Tips for Reading at Home
Students in grade 3 should be doing a minimum of 15-20 minutes of reading every day.
What is a "just right" book?
This is a book that your child can read fluently and understand by themselves. S/he should have no more than 2-3 tricky words on a page.
Why is choosing a just right book important?
There are a few reasons for this!
The goal for at home reading is that he/she is not working hard on figuring out tough words but working on fluency, phrasing and expression!
A just right book helps boost your child's confidence!
A just right book allows your child to access the highest level of thinking when reading the book (since he/she isn't stuck figuring out a lot of words on each page). We want your child to be thinking while he/she reads so you can discuss the book during and afterwards.
Sometimes we think that as children get older we don't need to listen to them read out loud anymore and that they can do it all on their own in their head. Listening to your child read to you is a great way to work on fluency and reading with punctuation, intonation, and expression. If your child is reading right through punctuation or not pausing at the appropriate places, or if the reading sounds choppy or monotone these are things that you can work on together throughout the year at home too.
Consider sharing a book together and taking turns doing the reading. Or, once or twice a week have your child read to you from their book. It could be while you're making dinner or driving in the car. Remember to talk about what your child has read after. Many students have a difficult time giving a summary. Some leave out important details, others try to retell the whole story leaving nothing out, and some have a hard time getting things in the correct sequence. You can orally work on this skill after your child reads by asking, "Tell me about what you just read." or "What's been happening in your book so far?".
Some ideas for your child's at home reading....
BEFORE you read:
- look at and discuss the cover picture and make predictions about what the book will be about
- read the title and predict what the book will be about
- read the title of the chapter(s) and make a prediction
- review what happened in the last chapter
DURING the reading:
- monitor your reading - if something doesn't make sense stop and back up. Find the error and use a fix up strategy if it's a tricky word or reread what was really there so it makes sense.
- try reading using different voices to change it up and bring the characters to life!
- wonder about things... "I wonder...."
- make a note of any new words/vocabulary and at a good stopping place look them up with a dictionary or online
AFTER you've read:
- talk about the book!
- talk about what happened? Have your child do a retell of the book or chapter s/he read. Make sure s/he can identify and explain what happened at the beginning, the middle and the end of the chapter/book
- wonder aloud together, "Why do you think the author chose to say it this way?"
- what was your favourite part?
- would you change anything?
- does this remind you of anything that happened to you before?
- does this remind you of another book or a movie you've ever seen?
I hope this will help you!
As always - if you need any help or have any questions get in touch!
What is a "just right" book?
This is a book that your child can read fluently and understand by themselves. S/he should have no more than 2-3 tricky words on a page.
Why is choosing a just right book important?
There are a few reasons for this!
The goal for at home reading is that he/she is not working hard on figuring out tough words but working on fluency, phrasing and expression!
A just right book helps boost your child's confidence!
A just right book allows your child to access the highest level of thinking when reading the book (since he/she isn't stuck figuring out a lot of words on each page). We want your child to be thinking while he/she reads so you can discuss the book during and afterwards.
Sometimes we think that as children get older we don't need to listen to them read out loud anymore and that they can do it all on their own in their head. Listening to your child read to you is a great way to work on fluency and reading with punctuation, intonation, and expression. If your child is reading right through punctuation or not pausing at the appropriate places, or if the reading sounds choppy or monotone these are things that you can work on together throughout the year at home too.
Consider sharing a book together and taking turns doing the reading. Or, once or twice a week have your child read to you from their book. It could be while you're making dinner or driving in the car. Remember to talk about what your child has read after. Many students have a difficult time giving a summary. Some leave out important details, others try to retell the whole story leaving nothing out, and some have a hard time getting things in the correct sequence. You can orally work on this skill after your child reads by asking, "Tell me about what you just read." or "What's been happening in your book so far?".
Some ideas for your child's at home reading....
BEFORE you read:
- look at and discuss the cover picture and make predictions about what the book will be about
- read the title and predict what the book will be about
- read the title of the chapter(s) and make a prediction
- review what happened in the last chapter
DURING the reading:
- monitor your reading - if something doesn't make sense stop and back up. Find the error and use a fix up strategy if it's a tricky word or reread what was really there so it makes sense.
- try reading using different voices to change it up and bring the characters to life!
- wonder about things... "I wonder...."
- make a note of any new words/vocabulary and at a good stopping place look them up with a dictionary or online
AFTER you've read:
- talk about the book!
- talk about what happened? Have your child do a retell of the book or chapter s/he read. Make sure s/he can identify and explain what happened at the beginning, the middle and the end of the chapter/book
- wonder aloud together, "Why do you think the author chose to say it this way?"
- what was your favourite part?
- would you change anything?
- does this remind you of anything that happened to you before?
- does this remind you of another book or a movie you've ever seen?
I hope this will help you!
As always - if you need any help or have any questions get in touch!