A Holiday note from the Isaac Fox Reading Team
We want to wish all of you a wonderful holiday break. Although this is a busy time of
year, we want to encourage you to make a special time for reading with your child. Plan
to visit the library or a book store with your child. Find out what kind of stories your child
likes—fantasy, sports, animals, humor, etc. Choose books that your child can read
without frustration to build confidence and fluency. Listen to your child read and
encourage his or her efforts. You can also choose more difficult books in which your child
is interested but may not be able to read independently for family read-alouds or shared
reading. Reading to your child—at any age—not only provides a model of fluent
reading, but it also introduces your child to higher level vocabulary and more challenging
plots. Sharing a book or series of books together is a wonderful bonding experience for
parents and children. When children see their parents excited about reading, they will
begin to feel the same way. This is especially important for reluctant readers. Why not
replace a family movie night with a family reading night this holiday season. Light a fire
in the fireplace, make some hot cocoa, and snuggle up to a good book! Who knows,
maybe you’ll start a new holiday tradition. See below for tips on reading to your child.
Happy Reading!
Mrs. Noble, Mrs. Chopra,
Mrs. Dillon & Mrs. Knowles
Get the most out of reading with your child:
Did you know that the single most important activity for building knowledge required for eventual
success in reading is reading aloud to children? Did you know that even after children learn to read, you
should continue to read aloud to them? When you read aloud, you create background knowledge,
develop vocabulary, introduce new learning, and provide a reading role model.
Get the most out of reading aloud by following these three tips:
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If the book has illustrations or pictures, hold the book so your child can see the words and
pictures while you are reading.
Take your time and don’t rush the story. Reading at an appropriate rate will help you read
clearly – and allow for an enjoyable experience.
Don’t be afraid to stop reading a book if your child doesn’t seem interested. Have a backup
selection ready so read-aloud can continue.
Consider a variety of books including alphabet books, picture books, chapter books, poetry, biographies,
and informational books. Children can understand more-sophisticated and complicated books that are
read to them than the books they can read alone. You can choose books for reading aloud that are a bit
above their reading level; if they don’t understand something, you are right there to explain it. Reading
aloud can be a time for relaxing, talking, and being together.
Here are a few ideas to get the conversation going during read-aloud:
Conversations About Books
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By looking at the cover, what do you think this story might be about?
Tell me what has happened so far in this book.
What do you think will happen next?
Can you predict the ending?
Is this story fiction story realistic or fantasy? How can you tell?
Draw or tell about your favorite character.
What is the setting for this story?
What were three things that happened in this story?
What was the problem in the story?
How did the characters solve the problem?
Is there a special lesson to learn in this book? If so, what is it? Share
what you learned.
Make up another version of the story with different characters and
setting.
What do you still wonder about?
Can you use this new word in your own sentence to show that you
understand its meaning?