What's Inside......

2011-09-26T22:44:00.001-05:00

20 Ways for Parents to Encourage Reading

· Ask yourself, “What might my child like to read?” Use interests and hobbies as a starting point.

· Leave a variety of reading materials including books and magazines around your home.

· Notices what attracts your child’s attention. Bring home more information on the same subject.

· Let your child see you reading for pleasure.

· Take your child to the library regularly.

· Present reading as an activity with a purpose.

· Encourage older children to read to their younger brothers and sisters.

· Play games that are reading related.

· Share your reactions to the things you read, and encourage your children to do the same.

· Set aside a regular time for reading in your family. As little a 10 minutes of reading a day can help improve your child’s skills and habits.

· Read aloud to your child.

· Encourage your child to read aloud to you an exciting passage in a book, an interesting fact from the newspaper, or a joke in a joke book.

· Give books and magazines on gift-giving occasions.

· Set aside a special place for children to keep their own books.

· Introduce the bookmark.

· Treat your children to an evening of laughter and entertainment featuring books!

· Extend your child’s positive reading experience.

· Offer special incentives to encourage your child’s reading.

· Limit your children’s TV viewing in an effort to make time for other activities, such as reading.

· Take advantage of the many opportunities for reading during the course of your family’s busy day.

2011-09-26T22:43:00.001-05:00

How you can help your child choose books that they can read:

Try the "Five Finger" Test:

Open up the book you have chosen.
Begin to read somewhere in the middle of the page.
Each time you come to a word that you do not know, hold one finger up.
If you have no fingers held up when you finish the page, the book may be too easy for you.
If you have less than five fingers held up, but more than one or two fingers, the book might be just right for you.
If you have all five fingers held up before you get to the end of the paragraph or page, the book is probably too hard for you. Think about choosing another book.

Many teachers are using the acronym IPICK when teaching their students how to choose books that are a good fit. Here are the steps you and your child should use when choosing a good fit book.

I PICK

I look the book over

Purpose: My purpose for reading this book is_______. They might want to do research for a report they are working on, or find a new author to love, or get lost in an entertaining story.

Interest: I am interested in this book. They might love mysteries, fantasy, dinosaurs, or funny books. They may be motivated to learn about an animal because they are trying to persuade a parent for a pet.

Comprehension: I understand what I am reading. They should read a section of the book to see if they comprehend the text.

Know the words: I know almost every word. They know almost all of the words (99% accuracy).

2011-09-26T22:42:00.001-05:00

Ask Questions Throughout the Reading Process

Readers who are actively involved in reading ask themselves questions before, during, and after reading a selection. This not only increases their comprehension of what is being read, but it fully engages them in the reading process. As readers, when we are fully engaged in the reading process, we are more likely to remember important details and information. Asking questions is a great way for readers to monitor their comprehension of the text. Your child will learn that successful readers generate their own questions and that not all questions generated will be answered.

Learning to ask questions throughout the reading process is an important reading strategy because it teaches a reader to think aloud. It helps readers review important points in the text, evaluate the quality of the text, make connections, and refine predictions.

Model this questioning process by reading to your child and stopping during the reading to question what is going on in the text. Use questions such as:

“What does this mean?”
“Is this important?”
“How do you think this story might end?”
“What does this word mean?”

Some other possible questions include: (Higher level thinking skills are accessed as the numbers progress.)

Recall:
1. Who is …..?
2. How did …..?
3. How many ….. ?
4. Where did …..?
5. What did …..?
6. What is …..?
7. When did …..?
8. Which is …..? ?

Cause/Effect:
1. What do you think will happen next?
2. What caused ………………………………………….?
3. What are the effects of ………………….?
4. Why did …………………………………………………..?
5. Why do you think ………………………………..?
6. What would have happened if ………?
7. How did _______ affect _______....?
8. If _______, then _______ …………………..?

Similarities:
1. How are _____ and _____ alike?
2. How was _____ the same as _____?
3. What is the same about _____ and _____?
4. Compare _____ and _____.
5. _____ and _____ are alike in what ways?
6. _____ is to _____ as _____ is to _____ (analogy).

Differences:
1. What are the differences between) _____ and _____?
2. How is _____ different from _____?

Ideas to Examples:
1. What are some examples pf _____?
2. Find some examples of _____.
3. Give an example of _____.
4. Name some _____.

Examples to Ideas:
1. What kind of person was _____?
2. What is the main idea of _____?
3. _____ is an example of _____.
4. _____, _____, and _____ are all _____.
5. What word best describes _____?

Evaluation:
1. Do you think it was (good, bad, right, wrong) for _____?
2. Who do you think _____?
3. What do you think _____?
4. If you had your choice, would you choose _____ or _____?
5. Should _____?
6. Do you agree with _____? Why?
7. Would you rather _____?
8. Do you like _____?

Sources include:

· Ideas and strategies are taken from: The CAFÉ Book, written by Gail Boushey & Joan Moser

· Questions based on Bloom’s Taxonomy. Developed by Linda G. Barton

2011-09-26T22:37:00.000-05:00

These activities are intended to be done orally and for short periods of time (5-7 min.) repeatedly, during everyday life. Examples: at the store, in the car, in the bath tub, waiting for appointments, waiting in line, etc.

RHYMING ACTIVITIES:

To Parents: Our English language spelling system is based (mostly) on rhyming patterns: phonetics. It is important that children learn to recognize and produce rhymes before they can effectively use formal reading instruction.

1. Parent reads a nursery rhyme, song, poem, or jingle aloud.
Child identifies the rhyming words that he/she heard.

2. Rhyme Hunt
Parent thinks of a one syllable word; for example, "you."
Parent chants, "Let's make a rhyme for "you."
Child answers: "stew"

Sample word list:
book-cook
tree-flea
try-fly
two-blue
tea-bee
pot-hot
wall-call
play-day
cat-fat

3. What Does Not Belong?
Parent gives the child three words. Two of the words rhyme. Child finds the word that does not belong (does not rhyme).

Example:
Parent: "rat, men, hat"
Child: "men"

Sample Word List
hit-sit-fat
hen-Tom-pen
man-can-bell
hill-mop-top

WORD PLAY

1. Blending and Segmenting Words (putting together words and taking them apart). Be sure to say the sounds -- not the names of the letters.

Initial sounds:
Parent says, "Start with 'l', add 'unch.' What's the word?"
Child: "lunch"

Parent: "Start with 's' and add 'andwich.' What's the word?"
Child: "sandwich"

Final sounds:
Parent: "Start with 'superma', add an 'n' sound. What's the word?"
Child: "Superman"

Parent: "Start with 'stam,' add a 'p' sound. What's the word?"
Child: "stamp"

Continue the above activities with any familiar words.

2. Middle Sounds:
Parent says three words with same middle vowel sound.
Parent: "teeth, cheek, deep. What sound do you hear in the middle?"
Child: "ee"

Continue activity with different vowel sounds.
Sample word list:
sack-mack-tack
heat-seam-meal
hop-mom-pot
dock-lot-Tom
sank-tank-thank
comb-poke-wrote
hen-yell-pet
hill-tick-sip

3. Whole Word (from part to whole)
Parent gives the child a one-syllable word to blend, one sound (not letter) at a time.

Parent: "b...i...g" What's the word?"
Child: "big"

Parent: "s...t...o...p" What's the word?"
Child: "stop"

Helpful Hint: A great time to accomplish these activities is in your car. You can read street signs and other print that you may come across.

4. Whole Word (from whole to part)
Parent says entire word: "big"
Child says each individual sound: "b...i...g"

Sample word list (any words will work)
nest
sand
mop
when (remember, the "h" is silent -- so your child won't hear it.)
top
game
rug

5. Change the Name Game

Parent: "Say 'man'"
Child: "man"

Parent: "Say it again, but this time say 't' instead of 'm'."
Child: "tan"

Parent uses word families to continue playing the game substituting beginning sounds to make new words.

7 Keys to Comprehension

2011-09-26T22:32:00.001-05:00

The following is an excerpt from Susan Zimmermann and Chryse Hutchins’ book 7 Keys to Comprehension: How to Help Your Kids Read It and Get It

Sounding out or decoding words is part of the reading puzzle but falls short of real reading. If children don’t understand what they read, they’re not really reading.

Good readers use the following 7 Keys to unlock meaning:

Create mental images: Good readers create a wide range of visual, auditory, and other sensory images as they read.
Use background knowledge: Good readers use their relevant prior knowledge before, during, and after reading to enhance their understanding of what they’re reading.
Ask questions: Good readers generate questions before, during, and after reading to clarify meaning, make predictions, and focus their attention on what’s important.
Make inferences: Good readers use their prior knowledge and information from what they read to make predictions, seek answers to questions, draw conclusions, and create interpretations that deepen their understanding of the text.
Determine the most important ideas or themes: Good readers identify key ideas or themes as they read, and they can distinguish between important and unimportant information.
Synthesize information: Good readers track their thinking as it evolves during reading, to get the overall meaning.
Use “fix-up” strategies: Good readers are aware of when they understand and when they don’t. If they have trouble understanding specific words, phrases, or longer passages, they use a wide range of problem-solving strategies including skipping ahead, rereading, asking questions, using the dictionary, and reading the passage aloud.

Gerbilitis Exit Slip

2011-02-25T13:28:00.000-06:00

https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dEdyUmw5aWVubTJBdFNvdnptZXdTelE6MQ

2011-02-24T10:39:00.001-06:00

World Book Online Reference Center
Home user access is available for staff and students. Go to http://www.worldbookonline.com/wb/Home Home user name: ipsd204 Password: schools

KidsInfoBitsKids InfoBits meets your needs with simple, quick access to curriculum-related information on current events, arts, sciences, health, people, government, sports, history, and more. Type in this URL and password: http://infotrac.galegroup.com/itweb/nape28931?db=ITKE Password: ipsd

2011-02-24T10:38:00.001-06:00

Net Trekker d.i.This educational search engine brings the best of the web to K-12 students, teachers, librarians, and parents. netTrekker d.i. connects you and your students to more than 300,000 hand-selected, educator-approved sites. To use Net Trekker at home, type this URL and enter your personal user name and password. http://school.nettrekker.com/frontdoor/

2011-02-24T10:36:00.000-06:00

Monday, February 21 ~ No School ~ President's Day
Tuesday, February 22 ~ Parent-Teacher Conferences
Friday, February 25 ~ No School ~ Institute Day
Monday, February 28-Friday, March 4 ~ ISAT Testing Week
Monday, March 4 ~ Bank at School
Friday, March 25 ~ End of Third Quarter ~ Report Cards go home
Monday, March 28 ~ Spring Break Begins!
Monday, April 4 ~ School Resumes

2011-02-23T19:28:00.001-06:00

ISAT TESTING - Week of February 28th!

Tutorials

2010-12-08T10:46:00.002-06:00

KIT-is designed for second semester kindergarten students and focuses on ABC study, phonemic awareness, sentence writing, and introduction of a new book to accelerate the early literacy skills and strategies needed for reading performance.

Early Steps-is designed to accelerate the reading performance of at-risk first graders by re-reading familiar books, word study, sentence writing, and introduction of a new book.

Road to Reading-is intended for primary grade students who benefit from the Tier I core reading curriculum but require supplemental instruction, support, and practice in order to make satisfactory progress in the area of reading.

Vocabulary and Comprehension

2010-12-08T09:55:00.000-06:00

Text Talk-is designed to supplement a school's core reading program with 20 minutes of daily whole or small group instruction delivered by the teacher. The goal of the program is to develop the student's ability to construct meaning of sophisticated vocabulary words within the context of read-alouds and explicit vocabulary instruction.

Comprehension Strategies Kit-The purpose of the comprehension strategy tool kits is to familiarize students with comprehension strategies they can use while reading both fiction and non-fiction text. Explicit modelings of strategy usage and practical application opportunities for students are at the core of this intervention.

SOAR to Success-The ultimate goal of this intervention is to increase students' understanding of what they read through an approach called reciprocal teaching which focuses on clarifying, predicting, questioning, and summarizing.

Read About-This is a self-managed, computer, research-based, leveled, reading system that meets the needs of many students. It also has SMART files for the students to apply the skills they have learned on the computer.

Harcourt Intervention Kit-A balanced literacy approach that scaffolds, uses extra support, and extra reading practice that below-level readers need to succeed in the mainstream core reading program.

Fluency Interventions

2010-10-18T11:35:00.000-05:00

There are 3 fantastic research-based fluency programs the Reading Specialists and classroom teachers use to apply what they have learned as decoders.

Read Naturally is excellent for students who are non-fluent readers who need to increase spped, accuracy, and expression. There are levels .8-5.6 available at Brooks and 24 non-fiction, high-interest stories per level. During this process the teacher is able to monitor the student's oral reading speed, accuracy, expression, and overall understanding of the story. After passing a story, the student completes a graph reflecting the number of words he/she read correctly. This allows the student to see his/her progress from the "cold timing" step to the "hot timing" step. There is a computer version as well as a "hard copy" version.

Six-Minute Solutions is excellent for struggling readers as well as fluent readers. Struggling readers gain fluency first at the word level and then at the passage level, while competent readers are challenged to read more expressive texts that are increasingly more difficult and sophisticated.

Great Leaps is a program that hopes to provide meaningful practice for the dysfunctional elementary reader in grades 3-5. The program is very efficient in its remedial strategies. Great Leaps focuses on the behaviors of reading and attempts to train and reinforce prerequisite reading behaviors. There is a phonics section, sight word phrase, and story section.

Phonemic Awareness/Phonics Interventions

2010-09-08T13:41:00.000-05:00

Students participate in interventions to increase their decoding, fluency, and comprehension skills. Intervention groups are fluid and change throughout the year as needs arise. In keeping with our promise for all children to succeed in Reading, we have several interventions and programs available to support our students. The month of September we are going to highlight interventions used for Phonemic Awareness (manipulation of sounds and blending of phonemes) and Phonics (focuses on the association to the written symbol).

The interventions used at Brooks for Phonemic Awareness/Phonics are:

Jolly Phonics-A systematic, sequential, synthetic approach to phonics instruction. This program is good for students struggling with letter-sound acquisition.

Read Naturally Phonics Levels-Focuses on various vowels and digraphs within highly decodable text.

Lexia-This is an individualized computer based intervention and is good for students who need practice with decoding at the primary level and word analysis skills at the intermediate level.

StarLit-This is a small group intervention that focuses on all levels of phonemic awareness. StarLit is a systematic, sequential program with differentiated hands-on activities. This is an intervention for visual and kinesthetic learners demonstrating a lack of phonemic awareness.

Michael Heggerty-This intervention can be delivered in a small or large group, and is focused on phonemic awareness, on-set rime blending as well as letter sounds. This is excellent for auditory learners needing support with the general education phonemic awareness curriculum.

Earobics-This is an individualized computer intervention focused on building early phonological awareness skills and increasing auditory memory and discrimination skills. It is targeted for students in the primary grades and is highly engaging.

Phonics for Reading-A systematic, research-based, instructional program that provides explicit instruction in phonics as well as phonemic awareness, fluency, and comprehension.

Spell-Links: Scaffolded instruction focusing on phonemic patterns, phonics, vocabulary, word parts and related words, and mental images of words. This program will improve spelling skills, develop reading decoding, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension.

REWARDS-is a specialized reading program designed to teach intermediate students (grades 4, 5, and 6) a flexible strategy for decoding long words and to increase their oral and silent reading fluency.

Comprehension Questions for Fiction Stories

2009-10-27T15:56:00.000-05:00

Before Reading

What do you think this story might be about?

During Reading

What are you wondering about?
Can you make some predictions?
What has happened so far?

After Reading

What did you remember about the story?
What was your favorite part?
Was there a main character?
What did you think of the main character?
Describe the setting. Did it change?
What was the problem? Was it solved?
Did this story remind you of another story you've read or heard?
Did anyone learn a lesson in this story?
Would you recommend it to a friend to read?

Comprehension Questions for Nonfiction

Before Reading

What is this mostly about?
What do you already know about this topic?
What would you like to find out?
Look at the Table of Contents

During and After Reading
What was your favorite part?
Did you learn an amazing fact?
Did you learn something new?
Did you learn a new word?
What are the bold or colorful words?
Were there charts or maps or graphs? What did they tell you?
How did the author organize the ideas?
What else would you like to find out?

ABC's for Reading Success Letter

2009-09-14T15:00:00.000-05:00

Ask your child to read with you every day.
Be a good listener and a good reading buddy.
Congratulate your child for any attempts at letter and word recognition.
Discuss illustrations in a book and how it relates to the story.
Encourage early attempts to memorize whole words.
Find patterns in the text. Are there rhyming words? Repeated words?
Give your child gifts of literature.
Help your child pick out "just right" reading books.
Investigate varied reading material, such as plays and poetry.
Join a children's story time group at a bookstore or a library.
Keep your child on a regular daily reading schedule.
Limit television viewing. Have a nightly family read-aloud time instead.
Make reading a fun and positive experience for your child.
Notice and discuss road signs and billboards while driving.
Organize a quiet reading place in your home.
Provide your child with many opportunities to read.
Question your child's understanding while reading.
Read to your child often. Show how much you enjoy literature.
Sample varied letter activities, such as playing with magnetic letters.
Take time to talk about the parts of a story that your child enjoyed.
Use a computer. Try using children's beginning reading software programs.
Visit your local library often.
Work in partnership with your child's teacher.
Xerox and read interesting articles about beginning readers.
Your involvement and excitement will give your child confidence.
Zip through these suggestions on a regular basis.

How can you tell if your child is reading appropriate material?

2009-08-28T11:03:00.000-05:00

Parents can do a "five finger test" with their children. Have your child read a page from the book they are reading. Each time the child incorrectly reads a word or doesn't know a word, put a finger down. At the end of the reading, check to see how many fingers are down. If one to two fingers are down, your child is reading a vacation book. These books are good for building fluency. If three to four fingers are down, children are reading a "just right" book. These are books that will increase vocabulary and comprehension. Lastly, if all five fingers are down, this is a dream book. That book should be put away for now. These books can be taken out another time, and hopefully will become "just right" and vacation books.

Summer Reading Tips for Families

2009-05-28T14:38:00.000-05:00

Summer Reading Tips for Families

The information below is from the Illinois Reading Council Journal Volume 32, No. 3, Summer 2004, and the Reading Is Fundamental website, www.rif.org (link is below).

 Visit Aurora Public Library: If your child would like a library card, or for friendly summer reading programs, visit http://www.aurora.lib.il.us/spguide.htm (link is below).
 Read aloud with your child.
 Take your child to see a local storyteller or be one yourself.
 Help your child find time to read: Schedule a time everyday that fits into his/her daily routine. Fifteen to twenty minutes of reading daily is preferred.
 Lead by example: Read a newspaper, magazine, etc. to let your child see you as a reader. Talk to your child about what you have read and learned.

Taking a Break From Books
Ways to keep kids reading beyond books

1. Newspapers-Many newspapers have sections geared toward kids, such as comics.
2. Magazines-Kids can often identify with the tone and subject matter of magazines and the articles hold their attention.
3. Cookbooks-Cooking is a great opportunity to get kids reading. Give your child a cookbook and let him/her pick out several recipes to try (Post-Its are great markers!).
4. Comic Books-Comic books are popular among kids. The illustrations and often offbeat topics will keep kids interested.
5. Brochures-Are you going on a special vacation? Get brochures for destination spots, tourist attractions, and theme parks. Let your child read the brochures and let him/her get excited about the upcoming event or adventure.
6. Food Labels-Have your child read the cereal box, bag of chips, pop cans, etc.
7. Writing-Write notes to your child and have him/her write back to you. Create books at home, keep a diary, make a grocery list, etc.
8. Games-Play board games.

Many parents want to know the best ways to help their child become a better reader. At Brooks, we use the following strategies to help your child with unfamiliar words and comprehension. At home, you can promote these strategies while reading with your child. Please, do not feel you need to do all of these strategies. Focus on one or two at a time. Remember, you don’t need to correct your child every time as long as meaning is not disrupted.

 Strategies for unfamiliar words:
o Sounding out the word: Have your child start to sound out the word by saying “get your mouth ready.” Ask what sound comes first, etc.
o Look for a word within a word (chunk it): For example, “at” is in hat.
o Look for a pattern (word family or rhyming): For example, if your child knows the word “day”, he/she should be able to substitute the first letter and be able to come up with the word (say, may, play, etc.).
o Look at the picture. Is there something in the picture that would help your child with the word? What would make sense? For example, if the word is snail, have your child look at the picture and ask what item on the picture begins with the word “s.”
o Skip it and read on. Have your child read to the end of the sentence or paragraph. Next, ask your child what word would make sense there and check to see if it is correct.
o Ask someone.

 Strategies for comprehending a story:
o Before reading:
 Look at the title and cover of the book.
 Do a picture walk, or for an older child, have him/her read the back of the book.
 Predict: Use background knowledge (personal experiences).
o During reading:
 Question the text. As your child reads, he/she should ask questions.
 Make inferences: Teach your child to think like a detective.
 Use clues from the pictures and story to figure out what the author is trying to say.
 Make connections (Text-to-Self, Text-to-Text, and Text-to-World).
 Visualize the story: Help your child to picture the events of the story in his/her mind.
o After reading:
o Have your child discuss his/her thoughts, feelings, and reactions to the story.

A great book that offers additional information is 7 Keys to Comprehension: How to Help Your Kids Read It and Get It! by Susan Zimmermann and Chryse Hutchins.