Summertime post from the past...

Summertime family reading

"Summertime, and the livin' is easy" are lyrics from the famous play Porgy and Bess and I hope that this is the feeling you have around your house right now.  Although you are all probably busy still doing "regular" daily things, you at least don't have lots of "homework" added to the schedule.  This is a perfect time to read together as a family and there are several "techniques" that parents can use when reading with their child to improve reading fluency.

Fluency is developed by listening to good readers and by practicing fluent reading.  You and your child can "chorus" read passages together (reading the same thing at the same time) or "echo" read where one person reads a sentence or phrase first and the another person reads it immediately after, like an echo.  As you read together, stop and point out connections to real-life experiences, movies or tv shows, or other previously read books.  Making connections is a good way to build your child's understanding of, and, interest in, a story.  Also, make sure to stop and discuss unfamiliar words and practice sounding them out together.  It is fun to "share" things that you have read with an "audience" (like other family members) as your child improves their reading ability and confidence.

Here is a nice source for ordering books online for specific age groups:

Amazon book lists

Summertime family reading

"Summertime, and the livin' is easy" are lyrics from the famous play Porgy and Bess and I hope that this is the feeling you have around your house right now.  Although you are all probably busy still doing "regular" daily things, you at least don't have lots of "homework" added to the schedule.  This is a perfect time to read together as a family and there are several "techniques" that parents can use when reading with their child to improve reading fluency.

Fluency is developed by listening to good readers and by practicing fluent reading.  You and your child can "chorus" read passages together (reading the same thing at the same time) or "echo" read where one person reads a sentence or phrase first and the another person reads it immediately after, like an echo.  As you read together, stop and point out connections to real-life experiences, movies or tv shows, or other previously read books.  Making connections is a good way to build your child's understanding of, and, interest in, a story.  Also, make sure to stop and discuss unfamiliar words and practice sounding them out together.  It is fun to "share" things that you have read with an "audience" (like other family members) as your child improves their reading ability and confidence.

Here is a nice source for ordering books online for specific age groups:

Amazon book lists

Keyboarding and Reading Websites

Here are some neat websites that I ran across that will be helpful in teaching your daughter to learn the letters of the keyboard and a couple of new reading links.  I have shared the keyboarding sites with some of the girls and I explained to them that they need to use a special hand "form or shape" just like we hold our fingers in a special way when we "grip" our pencils (keeping an open web).

Pop the balloon

Ghost typing website

Keyboarding Ninja

Cupstacking

Dance Mat Typing

Typing Pal

Reading Bear

Storybird

Tips for helping your daughter become a better reader and speller...

For those of us able to attend Dr. Rene Lee's parent talk last week (2/27/14) we walked away with some great information that we can use with our daughters' (or in my case, students!).   We have been lucky to have Dr. Lee as a resource this year at St. Mary's and I am going to share some of her "tips" from her presentation.  Please let me know if you have any questions and need any additional information about this or any other topic.
Note: Don't forget to click on the "tabs" at the top of my blog homepage for links to reading and math practice websites:)

Reading Tips from Dr. Lee:

• Read together with your child modeling how you sound out words and pointing out patterns that occur across words.  Words can often be "chunked" into syllables or vowel letters. Don't always just automatically "tell" them the correct word.
• As you take turns reading out loud with your child, encourage your child to pretend they are reading to a younger sibling or friend.  This will help develop expression and fluency.  (I have written several posts about this idea (scroll back among "older posts"for more information)  and also have found that my students enjoy using "recording" apps to practice reading the same short passage several times and listening to it for specific concepts, like expression.  Two great apps are iTalk and One Minute Reader.)
• Encourage your child to read for accuracy, not speed.
• Help your child select books that match their reading ability.  (At SMS we use the AR reading range to help guide them in their book selection.  If you need help finding appropriate books please contact me or your child's homeroom teacher.)
• Help your child learn new words by discussing them and having them use them in sentences.  Exposing your child to "rich" language throughout the day and in different settings helps improve vocabulary, comprehension, and "knowledge of the world around her."

Spelling Tips from Dr. Lee:

• Point out words that are related by meaning often by using the same base or root word.  For example, "Magician and magic have similar meanings.  I see "magic" in "magician" even though I don't hear it in there."
• Help your child make connections between words by associating it with a words she already knows how to spell.  Ex. "broach" rhymes with "coach"...
• As your child writes a word, encourage them to say the individual sounds (not the letter names) as she writes the corresponding letter.  We say sounds and we write letters.
• Look over weekly spelling test lists for the sound pattern being taught.  Please don't hesitate to contact your daughter's teacher or myself for help.
• Spelling is important (even in a world of "spellcheck")!

Reading Rockets tips for First Grade Parents

Above is a great list of things that you can do to help your daughter become a more confident and fluent reader.  I tell the girls all of the time that right now, "reading is hard work!" but it will become easier the more that they practice and by the end of the year it will be fun!!

Grammar Rock Adjectives Video

Grammar Rock Adjectives