Early Literacy & Emerging Readers: Kindergarten - Second Grade
As a parent, no one needs to tell you how important literacy skills are. The more your child can read, the more self-sufficient they are, the more knowledge they seek and the easier it is for them to express themselves using the written word.
One of the best skills you can help your child with is phonemic awareness by helping your child understand that words are made of chunks of sound. Create word "families" such as "it", "sit", "bit" and "pit". Play rhyming games based on this theme, where your child must rhyme as many words as possible off of one starting word, such as "bake", "cat" or "star". The ability to identify certain sounds in relationship to the letters used to make them is critical in establishing fluency in reading.
Another valuable reading skill is the ability to recognize "sight words". Sight words are a group of words that are used regularly throughout your child's age-appropriate text. Sight words change per grade, so ask your child's teacher for a recent copy. A group of 220 sight words comprises a whopping 70% of all text so when your child recognizes all 220 words instantly, he's 70% closer to fluent reading.
Most importantly, read! Read as often as you can with your child and to your child. Offer a large array of printed materials - books, magazines, newspapers, so that your child can explore different types of media. Studies show that good readers do well not only in reading but also in all sorts of other areas, like sociability and showing initiative. There is no better way to instill a love of reading in your child than by sharing a book for 15 minutes every day.
1. Read aloud to your child every day: Let your child see and touch the book. Play with voices and the sounds of words.
2. Create a print rich home environment: Have a wide variety of books available to children. Encourage children to look at books on their own.
3. Model reading and writing: Let children see you reading for work, to learn something and for pleasure.
4. Use grocery shopping to encourage reading: Have children help you search for specific brands. Use the aisle markers with your child to find items.
5. Cook with your child to develop literacy: Show your child how to read a recipe. Read the labels on ingredients together.
6. Explore books together: As you read, point out important features about the book. Ask your child questions. Point out new vocabulary.
7. Tell stories together: Talk together about your family history, tell about your day, make up a story using your child's name.
8. Sing and rhyme with your child: Choose songs with rhymes and word play. Play rhyming games with your child.
9. Write with your child: Provide lots of writing materials: chalk, markers, crayons, and pencils. Encourage your child to draw and write on her own. Help your child write thank you notes, make to-do lists and the like.
10. Visit the library often: Make weekly trips and encourage your child to get her own library card.
Would you like to help? Reading Assistants are always appreciated. The entire school participates in Silent Reading every day from 12:30-1:00. Volunteers may come during this time to read with a child in a one-on-one setting. Please talk to your child's teacher if you are interested!
ALA.org
pbskids.org
randomhouse.com
/kids
rif.org
scholastic.org
starfall.com
"This book is about a girl named Junie B. Jones. In this book, one of her friends writes a note that gets passed around the classroom. The note says something bad about the teacher. Junie B. gets caught with the note! More bad things happen in the classroom and Junie B. is blamed for all of them. But it wasn't really her!
My favorite part of this book is when Junie B. Jones thinks she is going to jail. Junie B's teacher tells her that she is going to call home about Junie B.'s bad behavior during a spelling test. So Junie B. tells all her friends that she is going to jail because she is going to get in so much trouble.
I think other people should read this book because it is funny. If you want to laugh, you should read this book. This was one of the best Junie B. Jones books I have ever read!"
K. Steward, Level 2
Junie B. Jones Is Not A Crook!, written by Barbara Park
GREAT websites for
additional resources
excerpts taken from rif.org
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