One of the most important factors in becoming a better reader is to read often and to read books that are at an appropriate level. Your child should be spending most of his/her time reading books that are at an independent or instructional level (books that require a small amount of adult support). It is also important to continue to read to your child, so that he/she can experience higher level texts and so that you can model fluency and expression. Below, I have listed some tips for interacting with your child before, during, and after reading. Remember that reading should be fun--so cuddle up and enjoy a good book!!
Before reading:
1. Look at the title, discuss the cover, and take a "picture walk". Have your child make predictions about the characters and events you will be reading about. Point out any unusual or difficult words/names.
During reading:
1. Encourage your child to use a combination of strategies to solve unknown words. I have listed many of the strategies that we practice in class.
a. Look at the picture.
b. Get your mouth ready for the first letter of the unknown word.
c. Sound out the word.
d. "Chunk" the word (break it into parts).
e. Re-read the sentence from the beginning.
f. If necessary, skip the unknown word and read on. Sometimes there are helpful context clues after the word.
g. Always think about what makes sense.
h. If your child is spending too much time on a word, just tell him/her the word, so that fluency and comprehension can be maintained.
2. Praise attempts to solve unknown words and attempts to self-correct. When your child does try to guess at an unfamiliar word, ask, "Does it look right? Does it sound right? Does it make sense?"
3. It is okay to make some comments during the reading process--especially to draw attention to places where predictions are confirmed or need to be adjusted, but don't interrupt too many times or for too long, because it interrupts the flow of the story and can take away from the meaning.
After reading:
1. Encourage your child to re-tell the story, including the key elements of characters, setting, problem, and solution. Ask him/her if the story turned out the way he/she expected. Ask your child to give an opinion about the book.
There are many ways to enjoy a book together. With shorter texts, encourage repeated readings of the same story to increase fluency. (I tell my students to try to read it the way they talk.) You can do a choral reading with your child (read out loud together) or do echo reading (you read, then your child echoes you).
An important factor in improving reading skills, is to increase your child's sight word vocabulary. Sight words are words that your child can read automatically with no sounding out needed. The more words that your child can read by sight, the less decoding he/she will need to do when reading. This increases fluency which improves comprehension. I have included a list of 100 high frequency words (words found the most often in books) as well as suggestions for practicing those words.
Games to practice high frequency words:
"Bingo" (2 or more players)
Materials: bingo board, words from the list written on flashcards, bingo chips
Directions: Players choose words from the list to write on their bingo board. Players use the flashcards to draw a word and read it. If the word is on a player's bingo board, they may place a bingo chip on it. Continue until one player has bingo (straight line down, across, diagonal etc.)
"Bang" (2 or more players)
Materials: a can/bucket, words from the list written on flashcards, the word BANG written on five different flashcards
Directions: Place all flashcards in the can/bucket. Players take turns drawing a word from the can/bucket and
reading it. Each word that is drawn may be kept, but beware of the word BANG! A player that draws the word BANG must put all of his/her cards back in the can/bucket. Continue playing until the can is empty. The player with the most words wins.
"Memory" (2 or more players)
Materials: ten to twelve words from the list written in pairs on flashcards
Directions: Place the flashcards face down. Player one draws two cards. If the words on the cards make a match, the player gets to keep the match and go again. If the words on the cards don't make a match, the player puts the cards back face down. Play continues until all matches have been made. The player with the most matches is the winner.
the to and
he a I
you it of
in was said
his that she
for on they
but had at
him with up
all look is
her there some
out as be
have go we
one then little
down do can
could when did
what thing so
see not were
get them like
just this my
would me will
big mother went
are come back
if now other
long no came
ask day very
boy an over
your time from
good any about
Mr. father around
want don't how
know right put
too got take
where every dog
way
Before reading:
1. Look at the title, discuss the cover, and take a "picture walk". Have your child make predictions about the characters and events you will be reading about. Point out any unusual or difficult words/names.
During reading:
1. Encourage your child to use a combination of strategies to solve unknown words. I have listed many of the strategies that we practice in class.
a. Look at the picture.
b. Get your mouth ready for the first letter of the unknown word.
c. Sound out the word.
d. "Chunk" the word (break it into parts).
e. Re-read the sentence from the beginning.
f. If necessary, skip the unknown word and read on. Sometimes there are helpful context clues after the word.
g. Always think about what makes sense.
h. If your child is spending too much time on a word, just tell him/her the word, so that fluency and comprehension can be maintained.
2. Praise attempts to solve unknown words and attempts to self-correct. When your child does try to guess at an unfamiliar word, ask, "Does it look right? Does it sound right? Does it make sense?"
3. It is okay to make some comments during the reading process--especially to draw attention to places where predictions are confirmed or need to be adjusted, but don't interrupt too many times or for too long, because it interrupts the flow of the story and can take away from the meaning.
After reading:
1. Encourage your child to re-tell the story, including the key elements of characters, setting, problem, and solution. Ask him/her if the story turned out the way he/she expected. Ask your child to give an opinion about the book.
There are many ways to enjoy a book together. With shorter texts, encourage repeated readings of the same story to increase fluency. (I tell my students to try to read it the way they talk.) You can do a choral reading with your child (read out loud together) or do echo reading (you read, then your child echoes you).
An important factor in improving reading skills, is to increase your child's sight word vocabulary. Sight words are words that your child can read automatically with no sounding out needed. The more words that your child can read by sight, the less decoding he/she will need to do when reading. This increases fluency which improves comprehension. I have included a list of 100 high frequency words (words found the most often in books) as well as suggestions for practicing those words.
Games to practice high frequency words:
"Bingo" (2 or more players)
Materials: bingo board, words from the list written on flashcards, bingo chips
Directions: Players choose words from the list to write on their bingo board. Players use the flashcards to draw a word and read it. If the word is on a player's bingo board, they may place a bingo chip on it. Continue until one player has bingo (straight line down, across, diagonal etc.)
"Bang" (2 or more players)
Materials: a can/bucket, words from the list written on flashcards, the word BANG written on five different flashcards
Directions: Place all flashcards in the can/bucket. Players take turns drawing a word from the can/bucket and
reading it. Each word that is drawn may be kept, but beware of the word BANG! A player that draws the word BANG must put all of his/her cards back in the can/bucket. Continue playing until the can is empty. The player with the most words wins.
"Memory" (2 or more players)
Materials: ten to twelve words from the list written in pairs on flashcards
Directions: Place the flashcards face down. Player one draws two cards. If the words on the cards make a match, the player gets to keep the match and go again. If the words on the cards don't make a match, the player puts the cards back face down. Play continues until all matches have been made. The player with the most matches is the winner.
the to and
he a I
you it of
in was said
his that she
for on they
but had at
him with up
all look is
her there some
out as be
have go we
one then little
down do can
could when did
what thing so
see not were
get them like
just this my
would me will
big mother went
are come back
if now other
long no came
ask day very
boy an over
your time from
good any about
Mr. father around
want don't how
know right put
too got take
where every dog
way