A Discovery for ParentsBy: April Miller

Good children's literature appeals not only tothe child in the adult, but to the adult in the

child.~ Anonymous ~

This presentation is designed to help you understand the importance of reading for your child. It will also give you ideas, suggestions and recourses to engage your son or daughter at home with reading.

Reading is a complex behaviour. It includes both decoding and the making of meaning.

Decoding involves recognizing letters, sounds, and words and understanding

sentence structure, and grammar. Meaning or comprehension involves understanding

what they are reading.

Decoding of sounds and words correctly

Recognizing familiar words Understanding what the words

mean Being able to answer questions

about their reading (comprehension) Recognizing when things don’t make

sense and trying to fix that misunderstanding

Fluency – when a person reads smoothly and understands when and where to take breaks

Using expression

Here’s a list of reading strategies that competent and proficient readers use: * making connections (text-to-text, text-to-

self, and text-to-world) * asking questions

* inferring (reading between the lines)* determining important ideas* synthesizing information* repairing understanding

“True comprehension goes beyond literal understanding and involves the reader’s interaction with

text.”“Strategies that Work” by Stephanie Harvey and Anne

Goudvis

Share your own passion for reading with your child Read aloud to your child. It will help your child to learn the

language of books and encourages the enjoyment of books and reading.

Talk about books together - make reading a shared, enjoyable activity.

Expose your child to a variety of texts (fiction and non-fiction, recipes, menus, shopping list, newspapers, poetry, magazines, websites, instructions, etc.

Show your child that we read for a variety of purposes (enjoyment, knowledge, etc.)

Read to your child in your first language - research shows that using your first language will help your child when he or she learns to read English.

Help your child find books that are “just right” for them (five finger rule)

Try not to let television intrude on reading time - set aside some uninterrupted time to read with your child.

Find texts that engage your child based on their interests and hobbies

Listen to your child read every day, even if only for a short time.

Discuss the meanings of stories and words. Join your local library. Borrow books for yourself as well as

your child.

Show your child that reading is everywhere! http://www.readingforlife.org.uk/34/

What do you think will happen in this book? (fiction) What do you already know about this topic? (non-fiction) What do you think you will learn from reading this book?

(non-fiction) What are some of the reasons you chose this book? Why do you think _____________ happened? Does this book remind you of something? How so? What would you do in a similar situation?

Do you think you could be friends with the character? Why or why not?

What would you do if you were the main character? What did you like about the book? Why or why not? What did you not like about the book? Why or why not? If you could change the ending, how would you end the

story? What questions did you think of when you read this

book? How would you retell the book? Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or

why not? What do you predict would happen next in the story? What is the authors message? (moral or main idea) Where you able to picture anything in your mind as you

read? Did you learn anything from the text?

http://www.schools.nsw.edu.au/gotoschool/a-z/reading.php

http://www.nncc.org/Parent/8ways.read.html http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/document/brochure/

earlyreading/readingguide.pdf http://www.readingrockets.org/ http://www.tumblebooks.com