HOW CAN I IMPROVE MY CHILD’S READING

By: Mdm Zarina, Allied Educator, Rosyth School

• Speaking and listening come first. But learning to read is, without question, the top priority in elementary education.

Boyer, 1995, p.69

WHY IS READING FLUENCY SO IMPORTANT?

• • • Provides a bridge between word decoding and comprehension.

Does not ensure comprehension, but comprehension is difficult without fluency.

Reading ought to be automatic. Child cannot struggle with word recognition when they should be reading quickly for comprehension of a text.

READING

Word Decoding Listening Comprehension Reading Comprehension

WHAT’S READING FLUENCY?

• • Fluency is the ability to read text with speed, accuracy and proper expression.

A fluent reader can:  Read words quickly and accurately  Recognise words effortlessly, no need to concentrate on decoding  Focus on comprehension  Read with expression

THREE COMPONENTS OF READING FLUENCY • Fluency = Speed + Accuracy + Prosody • • Automaticity Automaticity refers to accurate, speedy word recognition Prosody refers to proper stress, intonation, pauses, phrasing and reading with feeling

HOW CAN YOU SUPPORT YOUR CHILD’S READING?

•

The WAT of Reading

: • • • Reading Reading Reading W ith your child A lo ne T o your child

CHOOSING BOOKS FOR YOUR CHILD

• • Print size Illustrations – colourful, not cluttered • Level of difficulty  Language  Sentence length  Repetition of sentence structure & words

Reading Strategies

TEACHING FLUENCY

• • •     Demonstrate reading to the child. We show what fluent, meaningful reading is like.

Start from the child’s baseline (reading level) Ensure good reading habits Posture Lighting Attention Atmosphere

PAIRED READING

• A form of choral reading done by two readers, one more proficient than the other.

 More effective if practised continuously for at least 5 times a week, 5-15 minutes per session, for at least 6 consecutive weeks.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gmNGpJW JpQ

DEVELOPING APPROPRIATE SPEED AND PROSODY • • • • Demonstrate how our child is reading (eg. Monotonous, too fast, mumbling) Demonstrate reading with expression and how it contributes to meaning Use voice recording/stop watch to provide feedback Watch the posture

READING OF SIGHT WORDS

 Dolch list  Fry sight words list

STRATEGIES TO IMPROVE WORD DECODING • • • Elkonin Boxes Phonics Word Wheels Syllabication Techniques

ELKONIN BOXES

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIhurqhIk0 c

ALPHABET WORD WHEEL

SYLLABICATION TECHNIQUES

• Method of dividing words into syllables In dus try Com pu ter Es tab lish De mol ish Ex pla na tion Rest ing Cab in But ter Lo tion Pos ture

GOOD READERS SHOULD BE ABLE TO

 Predict and connect from what they have read and what they know  Set reading purpose  Ask questions about what they are reading  Infer from events in the text  Visualise – Imagine the scene as they read  Distinguish important from less important ideas in text

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What if my child does not like reading?

• • • • • Reading is a complex process, difficult for some, easy for others.

Care must be taken during their school-age years of 7-9 years old, as not to over emphasize the learning-to-read process.

Let them choose books which are of their interests.

Provide varied reading materials in the home about hobbies or interests.

As parents, we try to encourage reading habits by modelling this leisure-time reading at home .

• • • • • Establish a reading time, even if it is only ten minutes a day.

Write notes to your school-age child; encourage written responses.

Ask your child to bring a library book home to read to a younger sibling.

Establish one evening a week for reading (instead of television viewing).

Encourage your child in all reading efforts

SOME LANGUAGE ACTIVITIES YOU CAN DO WITH YOUR CHILD INCLUDE  Playing language games like word scavenger hunt. (looking for a word in print materials)  Reading aloud a book and asking our child to identify words beginning with the same sound for example, ‘m’ – moon, make, magnet, mat etc.

WEBSITES ON LEARNING TO READ

 Starfall http://www.starfall.com/  Children’s Storybooks Online http://www.magickeys.com/books/  ABC Fast Phonics with Cartoons http://www.abcfastphonics.com/index.html