Helping Your 2 nd /3 rd Grade Child at Home Presented by Karen Madden, M.Ed.

This is important…Everyday just talk to your child! Kids need conversations and to hear new vocabulary so don’t be afraid to use “big” words. -Talk to your child about the shows they watch. Ask them to make predictions. Ask them who is their favorite character or action scene. Ask them to tell you what was the most important part. -Encourage your child to ask questions at school. Kids who ask questions are engaged and will learn more than those who don’t!ask questions

Literacy Activities at Home for Second and Third Grade You read to me and I’ll read to you!  It is important to read with your child daily for at least 15 minutes. Listening to stories read aloud increases a child’s vocabulary significantly.  Make sure your child is reading “just right” books silently or to you daily.  Help your child know it’s right for them using the “5 finger rule”. If they read the first page of a chapter book (about 100 words) and they miss 5 or more, it’s too hard for them to read independently. Reading at home should never be a struggle.  Reading books over and over or books that seem too easy may seem boring to you, but to your child it builds confidence, sight words, and fluency.

"Why Can't I Skip My Twenty Minutes of Reading Tonight?" Let's figure it out -- mathematically! Student A reads 20 minutes five nights of every week; Student B reads only 4 minutes a night...or not at all! Step 1: Multiply minutes a night x 5 times each week. Student A reads 20 min. x 5 times a week = 100 mins./week. Student B reads 4 minutes x 5 times a week = 20 minutes Step 2: Multiply minutes a week x 4 weeks each month. Student A reads 400 minutes a month. Student B reads 80 minutes a month. Step 3: Multiply minutes a month x 9 months/school year Student A reads 3600 min. in a school year. Student B reads 720 min. in a school year. Student A practices reading the equivalent of ten whole school days a year. Student B gets the equivalent of only two school days of reading practice. By the end of 6th grade if Student A and Student B maintain these same reading habits, Student A will have read the equivalent of 60 whole school days Student B will have read the equivalent of only 12 school days.

Phonics at Home-Word Chunks and Associations Phonics at the most basic level is the identification of letters and sounds. Students then develop an understanding that letters form words, words form sentences, and sentences make stories. Second and third graders should recognize word families within words to help them decode words. When spelling words, encourage them to think of a word that they know that has the same sounds. Ex. rake sounds like make, or I know pink so I should know think. Sight words are often “rule-breakers” and need to be memorized. Ex. have, of, what As a parent, you can help your child by circling the misspelled words and help them fix it by looking for it in a book, a dictionary, or even on-line.

-Go on a word hunt in magazines, newspapers, etc. for vowel teams, theme words, words with suffixes, prefixes, etc. -Play “I Spy” while in the car -Look for words that start with a, then b, then c, etc. as you drive. You can make this harder as they get older by requiring the words to be longer -Use play dough to practice spelling words and sight words -Use sidewalk chalk to practice words when the weather is nice! -Make a scrapbook of familiar people, places, and things and label them together -Cook together scrapbookCook together Fun ways to practice phonics skills at home so that they don’t even know they are learning

Comprehension-Help your child understand what they read! As you read together daily for at least 15 minutes, stop and talk. Kids need to hear good modeling of reading AND thinking! Questions to Ask Before, During and After Reading Did this story remind you of something that has happened to you? Another story you have read? Before reading a story, talk about what you know about it already. Look at the pictures and talk about what you think will happen. Then stop and discuss if you were correct or incorrect as you read together. As you are reading together, stop and talk about what pictures you have in your mind or what image some words make you think of. When you finish reading a book, ask your child to summarize the story for you. Ask your child to tell why he/she liked or didn’t like the book. What would make it better? How would you change it? Comprehension is critical. Seven keys to comprehension are… 1. Making connections 2. Making predictions 3. Questioning 4. Summarizing 5. Visualization 6. Inferring Meaning 7. Checking yourself for meaning

Resources and Ideas for helping your child at home!  Set aside a quiet time for homework. Whatever time you decide, make it a daily routine.  Read even on the weekend. If you present to your child that reading is important, then your child will believe it too!  Go to the public library together.  Play games together-Board games, chess, checkers, and even computer games! Try madduxreading & madduxmath are the logins. The portaportal has parent links too!