Reading
What Good Readers Do
Strategies to Help Your
Child Become a Better
Reader!
Reading Strategies
1. Look at the Picture (Use your eagle eye)
-Before we read any words in a book we always
take a “Picture Walk”. We talk about what is
happening in the story just by looking at the
pictures. This is one of the most important
reading skills we have! Your child needs to use
the pictures to help him/her read the words.
Reading Strategies
2. Get your Mouth Ready (Get your fish lips
ready)
-When your child gets to a word that he/she
may not know, the first thing we say is “Get
your mouth ready”. This simply means, get
your mouth ready to say the 1st sound of the
word. For example: If the word is rabbit, your
child will get his/her mouth ready to say the
/r/ sound.
Segment Words
• When we speak, we blend sounds together to make a word.
For example, when we say the word ham, we are blending
the sounds /h/-/ã/-/m/ together quickly.
To learn to spell, we need to take those individual sounds
apart. That process is called segmenting.
*A quick way to know if your child can segment words is to
ask, "What sounds do you hear in the word pan?"
If your child isn't able to easily identify the three
individual sounds (/p/-/ã/-/n/), teach him how to segment
words. This is an important skill that will make learning to
spell so much easier for your student.
http://www.all-about-spelling.com/segmenting-words.html
-See the attached sheet “20 Words to Segment With Your
Child”
Most Common
Word Families
Words Inside of Words
• In Kindergarten we tell students to look for
“Chunks” in words when reading. This simply
means to look for words inside of words. A
chunk is a unit of letters commonly grouped in
words. Chunks are found at the beginning,
middle or end of words. For example, the an
chunk is in the words and, sand, man, ant, can
etc...Teaching students how to recognize
common chunks can help them figure out new
words when reading and writing.
Blends and Diagraphs
• -Blends are combinations of
consonants where you can still hear
the two separate sounds,( br, cr, pl.)
• -Digraphs are where two letters are
used to represent a single sound - sh,
th, wh, ch.
Look for Sight Words
• -Sight words are words that your
child sees in books regularly
• -Sight words should be memorized
and recognized quickly.
• -Your child should be able to read
AND spell sight words
• -Flashcards
Memorization Reading
• It is okay if your child is memorizing a story
after several readings.
• Example 1: Goldilocks and the Three Bears
Your child may have heard this story several
times and can now tell you the story.
Example 2: We Can Go
Your child has read the story several times
and has memorized the words but may not
be reading the words.
This is a pre-reading stage. This helps to
build confidence as a reader.
Ways To Help At Home
• READ WITH YOUR CHILD EVERYDAY!! Even if
it is only for 5 or 10 minutes!
• Ask your child to tell you what happened in the
story (recall details).
• Sequence the events of the story. What
happened 1st, 2nd, 3rd etc...
• Make predictions about what you think might
happen next.
• Ask questions! Who was in the story? Where did
the story take place? Why do you think that
happened? What was the problem in the story?
Book Boxes
• 1. Find a shoe box (or any other small box)
Make sure that it will fit a ½ size paper
inside.
• 2. Wrap the box with fun paper and
decorate.
• 3. Find a special place for the box.
• 4. Every time a “shoe box book” comes home
put it in the box.
• *Encourage your child to continue reading
these fun little books!
Websites
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School-Home Link
http://www2.ed.gov/pubs/CompactforReading/tablek.html
Reading Rockets http://www.readingrockets.org/article/7834
Interactive Internet 4 Classrooms
http://www.internet4classrooms.com/month2month.htm
Starfall: www.starfall.com
PBS Kids: www..PBSkids.org
Color Words http://www.crickweb.co.uk/EarlyYears.html#number-english
Number Words http://www.crickweb.co.uk/EarlyYears.html#number-english
Carl’s Corner: carlscorner.us.com, alphabetavenue.net
Phonics: funfonix.com
Mrs. Jones This site has many great word family ideas, tips and
printable booklets / worksheets:
http://mrsjonesroom.com/teachers/wordfamilies.html
“The more that you
read, the more things
you will know. The
more that you learn,
the more places you'll
go.” Dr. Seuss
Writing
“As a child becomes a better
writer, he or she is probably going
to read better, spell better, and
think more clearly too.”
www.readingrockets.org
Kindergarten Drawing Proficiency
Kindergarten Writing Proficiency
How can you
help your child
at home?
Thanks for coming!
Don’t forget to write
down any questions you
have and turn them in
before you leave!