Help for Struggling Readers: Creating Your Own Color Overlays

DIY Color Overlays

Step one: Buy a variety of colorful transparent sheets. You can use -

• color, transparency film
• color, transparent report covers (plastic)
• color, transparent dividers (plastic)

All of these options can be found at office supply stores.

Step two: Everyone is different. Let your students try out the different colors and see which one they like the best.

 

Step three: For some students, keep whole sheets so that students have the option of changing the background color of the entire page of text. Other students might like a thin strip of color, as it can help with tracking from one line to the next. I make them a variety of lengths and widths, and often let students decide for themselves. Note: The strips also make wonderful book marks.

Step four (optional): Place a plain sticker on the end of the overlay strip or the bottom of a whole sheet so that students can write their name on it. Students can also pick out a sticker of an image too. Just make sure to keep all stickers on one end of the color overlay strip or the bottom of the overlay page.

Step five (optional): For those students that get overwhelmed by to many words on a page, you can place duct tape around the edge of the overlay to block out competing lines of text.

At the end of the activity, even if a few of your students don’t find color overlays helpful, they will still have a useful book mark.

For more great reading remediation ideas, check out my reading games! You can even get a free sample game!!

With a little creativity and a few simple materials, you can empower students to discover the colors that make reading clearer, calmer, and more enjoyable.

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