVEL 5 - Go with the student to the periodicals and newspaper sections of the local library. Encourage the student to write down some ideas or questions regarding the top news stories for that week. Suggest that the student take these questions and look for more information either from other news periodicals or the librarian.

LEVEL 6 - Have the student look up information regarding news articles or stories on the Internet. This can be done at a local library if access to the Internet is not available at home. Have the student answer questions regarding this information at different time intervals, such as immediately following receiving the information, 10 minutes after, 15 minutes, 30 minutes, and later that day.

LEVELS 7 - Have the student make up his or her own questions about the news events. Tell the student that answers must be provided, as well. This encourages memory to be used in a more subtle way while also using other cognitive skills like reasoning.