ASKING QUESTIONS When your child has finished reading a page, take a moment to ask them about what they just read or what they think will happen next in the story. It's important to keep these questions short so that your child does not lose track of what is happening in the story.
READING UNFAMILIAR WORDS When your child comes across an unfamiliar word, there are several strategies that you can encourage them to use.
STRETCH THE WORD: Read each sound in the word and blend the sounds together.
ENDING SOUNDS: Point out ending sounds, such as, -ed, -ing, -er.
USE KNOWN WORDS: Ask your child if they know any words that look like the unfamiliar word.
CHUNKING: Chunk parts of the word together. i.e. in-for-ma-tion
REREAD: Reread the sentence and say the first sound of the word.
SKIP: Skip the word and come back.
PICTURES: Encourage your child to use pictures to identify unfamiliar words.
CROSS-CHECKING: Have your child check to see if the word they read looks right, sounds right, and makes sense.
PROMOTING FLUENCY (Reading Like You Talk) There are several strategies that can help your child develop into a fluent reader.
READ TO YOUR CHILD: In order to develop fluency, it is important for children to hear fluent reading on a regular basis.
MINDING PUNCTUATION: As your child reads, encourage them to follow punctuation.
READING WITH EXPRESSION: Encourage your child to read with expression that reflects the author's meaning and emotions of the characters.
REREAD: After a difficult page, have your child reread the page and focus on fluency.