Children and Parents Reading Together

Why is reading important?

“In early grades, success in schools is virtually synonymous with success in

reading. In fact, research has shown that a child’s reading level at the end of the third

grade is a more accurate predictor of school success than any other variable – including family income, educational attainment of

parents, ethnic or cultural identity, or home language background.”

Carter, R.L. The Sustaining Effects. Study of Compensatory and Elementary Education, “Educational Researcher, 13 (7), 4-13

ALL ABOUT READING

Making sense of print is what reading is all about

Successful reading is finding a happy balance between PHONICS and EXPERIENCE. Bringing experience to print is more important than a knowledge of phonics.

“SOUNDING OUT” is difficult for beginning and discouraged readers. To illustrate this read the following words:

vury sctraugh

mould soughtwhoamb phyuedauss ceoknwhir pneocques

“I am working vury hard,” said the robin. “I am looking for sctraugh to build my nest. I shall use some mould, too. I shall line it with sought grass. This will make a nice whoamb for my baby birds.” So she made the nest in the old apple tree. In a phyue dauss there were three little eggs in the nest. Ceokn there whir three baby robins. They stretched their little pneocques and cried, “Peep, peep, feed us!”

Strategies

When a word is presented by itself with no context, it could have a number of different possibilities eg. Is sc pronounced as “sk” or “s”?, is wh pronounced “w” or “h”?

Your understanding of a subject makes it easier to decode unfamiliar words

Learning all the sounds and their combination can be difficult. Too much focus on phonics makes reading more difficult.

In order to understand words we must understand

the world in which the words are being used. This is fundamental to reading. For example:

The procedure is actually quite simple. First you arrange things into different groups. One pile

may be sufficient depending on how much there is to do. It is important not to overdo things. That is, it is better to do too few things at one time than too many. In the short run, this may

not seem important but complications can easily arise. A mistake can be expensive as well. At

first, the whole procedure will seem complicated. Soon, however, it will become just another fact of

life. After the procedure is completed, one arranges the materials into different groups

again. Then they can be put into their appropriate places.

CONSONANTS AND VOWELS

Consonants are more consistent than vowels

Children have more difficulty isolating vowel sounds than consonants

Vowels are often irregular and cause most trouble when figuring out words

GOOD NEWS – children can learn to read before they have learned all of the vowel rules and sounds

Look at the following 2 passages taken from the Rainbow Goblins:

The Rainbow Goblins

The_ g_bl_ns c_ _ld h_rdly c_nt_ _n th_ _r _xc_t_m_nt.

“S_ _n _ll th_ c_l_ _rs _f th_ R_ _nb_w w_ll b_ _ _rs,” Y_ll_w gl_ _t_d.

W_’ll sn_tch _t _s _t r_s_s,” s_ _d Gr_ _n, “wh_n th_ c_l_ _rs _r_ st_ll fr_sh _nd cr_ _my.”

Not too hard? Now try this one:

_e _o_ _i_ _ _ou_ _ _a_ _ _ _ _o_ _ai_ _ _ei_ e_ _i_e_e_ _. “_oo_ _ll _ _e

_o_o_ _ _ _f _ _e _ai_ _o_ _i_ _ _e ou_ _,” _e_ _o_ _ _oa_e_.

The beginning of words contain the most important phonetic

clues. Many times you do not have to look at the whole word because the initial

sound triggers a word. Check for meaning, then carry on.

YES, reading does involve blending sounds together and sounding-out, but the goal is to identify words using as few letters as possible!

EFFECTIVE READERS are readers who DEPEND VERY LITTLE ON ANALYZING ALL PARTS OF A WORD, INSTEAD USE

CONSONANTS TO MAKE SENSIBLE PREDICTIONS!

MAKING SENSE IS WHAT READING IS ALL ABOUT!

READERS ARE NEVER DESCRIBED AS BEING GOOD or POOR. It is more constructive to describe

readers in terms of his/her stage of development (ie. emergent,

beginning, intermediate, advanced)

Sounding out is difficult for beginning and discouraged readers.

Successful reading is finding a happy balance between PHONICS AND

EXPERIENCE. Bringing experience to print is more important than a

knowledge of phonics.

Some Strategies for Figuring Out Words:

Look at the beginning letter/s. What sound do you hear?

Look at the pictures. Do they help?

Look for spelling patterns you recognize. Can you use

what you know to get the word? Word Families?

Skip the word, read on to the end of the sentence, and then come back to the word. How does what you’ve read help you with the word?

Look through the word to the end. What sound do you hear at the beginning? In the middle? At the end?

Some Strategies for Understanding Text:Stop to think about what you’re

reading. What do you think is going to happen? Why do you think this?

Think about what you already know about the topic.

Reread the paragraph, chapter, or book.

Giving Students Feedback

Focus on making sense and not on getting it just right! Spend time reading out loud together, in chorus

(sometimes just whispering the beginning sound softly is the only cue necessary)

In the beginning, take turns reading pages, paragraphs or sentences.

Sometimes it is helpful to read aloud the entire book, page or paragraph before the child reads it.

When an error is made, it is wise to wait until the end of the sentence before drawing attention to it. You might say “Did you understand that?”

If a child is struggling with a word you know he has heard before, tell him to leave it out and finish the sentence. Re-read the sentence aloud leaving out the word.

To really build confidence say: “I will read a paragraph and I want you to tell me what it means. Then we’ll read it together and figure out all the words you don’t know. With a few practices, you will probably be able to read it by yourself even though it is pretty hard!”

The MOST IMPORTANT THING TO REMEMBER:

Make the experience of reading enjoyable !