Strengthening Reading
Reading Rockets offers a wealth of reading strategies, lessons, and activities designed to help young children learn how to read and read better. Their reading resources assist parents, teachers, and other educators in helping struggling readers build fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension skills.
Choosing 'Just Right' Books
It's important that your child reads books that are 'Just Right' for them - not too easy and not too challenging. A quick and simple way to test if a book is 'Just Right' is by using the 5 Finger Test.
The lists below can be helpful in identifying whether books are too Easy, Just Right, or too Challenging.
EASY Books
* you can read the words fluently (smooth and with an interesting voice)
*there often are not a lot of words on a page
*you know how to say all the words
*there are not a lot of pages in the book
*you have a lot of schema for the subject
*sometimes the book has a larger font
*you totally understand the story
*your reading rate may be quicker
*your thinking comes easy as you read the words
JUST RIGHT Books
*you can read most of the words
*you can understand what you are reading
*you enjoy the book *you may have some schema for the subject
*you can read the book with smooth fluency but there are some choppy places
*your reading rate is just right- not too slow and not too fast
*you can figure out the tricky words and still get the meaning of the story
CHALLENGING Books
*many of the words are too hard to decode (failed a five finger test)
*you don't know what the tricky words MEAN
*your reading becomes choppy more than it is fluent
*you don't have any prior knowledge the subject
*there are often a lot of words on the page
*often the font is small
*you lose focus as you are reading
*you are not enjoying the book because you have to do too much word work
*your thinking is confused
*your reading rate slows way down
*lists adapted from Beth Newingham's Reader's Workshop.
Scholastic
Scholastic Parent's site is an extremely good resource for finding leveled books, activities and learning reinforcements for your child.
Reading Rockets offers a wealth of reading strategies, lessons, and activities designed to help young children learn how to read and read better. Their reading resources assist parents, teachers, and other educators in helping struggling readers build fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension skills.
Choosing 'Just Right' Books
It's important that your child reads books that are 'Just Right' for them - not too easy and not too challenging. A quick and simple way to test if a book is 'Just Right' is by using the 5 Finger Test.
The lists below can be helpful in identifying whether books are too Easy, Just Right, or too Challenging.
EASY Books
* you can read the words fluently (smooth and with an interesting voice)
*there often are not a lot of words on a page
*you know how to say all the words
*there are not a lot of pages in the book
*you have a lot of schema for the subject
*sometimes the book has a larger font
*you totally understand the story
*your reading rate may be quicker
*your thinking comes easy as you read the words
JUST RIGHT Books
*you can read most of the words
*you can understand what you are reading
*you enjoy the book *you may have some schema for the subject
*you can read the book with smooth fluency but there are some choppy places
*your reading rate is just right- not too slow and not too fast
*you can figure out the tricky words and still get the meaning of the story
CHALLENGING Books
*many of the words are too hard to decode (failed a five finger test)
*you don't know what the tricky words MEAN
*your reading becomes choppy more than it is fluent
*you don't have any prior knowledge the subject
*there are often a lot of words on the page
*often the font is small
*you lose focus as you are reading
*you are not enjoying the book because you have to do too much word work
*your thinking is confused
*your reading rate slows way down
*lists adapted from Beth Newingham's Reader's Workshop.
Scholastic
Scholastic Parent's site is an extremely good resource for finding leveled books, activities and learning reinforcements for your child.