Getting Kids to Read - Ten Terrific Tips
Teaching kids to read opens the world to them. They can go anywhere and do anything through books. But in today's age of high-tech gizmos and video games often the last thing our kids want to do is read. But there are some easy and fun ways you can share your love of reading with your kids. Implement these few simple ideas and your kids will be engrossed in a good book before you know it. Read to Them Kids love being read aloud to. Cuddling up on the couch with a good book is a wonderful way to spend time with your child. Even older children like to be read to, especially while they are involved in other hands-on type activities. Have a Hide Away Make a reading corner in your house. Fix up a cozy corner with beanbag chairs, or a large overstuffed pillow, a small bookcase. You won't have to look far when they get quiet to find them. Scatter Books Around the House Leave books lying around. Place books in the bathroom, on their nightstands, in the living room and even in the kitchen. When they are bored they will pick them up out of curiosity. Get a Library Card Get them their own library card. Children love having their own library cards and checking out books they choose, on their own. Got to the Library Often Visit the library often. Schedule a regular library day, and just let them sit and read for a while in the library. Take advantage of your local library's programs, such as story times, to help capture a child's interest in books. Throw Out Book Teasers Drop tantalizing hints about a book. Start reading one yourself that your children might like and "share" some tempting tidbits. When they want to know what happens - say , "Oh you will have to read it for yourself, you won't believe it!" Add Some Fun Extras Extend the book. Add fun activities that go beyond a book. When reading Heidi, look for the countries on a map, eat Swiss cheese for lunch or make some soft rolls for grandmother. Pull Out the VCR Watch a video about a book. Then say, "I wonder how close that was to the book? Maybe we should read that." Make Your Own Books Let them make their own books. Younger children especially love this. Something as simple as plain paper stapled together becomes a timeless treasure when they write their own stories. Let younger children tell you the story and you write it out and they illustrate it. Set An Example You cannot expect your children to love somethin you don't. If you want your kids to be readers you have to be too. It can be books, magazines, or even lovely coffee table books full of pictures. Just let them see you reading and read often together. About the Author Belinda J Mooney is the mother of 7 and a freelance writer. She regularly writes for several parenting magazines including San Diego Family, Southern Families and Families First. |
Reading and Word-Attack Strategies
Reading is not just pronouncing words—it requires understanding. Most experienced readers use a variety of strategies to understand text. The following strategies can help students understand any text in any subject. Make Predictions Visualize Ask and Answer Questions Retell and Summarize Connect the Text to Life Experiences, Other Texts, or Prior Knowledge Word-Attack Strategies Make Predictions Predictions encourage active reading and keep students interested, whether or not the predictions are correct. Incorrect predictions can signal a misunderstanding that needs to be revisited. Instruct students: ·Look at the pictures, table of contents, chapter headings, maps, diagrams, and features. What subjects are in the book? ·Write down predictions about the text. During reading, look for words or phrases from those predictions. ·While reading, revise the predictions or make new ones. Visualize Many students think visually, using shapes, spatial relationships, movement, and colors, and can benefit greatly from this strategy. Instruct students: ·Imagine a fiction story taking place as if it were a movie. Imagine the characters' features. Picture the plot in time and space. ·Imagine processes and explanations happening visually. Use nouns, verbs, and adjectives to create pictures, diagrams, or other mental images. ·Use graphic organizers to lay out information. Make sketches or diagrams on scrap paper. Ask and Answer Questions Having students form their own questions helps them recognize confusion and encourages active learning. Instruct students: ·Before reading, think about the subject based on the title, chapter heads, and visual information. Make note of anything you are curious about. ·While reading, pause and write down any questions. Be sure to ask questions if there is confusion. ·Look for the answers while reading. Pause and write down the answers. ·Were all the questions answered? Could the answers come from other sources? Retell and Summarize Relating the text in students' own words clears up language issues. Retelling challenges them to aim for complete retention. Summarization allows students to discriminate between main ideas and minor details. Instruct students: ·During reading, note the main ideas or events. Put a check mark in the book or write a note to point out a main idea. ·At the ends of chapters or sections, review the information or story. Note main ideas or events and the details that support them. ·After reading, retell or summarize the text. Focus on the important points, and support them with relevant details. ·Refer to the book to check the retelling or summarization. Connect the Text to Life Experiences, Other Texts, or Prior Knowledge Connecting a text to students' experiences and knowledge helps students personalize the information. It also helps students remember information when they link it to their lives. Instruct students: ·Is the subject familiar? Do the characters resemble familiar people? Have you learned about the concept from school, home, or other experiences? ·Is the style or genre familiar? Does it resemble other texts? Television shows, movies, and games can be considered "texts." ·Write down similarities between the current text and experiences, knowledge, or other texts. Word-Attack Strategies Word-attack strategies help students decode, pronounce, and understand unfamiliar words. They help students attack words piece by piece or from a different angle. Model and instruct students: Use Picture Clues ·Look at the picture. ·Are there people, objects, or actions in the picture that might make sense in the sentence? Sound Out the Word ·Start with the first letter, and say each letter-sound out loud. ·Blend the sounds together and try to say the word. Does the word make sense in the sentence? Look for Chunks in the Word ·Look for familiar letter chunks. They may be sound/symbols, prefixes, suffixes, endings, whole words, or base words. ·Read each chunk by itself. Then blend the chunks together and sound out the word. Does that word make sense in the sentence? Connect to a Word You Know ·Think of a word that looks like the unfamiliar word. ·Compare the familiar word to the unfamiliar word. Decide if the familiar word is a chunk or form of the unfamiliar word. ·Use the known word in the sentence to see if it makes sense. If so, the meanings of the two words are close enough for understanding. Reread the Sentence ·Read the sentence more than once. ·Think about what word might make sense in the sentence. Try the word and see if the sentence makes sense. Keep Reading ·Read past the unfamiliar word and look for clues. ·If the word is repeated, compare the second sentence to the first. What word might make sense in both? Use Prior Knowledge ·Think about what you know about the subject of the book, paragraph, or sentence. ·Do you know anything that might make sense in the sentence? Read the sentence with the word to see if it makes sense. |