Reading Book Bags
We are adding a new reading program in our classroom called "Reading Book Bags". Your child will be bringing home a book to enjoy reading with you at home. It may be a book your child:
A. will soon be learning to read and needs to hear you read the book aloud several times in preparation for learning to read the book
B. is just learning to read at school and needs to practice reading it at home
C. has finished learning to read and needs to both read it aloud to you and tell you about it
When your child brings home a "Reading Book Bag", thank you for helping him/her practice reading the book with you. Please help your child take good care of the book. Please help your child return the book to school the next day because we are using these books in the classroom as well as for take-home reading.
Helpful Hints for Helping Your Child With Reading
A. Reading A Book Aloud with Your Child:
First, look at the book with your child and ask he/she to to look at the illustrations and predict what the story is about and what will happen in the story. Then read the book aloud with your child: 1) listening to enjoy the story and beauty of the words; and 2) looking at the pages to follow the text as you point to the words and/or to watch how the illustrations match and build understanding of the story.
Second, re-read the book at a pace that is just right for your child to follow the print with his/her index finger or with an unsharpened specially chosen pencil for a pointer as you read aloud. This way the child starts to make the association between the words being heard and the print that represents those words. Read with lots of expression being sure to pause at exciting moments. A good thinking skills prompt at an exciting moment in the story is to ask your child, "If you were the author, what would you write to tell what happens next?"
Third, stop to talk after reading each page. Ask your child to retell what he/she heard being read, what's happening in the story, and/or what he/she liked in the book so far (and why?). As you are reading together, have your child turn the pages as one way to keep focus on when all the words of a page have been read.
Fourth, when you have finished the read aloud time, invite your child to draw a picture or sketch about the pages you have read together. You can join in, too, and make a sketch of your favorite part. Help your child put words to his/her picture and re-read those words with you. Your child might also enjoy making a diorama of the story. We welcome your child to bring any pictures or diorama from a story to school to share with the class.
B. Helping Your Child Learn to Read a Book: Before asking your child to practice reading words of a "reading Bag Book" to you, do the following:
read a page of sentences aloud to the child first while he/she listens and
tracks the print
read the page of sentences aloud with your child as a "duet" as
the child tracks the print remembering to read at a pace where your child
can keep up with you but not so slow that the two of you are reading words
with long pauses in between words. If pauses between words are too long, it
is difficult for the child to hold the meaning of the sentence together. At
first your child may read just a split second behind you or echo your words
which is okay.
Re-read the sentences until he/she can read the words simultaneously with
you.
When you are helping your child work on learning to read the words of a book independently, remind him/her to use all three of the following thinking clues to figure out and predict words. Successful readers use all three strategies together to predict words.
Story Clues: This is when your child predicts
words from knowing what the story is about and what makes sense for that story
topic; ask your child "What word would make sense for this story?"
Sentence
Clues:This is when your child predicts words from what
makes sense for the part of the sentence he/she is trying to read. To help
your child, you can ask her/him, "What would make sense for the next
word in this sentence...?" You can also re-read aloud the words your
child knew already that are just preceeding the one he/she is working on predicting.
Hearing you read the words can help your child think what word is likely to
come next.
Letter Sound Clues:
This is when your child is predicting words using the sounds that the beginning,
middle and ending letters can make.
Remind your child that some letters can make several sounds so if the first
sound he/she tries doesn't work, he/she should try other possibilities for
that letter. Remind your child that several letters might make a sound together
and that several letters together even may make several different sounds.
Encourage your child to try different reasonable possibilities for letter
sounds until the combination of sounds come together to make a familiar word
that makes sense for that part of the sentence and for the story. Also remind
your child that
some letters are silent. Our English language is not consistently
phonetic which means that different letters do make different sounds in different
words and some letters do not make any sounds in some words. For example,
the word "earth" phonetically sounds like "r-th" but if
a child were trying to sound it out one letter at a time, he/she might come
up with "eee-ah-r-tuh-huh". While there are some consistent phonetic
letter sound rules in in English language words, there are also words where
letters make different sounds. this emans that children need to know the multiple
possibilities for letter sounds and with some words, it helps to memorize
what the word sounds like.
You can use the following prompts to help your child predict words and develop fluency in reading words in a book:
When
your child gets stuck on a word of a sentence, remind him/her to say "blank"
for that word and read on because sometimes a clue for that word shows up
with words that are later in the sentence
When
your child gets stuck on a word, have your child go back and re-read the words
or phrases before it to see if those words give a clue for that word
When
your child gets stuck on a word, have your child look again at the pictures
on that page to see if there is the pictures give clues
When
your child gets stuck on a word, it is okay to give your child the word (especially
if it is a challenging to him/her and/or is a word that is difficult to sound
out or predict from context) and have he/she read on to complete the sentence.
Then have your child go back and re-read trying to remember the word you gave.
If your child continues to have difficulty with a word, help him/her practice
reading it aloud several times as well as listen to you read the sentence
several times. Talk about what the word means and enjoy reading the word over
and over in many different voices to make it fun!
C. Listening To Your Child Read Aloud a Book He/She Has Learned: Find a cozy, quiet place in your home and enjoy listening to your child read aloud to you. Remember, your child may need a little help on words even when he/she has learned the book. Supportive practice of reading is a terrific way to encourage your child to enjoy being a reader! Use the following questions to help your child talk about the book:
1. What was the title and who was the author of the book?
2. Who are all the characters in the story?
3. Name the main character(s)?
4. Describe the main characters with details about what they are like?
5. Where does the story take place? What are the settings for the story?
6. Re-tell three important things that happened in the story?
7. What are the most important things the main character(s) did?
8. Was there anything others did to help the main character(s)?
9. What do you think are the main ideas in this story?
10. Is the story fact or fiction? How can you tell? If it was fiction, is it realistic fiction?
11. Did you enjoy the book? Using details, tell why or why not?
12. If you were the author of this book, what parts would you change and why?
13. If you were the author of this book, what characters would you change or add and why?
14 Would you recommend this book to a friend? Using details and examples, tell why or why not?
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