Reading Resources

Your Literacy Team:
Mrs. Jenkins - Title I Reading Teacher: [email protected]

Mrs. Stieler - Reading Specialist: [email protected]

Please feel free to reach out to us with any questions or concerns regarding anything literacy including reading, writing, phonics, comprehension and more!

Reading Strategies

Children often need support when they are reading. If your child needs help, decide if they need help decoding the word or if they are having trouble understanding what they've read. If the problem is decoding, use the decoding prompts to help your child help themselves. If the problem is understanding what they've read, try the strategies listed under comprehension.

Decoding Strategies:

Tell your child to:

  • Get their mouth ready to say the first sound in the word.
  • Look at the picture.
  • Think about what makes sense.
  • Reread the sentence.
  • Break the word into chunks or parts and decode each part before moving to the next part. Then blend the parts together. For example: to-geth-er
  • Connect the word to a word they know. For example: my helps decode try and little helps decode brittle.
  • Flip the vowel: if they say a long vowel sound they can try a short vowel sound.

Comprehension Strategies:

When your child says they don't understand what they've read, you must play the role of the detective. What is it they don't understand? A word, sentence, paragraph, or the entire text? Did they misinterpret something?

Start by asking your child what words they don't know. Have your child read the sentence the word is in to determine if the context defines the word. If it doesn't, look it up in a dictionary. Discuss the meaning of the word, have your child use the word in a sentence, then reread the sentence in the text with the word. Continue listening to your child read, asking them questions about what they've read after a paragraph or 2.

Questions:

The purpose for asking questions is to determine if they understand what they are reading. When you talk to your child about what they've read you'll be able to determine if they misunderstood something or if there are more words they don't understand. You can ask your child to tell you about what they are reading. If the answer is vague, ask for more details.

Questions for Fiction

Who are the characters in the story?

What is the setting?

What is the conflict in the story?

What is the resolution to the conflict?

How does the character change?

What's the author's message?

What's the theme in the story?

 

Questions for Nonfiction

What is the main idea?

What have you learned about the topic?