1. Ready, Set, Read!

2. Using Environmental Print to Teach Reading
Ready, Set, Read!
Using Environmental Print to Teach Reading
Lists
Rhymes and Poems
Songs
Newspapers and Magazines
Mail
Technology
Bring examples of different environmental print to show parents.

3. Where to Find Environmental Print
Street signs, billboards and license plates while driving
In buses and on the light rail
In stores
On food labels
In advertising
In restaurants
Every child knows that the M means McDonalds-that is the beginning of reading

4. Early Word Recognition
Pointing out and reading the words in children’s natural surroundings are great ways to develop early letter and word recognition skills.
Talk with your child and tell them what the things around them say and mean.
Talk about meaning!

5. Environmental Print Write on charts Add pictures
Display these charts on your refrigerator or in your child’s room
Review what these charts mean
Label things at home-lamp, table, refrigerator, bed, colors, etc.
Color coding, for example using blue as the color for the names of furniture (chair, couch, refrigerator, television) and green for food items

6. Generating Lists
The most common form of text that all of us write and use on a regular basis is a list
Adults make to-do lists, grocery lists, birthday wish lists and many forms of the top-10 list
We also read lists as well
The list of ingredients in our favorite recipes
The list of top teams and players in major league baseball or football
A list of best selling books
Think of David Letterman and his Top Ten lists.
Lists have become so common that many books of lists have been published.
Bring recipe books
Lists

7. Lists Lists are a normal part of family life.
Make lists with your children
From to do lists to wish lists and everything in between
Read the lists to and with your children and have your children read the created list to you!
List steps for doing things.

8. Lists Activity
Take a moment and write a list of everything you need to do this weekend or next week!
Have participants share some ideas-write on chart paper

9. Rhymes and Poems Short rhymes and poems are great to read at home!
The rhyme and alliteration in rhymes and poems make them ideal for developing sound or phonemic awareness in children.
The rhythmical nature of poems and rhymes make them easy to learn and read and fun to read again and again which is the main method for developing basic reading fluency in children.
Alliteration – words that have the same beginning sounds.
Rhymes – can be found in songs popular songs.

10. Rhymes and Poems Star light, star bright First star I see tonight
I wish I may
I wish I might
Have the wish I have tonight!
Have participants say out loud together

11. Rhymes and Poems
Collections of rhymes and poems abound in libraries and bookstores.
Read a favorite poem to and with your child every evening.
The entire experience can take less then ten minutes.
Look for interesting words in the text.
Jot them down and read them repeatedly with your child.
Have students write their own poems or nursery rhymes with parents, once they have learned some of their own.

12. Rhymes and Poems
It is the patterned nature of poems that make them easy for children to write their own versions of favorite poems that can be shared with other families.

13. Rhymes and Poems Diddle diddle dumpling my son John
Went to bed with his trousers on
One shoe off and one shoe on
Diddle diddle dumpling Principal Tim
He’s not fat and he’s not slim
He’s a pretty nice guy and we all like him
The top poem is the traditional nursery rhyme-the bottom is one that a child created after hearing repeated readings of the traditional version
Have parents make a new version of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and then ask parents to share.
Point out the Nursery Rhyme Book in the handouts.

14. Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star
Twinkle, twinkle, little star, How I wonder what you are. Up above the world so high, Like a diamond in the sky. Twinkle, twinkle, little star, How I wonder what you are!
Have the audience sing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star

15. Songs For many families songs are a natural part of family life.
We sing holiday favorites, “Happy Birthday” to the birthday person, camp songs around the fire, or traveling songs.
Research is beginning to show that singing is a wonderful way to teach reading!

16. Songs
When songs are sung and the singers have a copy of the lyrics in front of them, they are reading short, highly predictable texts that are meant to be read orally.
This type of text is among the very best material for developing students fluency and word recognition skills.
Singing needs to be a daily part of the literacy experience for students at home and school.
There are several websites where parents and children can find the lyrics to classic old songs.
One site is kids.niehs.nih.gov/music.htm
Share website handout with parents.
Some Examples “School House Rock”, Theme songs from favorite shows, name some.

17. Newspapers and Magazine
Newspapers are delivered to many homes on a daily basis and are a great source of reading experiences.
The variety of reading found in a newspaper provides you with a wealth of material for reading to and with your child.
Bring some old newspapers to workshop.
Charlotte Weekly and Free Magazines – bring examples

18. Newspapers and Magazines
Critical reading and analysis can occur in the opinion and editorial section of the paper.
The comics are a great introduction to graphic texts and novels.
Brief biographies of famous and not so famous people are often found in the obituaries.
The entertainment and sports sections provide reviews of sporting events, movies, an other events in these areas of popular culture.
Comics/Graphic Texts (Diary of a Wimpy Kid). Try to find some additional examples.

19. Newspapers and Magazines
Most newspapers have sections for word games that allow parents and children to examine how words work and what they mean in a playful and engaging manner.
Many newspapers have sections devoted to children and what is happening in their worlds.
Newspapers can be an enormously helpful way for families to get together around literacy.
Have parents find articles, comics, ads, etc. that they can share with their child.
Word search – great exercise for word recognition and building vocabulary. Most of them categorize words by theme
Have kids make their own words on chart paper using newspaper headlines and cut outs.
Spice up lunch boxes with games, words, etc.
Kids can play the games on cereal boxes or read the text
Students can make their own word search using large graph paper, a list of words and then filling in the remaining letters
Sudoku is a great activity to reinforce math.

20. Mail
Families receive mail daily-from bills to advertisements to personal and business letters.
Parents can easily transform the daily mail into opportunities to explore reading and writing with children.
Going through the mail together, sorting the mail into appropriate piles, prioritizing what needs to be looked at first and then reading through selected items can be a productive time for parents and children.

21. Technology
Most of the texts that we have mentioned can also be found on the internet.
It is easy to find materials for children to read from the internet.
The computer and internet offer another opportunity of parents and children to read and write together.
Study Island has a reading/vocabulary component and is available for all elementary and middle school students

22. Technology Word processing programs
Websites that explore words and language for children
Special program designed to teach children to read at home
and instant messaging
Students should have a log in and password, so that they can access Study Island at home or wherever they have Internet access. It is a web-based program.

23. Technology
Most televisions have the capabilities of providing written captions on the screen.
With captioned television children have the opportunity to see the written form of words as they are spoken.
Some parents have claimed that their children have learned to read from matching the voice to print.
Song videos-follow the bouncing ball-also help with reading
Closed captioning is a great way to acquire language and studies show that it helps students with second-language acquisition almost 50% faster.

24. Technology Many television shows also have internet components.
Channels such as PBS, National Geographic, and Discovery connect their programming to the internet.
This is another opportunity for parents and their children to work together.

25. Reading Environmental Texts
There are many ways that you can help your child read using every day texts.
Choose one or two alternative texts and use them daily with your child.
Make a daily routine of sharing newspaper, reading the mail, developing a list, or performing rhymes of songs with your child.

26. Making Reading a Ritual
This will become a daily ritual that children will come to expect.
It can come home from school, before or after dinner time, during bath time, or at bedtime.
Making it a ritual turns it into a normal part of family life.

27. Tips for Reading at Home
Reading is reading, whatever the reading material might be.
The more a child reads, the better reader that child will become.
We do not have to go to the bookstore or library-there are reading materials all around us!

28. Big 5 of Reading Phonemic Awareness Phonics Vocabulary Fluency
Learning individual sounds that make a word
Phonics
Learning connections between letter patterns and the words they represent
Vocabulary
Words that a student can recognize when reading (encompasses speaking, listening and writing vocabulary)
Fluency
The ability to read a text accurately and quickly
Comprehension
Understanding what has been read
Phonemic Awareness is learning the individual sounds that make a word: Phonemic Awareness allows students the ability to notice, think about, and work with individual sounds in a given word. When teaching phonemic awareness, it is important that the teacher does not make it memorization. The activities should be fun in a setting which encourages students to be interactive and excited to learn.
Phonics is learning the connections between letter patterns and the words they represent. Students learn to decode words. And students have a core of phonics patterns or rules.
Vocabulary: Words that are known and used by students (listening, speaking, reading and writing) vocabularies. A reading vocabulary is the words a student can recognize when reading and encompasses speaking, listening and writing voabulary.
Fluency: Reading fluency is the ability to read text accurately and quickly. Fluency bridges word decoding and comprehension.
Comprehension is understanding what has been read. Fluency is a set of skills that allows readers to rapidly decode text while maintaining high comprehension.
In elementary school, students are learning to read. In middle and high school, students are reading to learn.

29. References: Beyond Stories The Reading Teacher 61(7) pp Timothy Rasinkski and Nancy Padick Thank you to Timothy Rasinski and Nancy Padick for sharing this information and letting others share it with parents.
Questions ?
Go over bookmarks with parents (higher order questioning skills) that aid comprehension of texts. These are questioning strategies that good readers use as they read text. Do think alouds with students using these questions.