Home Reading Starts Today!

This notice went home in the folder today on a bright green paper, along with your child's little "just right book" to share at home!

If your child did not bring a folder to school, then they did not bring a little book and notice home today!

Reading notes for Parents

October 2019 Ms Palsich’s Grade One

This is a suggested collection of “next steps” for reading that bridge emergent to beginning reading; Remember:  independent reading is not an expectation coming out of Kindergarten. Most Grade 1 students are emergent and beginner readers and we support them accordingly!

Most importantly for Grade 1 Home Reading

·      Return the book in the home school communication folder every day please! (EVEN IF you did not read it or are not done reading it!) 

·      Have a special home routine/place to keep school books, folders and bags!

·      Keep shared reading Fun!

·      Children always choose their own books!                                                     

·      Make it a Celebration of learning.

·      Make it a regular shared routine.    

·      Give your child a chance to CHOOSE to read to you

·      Always offer to read TO your child or share a favourite book, if your child is shy or does not confidently choose to read to you at home – the goal is self- selection, choice and inspiration to read

From a Child’s Point of View

·      Once I already know I can read – THEN I will take off learning to read!

·      Picture reading IS reading – pictures carry a message and tell a story

From an Instructional Point of View

Leave “Sounding out” for when your child does it naturally – it is a much later reading strategy for a more advanced reader, who has mastered most phonemic and phonetic knowledge necessary to sound out words.  We have many English sight words that do not follow sounding out rules!  (said, to, do, go, my – just to name a few) Memorization and repetition are better first learning steps!

1. Sounding out words is not reading; it is decoding – appropriate for a writing task or specific word/grammar work.  (at school teaching) Reading is specifically a communication skill, where the priority is fluency, good voice inflection and strong comprehension about what was read.

Memorization is practiced and encouraged for beginning readers!  It is an important step for voice fluency, inflection, and CONFIDENCE.

2. Fluency of voice and good inflection comes from memorization and opportunity to mimic a good reading voice. ie. Echo reading, and following a patterned, predictable text that very closely matches an accompanying picture, or tracking along with a favourite song, chant, rhyme or poem.

If your child gets stuck, you can support and encourage:

·      make it fun, by using character voices and different voice volumes

·      Echo means: you read the line, your child mimics your voice to read the line after

·      Check for “what would make sense”

·      Check for “the beginning sound of a word” that matches the picture and also makes sense to the story

·      Just give a word or directly correct by reading the line when necessary

3. A fluent reading voice from any text should sound almost like an expert (like the teacher reading) because the text is leveled for the age level, the voice should sound like the text is mastered! This comes after lots of practice and repetition!  

4.  As soon as a child understands how to track print with a finger, get them to take the finger away and only track with eyes like a good reader will do.  If they are not yet tracking print, accept, compliment, and encourage attention to print on the page.

5.  For kids who are already readers, keep exposing them to a variety of reading experiences that include being read to by an adult, from rich text with complex story, more advanced vocabulary and opportunity for discussion and making inferences and connections to their own life and experiences.  This exposure to ideas and new vocabulary, advances future reading and writing skills FASTER than any amount of independent practice a young child does on their own!  Hint, hint – it improves language development all the way through grade 6!  We still need to share books and read to kids of all ages! 

6.. Just because a child might stumble a little through a leveled text for school doesn’t mean they shouldn’t continue to try challenging texts during other types of reading opportunities!  Leveled text reading is only one kind of reading in the classroom and is meant to assess progress and connect reading to home for Home Reading in Grade 1!  Continue to share other rich literature and talk about what you read at home!

Have Fun Reading!

Writing connection notes to follow soon! 

Ms. Palsich – Grade 1 Hawkwood School