Mrs. Kelly's Sixth Grade

Top Ten Reading Tips

Nothing is more important to academic achievement than being a good reader. Parents know their children best and can provide the one-on-one time and attention that will lead them to success in reading. Here is a list of ways to help your children become more effective readers.

  1. Set aside a regular time to read to your children every day. Studies show that regularly reading out loud to children will produce significant gains in reading comprehension, vocabulary, and the decoding of words. Whether your children are preschoolers or preteens, it will increase their desire to read independently.

 2. Surround your children with reading material. Children with a large array of reading materials in their homes score higher on standardized tests. Tempt your kids to read by having a large supply of appealing books and magazines at their reading level. Put the reading materials in cars, bathrooms, bedrooms, family rooms, and even by the TV.

3. Have a family reading time. Establish a daily 15 to 30 minute time when everyone in the family reads together silently. Seeing you read will inspire your children to read. Just 15 minutes of daily practice is sufficient to increase their reading fluency.

 4. Encourage a wide variety of reading activities. Make reading an integral part of your children's lives. Have them read menus, roadside signs, game directions, weather reports, movie time listings, and other practical everyday information. Also, make sure they always have something to read in their spare time when they could be waiting for appointments or riding in a car.

 5. Develop the library habit. Entice your children to read more by taking them to the library every few weeks to get new reading materials. The library also offers reading programs for children of all ages that may appeal to your children and further increase their interest in reading.

 6. Be knowledgeable about your children's progress. Find out what reading skills they are expected to have at each grade level. The school's curriculum will give you this information. Track their progress in acquiring basic reading skills on report cards and standardized tests.

 7. Look for reading problems. Teachers do not always detect children's reading problems until they've become serious. Find out if your children can sound out words, know sight words, use context to identify unknown words, and clearly understand what they read.

 8. Get help promptly for reading problems. Reading problems do not magically disappear with time. The earlier children receive help, the more likely they will become good readers. Make sure your children receive necessary help from teachers, tutors, or learning centers as soon as you discover a problem.

 9. Use a variety of aids to help your children. To help your children improve their reading, use textbooks, computer programs, books-on-tape, and other materials available in stores. Games are especially good choices because they let children have fun as they work on their skills.

 10. Show enthusiasm for your children's reading. Your reaction has a great influence on how hard they will try to become good readers. Be sure to give them genuine praise for their efforts.

Reading Just Right Books

 Here is one way to help your child choose a book that is perfect for them! Teachers call it the FIVE FINGER RULE. While reading a full page of that book, count the unknown words (using fingers to keep track is fine). If there are five or more, the book is too hard for now.  That book would be perfect for you as parents to read with them.  Also, remember to ask your child questions about books they have read.  Many children can read chapter books, but may not understand what they are reading.  Ask specific questions about the plot, characters and setting. 

What to do When Your Child Comes to an Unknown Word

 Often adults tell a child to "sound out" an unknown word. Frequently that prompt is successful and the word is decoded. When sounding it out doesn't work, adults usually tell the word and reading continues. However, our goal is to help children become independent readers. Here are some alternative suggestions for parents or "homework helpers" to use when your child confronts an unknown word:

• Wait 5-10 seconds to see what attempts are made

• Ask: "What would make sense there?"

• Use the picture to help figure out the word

• Skip the word and continue reading to end of line or sentence.

• Go back and read sentence again.

• If the word was on a previous page, go back and try to find it.

• Look for a smaller word in a big one.

• Cover the ending (-ed, -ing) with your finger and try word.

• Look how the word begins. Let the sound "pop" right out.

• Help with blending (sounding it out).

• Tell the word and keep on reading.

It is important that children learn to use these strategies independently.  When your child "figures out" a word, you might ask how he/she accomplished it.  Telling about their reading, helps to reinforce learning.

(Source:  familyeducation.com) 

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