Helping Your Child to Read

Naming Letters

Identifying upper case an lower case letters

Singing the Alphabet Song

Play “I Spy” with a book. “I spy with my little eye the letter “s”.  The child then points out every letter “s”. 

Forming letters with materials such as:  sand, dough, flour, crafts

Stamping letters using sponges or stamps

Modeling when reading with the child

Identifying letter and letter sounds with objects.  This is an apple.  Apple start with “a”, “ahh-pple.”  What letter does apple start with?  What sound does the letter “a” make? 

Color pictures that start with that sound

Letter puzzles

Letter magnets used on a cookie sheet organizing the letters into the alphabet

Worksheets

Tracing letters

Computer games and activities

Reading to the child

Write, draw, and/or color the alphabet

When reading, track each letter and sounding out each letter at the same time. Then track the whole word while sounding out the letters.  Ending with the pronunciation of the whole word.  (Eg:  “c" “a” “t”.....“ccc-aaa-ttt”.....“cat”).  Have the child practice what you have just modeled.

When practicing, speed up the letter, sound, word tracking.  Concluding with, emphasizing the word.

Build a word using magnets on a cookie sheet

Draw a picture of the word and label the picture with the word.

Letter beads.  Get letter beads and have the child create the word by stringing the letters onto the string.

Read to and with the child

Write, draw, and/or color the word

Write the word in a sentence

Play “I Spy” with a book.  “I Spy with my eye the word “the”.  The child then points out all of the words that spell “the”.

Label items in a room to create a print rich environment.

Have the child write sentences.

Have the child create a journal.

Flash cards

Make a grade appropriate list of high frequency words for the child to read.

Use dry erase board to spell high frequency words.

Using magnetic letters on a cookie sheet, spell out a high frequency word leaving one or two letters out. The child then has to figure out what the missing letters are so they can place it into the blank(s).

Use an index card to cover up the word. Then reveal it one letter at a time. Have your child name each letter and sound as it is uncovered.

Word Wall- provide a wall with post its or index cards and post high frequency words. 

Play the game “Concentration”.  Write or print each word on two cards, shuffle, and lay face down to play.

Word Search

Read a book and make cards for the words that your child recognized.

Sight word cups-Write different sight words on the top of each paper cup and hide a pom pom, snack, or object under the cups.  The child must be able to say the word in order to lift up the cup.  As they are able to say the word on the top of the cup, they may collect the objects.

Use play dough to spell out the high frequency word.

Worksheets

Computer games and activities

Reading to/with the child

Write, draw and/or color the sight word

Picture Walk-before reading, go through the book beginning to the end looking at the pictures to predict what the story will be about.

Have the child listen and read along with an audio book.

Model reading (what the text should sound like)

Echo Read-read aloud first then have the child read the same text back to you.

Pair Read-read aloud the text together.

Act out the story

Depending on the level of reader, text can be read by sentence or by passage.

Repeated reading-having the child read the same text more than once.

Discuss/define vocabulary before reading.

Have the child write a story and have them read it aloud.

Computer activities and programs

Have conversations with your child

Involve your child in activities that may provide new vocabulary (gardening, cooking,  etc.)

Talk about the story that was read

Use “larger” words in everyday conversation

Have the child keep track of new words with a journal or index cards

Discuss words that the child may not know/understand

See It, Say It, Write It-when a child comes across a word they “see” that they don’t know, pronounce it or “say” the word for the child.  Have them “say” it, then write it down.  (Have them keep a list, journal, or index cards of the new vocabulary words.)  By writing it down, they will “see” the word again.

Have the child draw a picture of the word’s definition.

See if the child can “take a guess” at the definition of the word by using clues in the sentence(s) or paragraphs.

Provide a Word of the Day

Write a sentence using the vocabulary word

Background Knowledge:  Activate background knowledge or experiences the child may have about the topic or subject.  Children connect background knowledge with new knowledge. Therefore, the more experiences they have, the easier it will be to connect new Knowledge.

Prediction:  Have the child predict what they think the story will be about.  Have them make predictions based on the title, illustrations, and the author of the book.  As the child reads the book, have them predict what they think will happen next.

Summarizing:  Have the child explain what they read in their own words.  They can tell you, write it down, act it out, draw a picture, make an analogy, list it in steps, and/or make a Storyboard.

Questioning:  Have the child ask any questions they had about the text, their reactions to it, and the author’s purpose for writing it.

Visualizing:  Making mental images to help understand what is read.  Graphic Organizers can be used to help organize what was read.  Examples below:

• • Venn Diagrams (Compare and Contrast/Similar and Different characters, books, subjects, etc.)

  • Storyboards/Chain of Events

  • Who, What, When, Why, How

  • Story Map

  • Sequencing