My Darling Tots

Reading

There are 5 components of Reading:

Phonemic Awareness,

Phonic,

Reading Fluency,

Vocabulary Development, and

Reading Comprehension

If you click on one of the five components you will be given a brief description and an activity you can do to practice that specific reading skill.

More Family Reading Activities

Phonemic awareness – recognizing and using individual sounds to create words. Ask questions like “what sound does the word dog begin with?” Listen to this – ‘at’. What does it make if I add the ‘h’ sound at the beginning? When a child is reading and they fumble over a word try saying “it rhymes with ___ but it begins with ____.”

My alphabet sound book

Things you will need:

Magazines

Scissors

Binder

Large-sized construction paper or cardboard

Glue

Hole punch

Yarn

Directions:

Start with the letters in your child’s name. Starting with the letters in your child’s name helps connect the child’s interest to the activity.

Tell your child the sound it makes and ask your child to cut out pictures of things that begin with that sound.

Have them glue the pictures onto paper.

Label the top of that page with the letter that makes that sound.

Use the hole punch to punch three holes, use the binder or yarn to bind it together.

Collect the whole alphabet! Let your child be creative when designing the cover.

You could create individual sound books. Example; my b sound book. Everything in there will begin with that sound. To practice writing have them write the word under the picture.

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Phonic – Understanding the relationships between written letters and spoken sounds

Children need to be taught the sounds individual printed letters and groups of letters make. Knowing the relationships between letters and sounds helps children to recognize familiar words accurately and automatically, and “decode” new words.

Alphabet Scavenger Hunt

Things you will need:

House hold items

Pen

Paper

Reward

Directions:

Make a checklist of things for your child to find around the house.

A book that begins with the letter “C”

Something in the bathroom with the letter “T” in its name

Set a time limit and see how many items on the list your child can find. Be sure to reward them regardless of how many items they actually find.

Another way you can play this game is to print the Alphabet Scavenger Hunt or take a sheet of paper and write all the letters in the alphabet down the right side of the paper.

Pick a room and have your child write down as many items as they can to complete the alphabet sheet.

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Reading Fluency – Developing the ability to read a text accurately and quickly.

Read books that are on their reading level. You can read the book first, and then allow the child to read. Allow them to read the same book over and over again. You will eventually see them reading faster, smoother, and with some expression.

Family TV Time

Things you will need

Television with “Closed Captioning” ability

Directions

Turn your “Closed Captioning” on your television.

Choose one of your child’s favorite programs, and encourage them to read the dialogue rather than listen to it, or you can even turn the sound down.

For early readers, when learning new letters encourage them to go up to the television and touch the letter whenever it is on the screen. You can start with the first letter of your child’s name.

Shows to avoid are shows with rapid dialogue, e.g. shows featuring “live” broadcasts such as news shows or sports – not only is it hard to read fast, but due to the “live”-action-typing there are also some spelling errors and typos that can be confusing to new readers.

Ask questions about the show during commercials and after the show to check for comprehension.

Ask questions, such as:

"Was that real or pretend?"

"Why did ____ do what he/she did?"

Even if you don't use the closed caption, asking questions about television shows is a great thing to do all the time because it builds your child's media literacy skills.

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Vocabulary Development – Learning the meaning and pronunciation of words. Vocabulary is words we need to know to communicate with others. There are four types of vocabulary:

A. Listening – words we understand when others talk to us.

B. Speaking – words we use when we talk to others.

C. Reading – words we know when we see them in print.

D. Writing – words we use when we write.

Vocabulary Builders

Word of the Day:

This is a game that reinforces vocabulary words that they are learning in school. Choose words they already know teaching them to sound the word out if they are beginning readers.

Give details of each word, use it in a sentence, give the meaning, have them write the word on paper, and then encourage them to use the word in a sentence as well.

If you know topics that your child enjoys, pick fun words from that topic. For example, if they love animals, pick words or items that would be used at the zoo or vet.

Word of the Week

These are words that will build their vocabulary. Get a list of words that are age appropriate for your child's grade level and make sure they know these words. Ask their teacher for a list of grade appropriate words.

Once they learn these words get a list of words for the next grade level and do the same thing.

Try to use these words as often as possible and encourage your child to do the same. You want these words to become a part of their everyday use.

Descriptive words

Get a thesaurus and teach your child new words to describe things.

In our house, we use descriptive words with food; my kids love it. When I ask how something tastes, they usually say:

Exquisite, delicious, yummy, scrumptious, good, heavenly, very delightful.

When we say good-bye in the mornings we describe the type of day we want each other to have. Words like: Have a ____ day.

Marvelous, perfect, magnificent, great, good, wonderful, delightful, exquisite.

From Words to Sentences

Things you will need

Construction paper

Pencil

Scissors

Index cards

Directions:

Use index cards or cut out small squares from construction paper and write the words noun, adjective, adverb, verb, and write connecting words on one side.

On the other side write an actually words e.g., he, sad, slowly, left, but, etc…; use about 15 cards.

You can color assign for each type of word (nouns = blue, verbs = yellow, etc…

Ask your child to create sentences. Provide them with blank cards as well so they may add words.

Depending on the age level you can make the words more complex or simpler by using pictures and gluing them on each card.

Optional

Sit down and have a non-verbal conversation with your child. Use blank cards to write a question. Have child write their responses.

Or parents can ask questions verbally and have child respond in writing, or vice versa.

Always have blank cards available for new words.

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Reading Comprehension strategies – Acquiring strategies to understand, remember, and communicate what is read.

A. Before reading ask your child questions about the book cover. Point out the author and/or illustrator’s names. Ask your child what they think the book might be about. Ask your child to make a prediction about the book.

B. During and/or after you read the book, ask questions. You can use the five W’s to help create questions: Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How

Breaking News

Things you will need:

Newspaper

Magazines

Internet

Directions:

Review an article with your child. Find something that interests them (e.g., sports, animals, comics, etc…) have your child read the article and then report back to you as a real television reporter.

Allow them to be as creative as they want by using family members, friends, and props.

You can even create your own microphone by wrapping some construction paper around the cardboard tube from a roll of paper towel and then attach a big ball of tin foil to the top.

You can read the article as well to check for comprehension.

Check Out My Catalog

Things you will need:

3"x5" index cards

Magazine photos

Pencil/markers/crayons

Small box (shoe box, etc…)

Stickers

Glitter

Glue

Directions:

After each book your child reads, have them write the title, author, what the book was about (using the 5 W's), and evaluation of the book; for example, 3 stars - average, or I loved this book because…, I would not recommend this book because…

Have your child decorate the box and store the card in the box.

You and your child will be amazed at the entire list of books they have read over the years. They can then recommend the books to others.

Optional

Your child can also create bookmarks for each book they read using the same information above.

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More Family Reading Activities

Little Lunch Letters

Things you will need:

Writing utensils

Paper/post-its, etc…

Directions:

Write little notes to your child and put them in their lunch box. You can use paper, sticky notes, or one of my printables.

You can also surprise your child with a note under their pillow, in their drawer or on the mirror in the morning. They can be as simple as “I love you”, or thank them for something they did, “Thank you for cleaning your room”, etc…

Dictionary Fun

Things you will need:

A children’s dictionary

Writing material

Pen/pencil/crayons.

Directions:

Choose a word out of the dictionary without telling the definition. Have your child guess out loud, write down, or illustrate what they think the word means and then share the answers to see who came closest to guessing the actual meaning of the word. Allow them to be as creative as they want by using family members, friends, and props.

Or switch it around. Give the meaning and have them guess the word.You can read the article as well to check for comprehension.

Musical Reading

Things you will need:

Cassette or CD player

Cassettes or CDs with lyrics written in the liner notes

Directions:

Have your child read the verses to her favorite popular songs. Read the verses again as you listen and sing along to the music together.

Optional

If your child loves to write encourage him/her to create his/her own lyrics to the music.

My Family Book Club

Find a book that the whole family can enjoy. You can do it every week, once a month, etc… Once everyone is finished reading the book set a time where you discuss the book.

Talk to your local librarian because many favorite kids’ books have ready-to-use discussion questions found in the books and on websites or you can come up with your own questions for the book.

Serve food, snacks, etc…make your family book club as entertaining as possible

A Hunt for Treasure

Things you will need:

Pen/pencil

Tape/tacks/sticky notes

Small pieces of paper

Reward or treasure

Directions:

Hide something your child has always wanted or hide a reward/treasure somewhere around the house. Write down instructions to a location in the house on individual pieces of paper and hide them. These are clues that will direct your child to another hiding place bringing them closer to their treasure.

Example, the first clue may say, “Look in the bathroom behind the red towel.” The clue behind the red towel will send them someplace else for another clue, etc…until they find their treasures.

Optional