Hints for Reading To and With Your Child
Before Reading
- Choose
reading materials that are at your childŐs reading level. For help with
this use the information on your childŐs report card and the reading list
on the Coe web site
- Take a
picture walk through the book to preview it. Talk about the cover illustrations, title, author,
headings, chapter titles, captions, pictures, etc.
- Have
your child make predictions by drawing on what your child already knows
and the information gathered with the picture walk
- Ask
questions – What do you think this is about?
- Make
real life connects, make connections to other books
During Reading
- When
reading to your child, make sure he or she can see the book or has their
own copy
- Pause
at appropriate times and discuss the book or story as you read
- Pause
and discuss interesting or keywords, but do not disrupt the flow or
meaning of the text
- When
your child is reading and comes to an unknown word, silently count to ten
before prompting – allowing your child time to use a fix-it up
strategy. Then encourage him
or her to:
o Look at the part
of the word they know or do word
chunking
o Sound it out
o Put in a word
that makes sense
o Continue reading
to see if reading the rest of the sentence will unlock the word
o Tell your child
the word and discuss it
o Back up and try
it again
After Reading
- Ask
your child to retell the story
- Talk
with him or her about the characters, similar events or experiences
- Identify
new words or difficult words which can be acted out
- Ask
how he or she might behave or react to a similar situation
- Give
praise during and after the reading
- Discuss
what was learned from the book/story and what he or she might like to
learn more about.