Presented by: Jennifer Mariano

Reading Specialist/Literacy Coach

Sara Lindemuth/Anna Carter Primary School

Fun, Effective Ways to Help Your First Grader

Become a Better Reader

The Importance of Raising a Reader

Reading is fundamental to living a successful life (reading directions, medicine bottles/prescriptions, bills, job applications/forms, signs, maps, bank forms, ingredient lists, e-mails, texts, etc.).

Reading is important in finding and keeping a well-paying job. Reading is required for many job performance tasks such reading reports, understanding training manuals and work memos.

Reading helps grow the mind. The mind is a muscle. It needs exercise. Understanding the written word is one way the mind grows in its ability. Teaching young children to read helps them develop their language skills. It also helps them learn to listen. Everybody wants to talk, but few can really listen. Lack of listening skills can result in major misunderstandings which can lead to job loss and other disasters - small and great. Reading helps children [and adults] focus on what someone else is communicating.

Reading helps us discover new topics.

Reading helps grow the imagination.

Reading helps expand vocabulary.

Reading can be a great hobby.

The list goes on…

Top Ten Tried and True Ways to Raise a Reader

#1 Make Reading a Regular Part of Every Day

• Don’t leave home without a book.

• Make a reading bag for the car.

• Reading during bath time.

• Don’t forget a bedtime story.

• Model reading every day (magazines, newspaper, books).

#2 Point out Real Life Reading/Build a Sense of Urgency

• Point out signs in the community.

• Show your child some pieces of mail.

• If you have to read a text for work, show it to your child.

• Challenge your child to keep a tally chart to show how many times you read during a day (ANY reading counts).

• Have a talk with your child about the real world importance of reading.

#3 Visit the Library Often

• Take your child to the Dauphin County Library to get his/her very own library card. What a way to feel like a reader!

• Before going to the library, encourage your child to think about the types of books he/she would like to check-out. It helps to have some sort of plan.

• Don’t forget to check out the seasonal book displays.

• The DCLS offers many fun, exciting FREE programs for children.

#4 Reread!

• It’s perfectly fine for your child to reread the same book/poem/song over and over again. You may be bored, but your child isn’t.

• Rereading helps build fluency (rate of reading, smoothness, use of expression).

• It helps build sight word recognition.

#5 Be Patient

• When your child comes to a tricky word, here are some ideas to try:Encourage your reader to look closely at the word (think about the

beginning sound, ending sound, middle sound, known parts).

Once your reader “thinks” he/she figured out the word, he/she should ask these questions:

Does it look right?

Does it sound right?

Does it make sense? The pictures can be used as well, but in harder texts there may not

be pictures/they may not offer support.

#6 Gently Help Correct Your Reader When Mistakes Happen

• When your child makes an error when reading, ask the following questions (choose as appropriate):Does that word look like the word you said? What looks like this word?

Does that word sound like the word you said? What would sound right?

Does that word make sense in what you are reading? Let’s think of some words that may look like this word AND make sense in what we are reading.

*If you child is making multiple errors on a page, the text may be too challenging. Offer to read it to your child, or encourage your child to find another text. It’s o.k. to do this. As adults, we abandon texts for multiple reasons (I know I do ).

#7 Use the “I PICK” strategy for helping your child choose “just-right” books.

#8 Get Hooked on a Series• Book series have familiar characters and a familiar style.

Readers enjoy reading about the adventures of characters in a series.

• There are many series to try. Some great ones for first graders include:Elephant and Piggie books by Mo Willems

Max & Ruby by Rosemary Wells

Henry and Mudge by Cynthia Rylant

Frog and Toad books by Arnold Lobel

Fly Guy books by Ted Arnold

Young Cam Jansen/Cam Jansen by David Adler

Nate the Great books by Marjorie Weinman

#9 Dive Deeper into a Book!

• Help support comprehension by discussing what your child reads.

• Use the provided bookmarks to help guide discussions about what your child reads.

• Don’t wait until your child finished reading to discuss a book. Take time before reading to preview the book, make predictions, discuss any similar books (by author/topic).

• During reading, naturally discuss the text (discuss pictures, any important events or new information learned).

• After reading, discuss favorite parts, recommendations and/or review what was read.

#10 Host a Family Dinner Book Club

• Make dinnertime fun by starting a family book club. Here is how it works: Encourage your family to choose a book from the list provided.

Borrow or buy the book.

Read the book ahead of time so you know what it is about.

Each night, during dinner, read a part of the book to your family. When finished with each reading session, discuss what was read.

Your family can plan a book-themed dinner and activity to celebrate when the book is over.

Use ideas from the attached Dinner Book Club ideas.

This is a great way to involve your whole family in a fun reading activity.

Ideas taken from http://growingbookbybook.com/literacy-activities/family-dinner-book-club/