Does your school offer a remediation for reading? At my school, students who are struggling readers can take a remediation class (which only has about 12 students for more individualize purposes) in order to help the students improve on their reading and comprehension. They have this same class for math.

For report card purposes, the math grade should reflect his math achievement. Read the word problems to him or have him read them to you to make sure that he understands what the problem is saying. Start him on RTI because often the discrepancy between math and reading shows a learning disability.

As the math teacher you really need to see if you can get him into a remediation reading class or program. You will never have enough time or resources to remediate his reading while still covering your math standards. If you focus on reading with him then his strength, math, could falter and he would not be successful at all.

There is a program called reading 180 that works very well with reading instruction. I would also focus on Johnny's strengths in math because he can make a great career for himself using the universal language of numbers. You may also want to research other adults that are talented in using the left part of their mind (I believe that is the side for logic and math) and find if it is necessary to rectify this problem.

I would devise simple word problems with short, non-complex sentences; however, the sentences would revolve around something that he is interested in. This would allow for his attention to actually be focused in on what he is reading, as well as, allowing for a sentence that is easily read and understood.

Maybe, work with him on how to decode the word problems and pull out the pertinent information. Aside from working on reading in general, learning what to look for in a math word problem might help him.

A lot of times when students struggle with reading skills, math questions are allowed to be read out loud to them. I would check to see if this is a possibility. Reading the math questions out loud to the entire class will help him not to be singled out.

There is some apps and computer programs such as teachyourmostertoread.com or raz kids that can help the students in reading. Make the use of one for that particular child every day for 15-20 minutes and he will improve. I would have a meeting with his parents, so they are aware of the situation and can be a support at home encouraging to read every day.

Do you know if he has any issues with reading, such as dyslexia? I would also try to adjust the wording on your problems and make them easier to read. You could also read them to him so he understands fully, and try to keep his grade from being effected.

Read the word problem to him first. Then have several students read the word problem along with him, Then have him read it out loud. Ask him to explain what the question is asking him. Ask him to use visual representations to be able to work through what is being read and how it relates to the necessary math computation. Have a discussion with him before hand where you present some of the words in the problem that may give him trouble. Talk about how the word is spelled, what the word means, words that mean the same, opposite, how the word would be pronounced. Also, discuss this problem with his reading teacher to see if there may be some extra practice he/she could provide for the student.

As the end of year assessments are creating the necessity for students to have better reading skills, this is an issue. However, the student may need an accommodation which allows him to get his tests read which will help him develop him math comprehensions. However, this will not help him read better.