Kennedy School Back to School Night Literacy Newsletter
September 2015
Welcome Parents!
Monthly tips for parents:
Rediscover Your Public Library
By: Reading Rockets
Libraries are great resources for families with young
children; you can find books, entertainment, educational
and cultural enrichment, literacy tips, and other valuable
information. Here are six reasons to visit your public
library!
The Top 6 reasons to go visit
Reading with Your
Children
How to Read Aloud to Your Child and Why It's
Important
According to the Family Literacy Foundation, the many
benefits of reading aloud with children are:
 Children's self esteem grows as they experience the
security of having a parent or other caring person read aloud
with them.
 Children experience increased communication with
parents and other family members.
 Children are introduced to new concepts such as colors,
shapes, numbers, and alphabet, in a fun, age appropriate
way.
 Children build listening skills, vocabulary, memory, and
language skills.
 Children develop imagination and creativity.
 Children learn information about the world around them.
 Children develop individual interests in special subjects
like dinosaurs, cats, or cars.
 Children learn positive behavior patterns and social
values.
 Children learn positive attitudes towards themselves and
others.
 CHILDREN LEARN THE JOY OF READING!
1. Free programs and activities: From
author visits to puppet shows to
family films, libraries offer programs
with kid appeal after school, on the
weekends, and during the summer.
Ask your librarian for the schedule of
upcoming events.
2. Workshops: Many libraries offer
workshops that can help enrich your
life as an adult and support you as a
parent. At many libraries, it is
possible to learn to knit, prepare your
taxes, update your resume, gain
computer skills, or improve your
parenting skills.
3. Books: Librarians are happy to make
recommendations and most public
libraries have a special section just
for children's books.
4. Movies: Your public library is a great
source for free access to the latest
blockbusters, family movie classics,
documentaries, or favorite TV shows.
5. Magazines
and
newspapers:
Introduce your child to some of the
magazines designed just for children.
With bold photographs, poems and a
joke or two, magazines are another
reading choice for beginning readers.
Or catch up on the news in your
community and share a smile over the
comics.
6. Computers: Most public libraries
offer free Internet access, computers
with educational games for kids, and
valuable
online
resources
for
teenagers.
A Peek at Small Group Instruction in Your Child’s
Classroom. What is Guided Reading?
A Parent’s Guide to Guided Reading
By: Mary Doman, Scholastic
Guided reading: Helping your child learn how to read
is not easy. It becomes even more challenging since
schools often use leveling systems unfamiliar to most
parents. One of the most popular leveling systems in
use today is Guided Reading Levels (GRL). This
system was developed by two renowned teaching
specialists, Gay Su Pinnell and Irene C. Fountas, in
the late 1990s and has been found in classrooms
around the world ever since as guided reading.
Guided reading is also referred to as Fountas and
Pinnell Levels after its founders.
Guided Reading: How Does Guided Reading Work?
Guided reading is used in the classroom in smallgroup instruction and for independent reading. When
your child enters a new grade he or she is assessed
and assigned a guided reading level based on wordknowledge, comprehension, and fluency. The levels
range alphabetically from A to Z, with level A
representing the lowest level and level Z the highest.
This allows the teacher to work closely with each
student to help them become better readers by
introducing them to increasingly challenging books
while meeting the varying instructional needs of each
child in the room through guided reading.
These guided reading categories are:
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Genre: The type of the book
Text Structure: How the book is organized and
presented
Content: The subject matter of a book
Themes and Ideas: The big ideas that are
communicated by the author
Language and Literary Features: The types of
writing techniques employed by the writer
Sentence Complexity: How challenging the syntax is
of each sentence
Vocabulary: The frequency of new words introduced
in the book
Words: The ease at which the words in the book can be
figured out or decoded by a reader
Illustrations: The correlation and consistency of
images and pictures in the books to the words printed
on the page
Book and Print Features: The physical aspects of the
printed word on the page.
Help Kids to P.I.C.K. the Right Books
Choosing the best book can be easy when kids have a little bit
of support.
By Amy Mascott, Scholastic
Choosing the best book can be easy when kids have a
little bit of support.
The secret to helping kids learn how to choose the right
book is simple.
It's all about teaching them one word that they can keep
in their back pocket any time they're in the library or
school media center. It's one word they can lean on when
they're in the class book corner or at the book fair.
C = Comprehend. Is the book something that the child
can comprehend? Can he or she understand what's read?
Is it a book that is appropriate for his or her level or
abilities?
Children are more aware of their reading "level" than we
may think, so though we don't want to lean entirely on it,
it's okay to remind kids that if they're choosing a book to
read independently, and they read at a Level E (for
example) that they should not choose a book from the
Level M basket. Also, it's important to teach kids that if
the book isn't labeled with a level, they can quickly
assess if it's an appropriate book for them by opening the
book and choosing a page – the book is appropriate for
them if they are able to understand what they read.
Children can determine comprehension asking
themselves:
All they need to remember is P.I.C.K.
• Did I understand what I just read?
• Do I remember what I read?
P.I.C.K. stands for Purpose, Interest, Comprehension, and
• Was I able to read most of the words?
Know the Words.
P = Purpose: We need to have kids consider their
purpose for reading. Why are they looking for a book in
the first place? Is it totally a free choice, or is there some
other reason for reading it?
In order to determine purpose, consider asking:
• Are they reading for pleasure?
• Are they trying to learn something?
• Is the book going to be read silently or out loud?
• Who is their audience?
Most often, purpose for reading can be found with a
quick answer.
I = Interest. When choosing a book, it should be
something of interest. With the many millions of books
on shelves today, there's bound to be something out
there for everyone. And emphasizing the interest
connections is super-important as well. If the child is
interested in cars, then don't stop at fictional stories
about cars; consider books about racetracks, car
construction, history of racing, racecar drivers, or car
design. If it's magic that intrigues your daughter, then
emphasize books about magic shows, magic tricks, and
magicians; look for books that involve fantasy, science,
and invention.
Even if children have a short amount of time to choose
books, they can determine interest by:
• Looking at the front cover
• Flipping through the pages to glance at photos or
illustrations
• Reading the back cover
• Reading the chapter titles
This brings us to our final letter: K.
K = Know the Words. Readers should be able to decode
-- or read -- and understand the majority of the words on
the page. The key is to remembering the "Five Finger
Rule."
The "Five Finger Rule" outlines a general idea of how
many words a reader should be able to read on each
page.
• 0-1 unknown words = book is too easy
• 2-3 unknown words = book is just right
• 4-5 unknown words = book is too difficult
Knowing P.I.C.K. is empowering for kids. They want to
know how to choose books that fit for them -- books that
are enjoyable, fun, and exciting. It's all about giving our
kids the tools they need to be strong, confident readers.
Choosing the best book is the starting point.
For more information contact:
Erin J. Stinson
Kennedy School Literacy Coach
estinson@northbergen.k12.nj.us