First Grade How can I help my child to become a better reader?

4 Main Components of Reading Fluency Accuracy Comprehension Vocabulary

Fluency/ Prosody Fluency is the ability to read text accurately and quickly. (Reading should sound like when you talk.) Prosody is the use of expression and tone while reading. Ways to help at home: – have your child read out loud to you, to a sibling, to a stuffed animal –Have your child record himself/herself reading a story out loud Some good materials to choose from are: –nursery rhymes –poems –chants

Accuracy Make sure your child is reading at his/ her level. A book that is too challenging will become frustrating and does not promote comprehension. If too much time is spent on decoding, the meaning will be lost.

What prompts can I use to help my child read?

Use Picture Clues! Pictures help your child figure out words that he/she cannot yet sound out. They help your child make meaning of the story. Children build their vocabulary as they look at the pictures and discuss what they see!

Look at the punctuation marks! Punctuation marks help tell the story. Remind your child to look at them while reading. Phrasing is also very important. Help! Can I help you? I can help you.

Blend the sounds to figure out an unknown words. c a t

Look for a little word in a big word or a part that you know. c am p b all th at

Think of a word that makes sense. Does the first letter sound match? The fish swims in the ______. lake pondwater

Read the sentence or word again to make sure it… Looks right Sounds right Makes sense The cat is small.

Comprehension Strategies Predict Character Traits/ Setting Main Idea Problem/ Solution Plot Retelling Genre Author’s Purpose Mental Images/ Visualizing

Prediction “Make a guess” about what will happen and tell why you made that prediction. –What will happen next? –How do you think the story will end? After you finish reading, check your prediction.

Character Traits/ Setting People or animals in the story---notice details about how they look, feel, and act to describe character traits Setting is when and where the story takes place.

Main Idea What the text is mostly about Supporting Details- The details that support the main idea.

Problem/ Plot/ Solution Beginning of Story- Character(s), setting, & problems are introduced. Middle of Story- Character(s) tries to solve the problem/ plot End of Story- Problem resolution

Retelling Sequence of most important events Ex: First, ______. Next, ______. Then, ________. Last, _______. -It’s good to have your child tell you what happened in the story.

Mental Images/ Visualizing Make a picture or mental image: Your child can draw what they read or describe to you verbally what they saw in their mind. Tell them to think about the story as if it were a movie.

Comprehension Questions Ask higher level questions: Instead of: “What color was her dress?” Ask: What do you think that (character) meant by________? Instead of: “Who was Mary’s best friend in the story? Ask: “ Why do you think Mary was best friends with Jan?”

Parent-child book discussion ideas Share a connection (Does anything in this story make you think about something else you have read or something in your own life?) Share something you liked, disliked, or found interesting about the story and explain why. What is the author trying to tell you in the story? (lesson or message)

Activities to Support Writing at Home Write a friendly letter (pen pals with friends or family members) Make a list Write a picture story Keep a journal or diary Thank you notes Write about what they read

Spelling Encourage your child to recognize and use patterns in spelling, rather than memorizing the words. Stretch out the sounds in the words. Spell the best you can and move on (Don’t let spelling hinder their writing). Play hangman with spelling words. Play scrabble or other word games.

But most important of all…

Read to your child, Read with your child, or Listen to your child read every night!

Online Resources Tumblebooklibrary.com Pebblego.com Please contact your teacher to obtain the username and password for these sites. Due to copyright laws, we cannot post them online any longer.