Literacy Language

So I talked about fluency and comprehension, but there are a few more specific terms that you might hear about.  You probably won't hear these too much in normal conversation, but they're good for identifying struggles with your reader.

Digraph: two successive letters whose phonetic value is one sound (ie: /ch/ or /th/ or /sh/)

Diphthong: monosyllabic speech sound gliding from one vowel sound to another (ie; /oy/ or /ea/); also extremely fun word to throw out there at parties :)

Morpheme: an individual unit of language (ie: "pins" has two morphemes /pin/ and /s/)

Phoneme: single distinct unit of language (ie: "cat" has three phonemes /c/ /a/ /t/)

New Changes!

Please note that in order to make this website easier to find and more relevant to my readers I have changed the title to "Reading with Kids."
The new url is:
https://summerreadingtime.blogspot.com

I will change the Facebook link soon.

Thank you!

First Lines Quiz

Can you Match the Titles with the First Lines?

A. "Where's Papa goin with that axe?"                   1. A Wrinkle in Time

B. "There is no lake at Camp Green Lake."            2. The Very Hungry Caterpillar

C. "It was a  dark and stormy night."                      3. Diary of a Wimpy Kid

D. "In the light of the moon a little egg lay             4. Holes
on a leaf."
                                                                                 5. Charlotte's Web
E. "In an old house in Paris that was covered with  
 vines lived twelve little girls in two straight lines."
                                                                                 6. Voyage of the Dawn Treader
F. "The sun did not shine."
                                                                                 7. The Hobbit
G. "First of all let me get something straight:
this is a journal, not a diary."                                   8. Madeline
                                                                         
H. "In a hole in the ground lived a hobbit."

Reading Tools: Mature Content

So your young reader has outgrown the children's section, exhausted the Easy-Reader and chapter book sections, and is looking for something"good." He spies a book in his interest area in the Teen/Young Adult section of a book order.  Your MOM-DAR goes ballistic as you skim the content and read an excerpt.  But he reeeeaaallly wants to read it.  What to do?

Deviantart.com defines mature content in literature as: controversial political or religious opinion, violence, gore, strong language, nudity or even themes involving mild sexual content.  

It's not directly related to the reading skill level, although most are written for an age-appropriate audience.  Books with themes about genocide, war, abduction, murder, rape, etc.  tend to fall into this category.  Mature literature can appear any genre including non-fiction, fiction, graphic novel, biography, even romance.  On the title page of a book there is often a list of identifying themes that can be a clue to whether or not the book is considered mature.  Once content is determined, consider the following:

• Know your Reader: What does your gut tell you?  Is it something he can handle or will it give him nightmares?
• Prepare: Look for a similar book that is more benign and have him read that first.  Watch a documentary about the topic. Talk to someone who has had experience in this area.  This will set the stage and prepare your ambitious reader for what he is about to read.
• Support: Even though you are ready and willing to answer questions for your child, it's a good idea to have someone else to turn to. A teacher, librarian, family member, or friend can be excellent, open-minded resource in this endeavor.

It's ok if he starts the book and decides he doesn't want to finish it.  Mature content is not for everyone.  Move on and suggest something more light-hearted. Like Tolstoy.  (just kidding)

Booklist: 2nd Grade

Second Graders have a wide range of reading capabilities, which is why it's particularly difficult to classify a good second grade book.  Books that are appealing to most second graders typically are chapter books around 100 pages with wide margins, pictures, and lots of humor.  Here's some suggestions in that category:





Nate the Great (Series), by Marjorie Sharmat Weinman

 Frog and Toad, Arnold Lobel
 





Henry and Mudge (series), by Cynthia Rylant






Cam Jansen (series), by David A. Adler





Amelia Bedelia (series), Peggy Parish

Roscoe Riley (series), Katherine Applegate

Horrible Harry (series), Suzy Kline

What is TpT?

A fabulous resource for teachers and parents alike is a website called Teachetspayteachers.com or TpT.  Offering support in the form of worksheets, printable, activities, crafts, full units, reading guides, any many other downloads this website is quickly becoming a favorite.  I mention it on this blog because there are resources for literacy and literature based on grade level, many of them for free. Check it out for some great ideas!

Author Spotlight: Dav Pilkey

Back when I was student teaching there was a controversial book that all the kids wanted to read.  Teachers struggled with letting kids read what they wanted (they were reading after all) or censoring the "inappropriate" material.  The title in question?  Captain Underpants.

The author, Dav Pilkey, has become renowned and beloved for his whimsical works.  Many of his books are bestsellers and favorites among young readers.  Filled with alternating prose and comics readers feel like they get to take breaks on the picture pages.  Signature elements like Flip-O-Rama make reading interactive and fun.

As a child Pilkey struggled in school, so his characters and writing appeal to students who face similar challenges (although not necessarily a talking turbo toilet 2000).

For more information and a complete list of Dav Pilkey's books visit his website at pilkey.com

Reading Time

Most kids like to be read to before bed.  But there are many times during the day that I have found are perfect for story time.

Waiting for the bus to come in the morning, we can get a few pages in.

In the bathtub I can read while they get themselves clean.

In a  doctor's office or other waiting room where you are stuck for a while.

Visiting the library.

In the car, if you're not driving!

During lunch or snack time when the kids are quiet for a few minutes.

These little moments add up and encourage kids to be cognitively engaged during down time.

Booklist: 3rd Grade

According to Scholastic.com here is a list of the bestsellers that are perfect for readers at the third grade level:

• Humphrey
• Flat Stanley
• Puppy Place
• Dog Man
• Who Would Win
• My Weirdest School
• Wimpy Kid
• Magic Puppy

When I was in 3rd grade my teacher had more books in her classroom than we had in the library!  I remember reading Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, all of the Wizard of Oz books, and Ramona.

Reading Tools: Comprehension Part II

But wait!  There's More!

In the first section of this post (published 6/27/18) I discussed what comprehension is, along with contextual clues, working memory, and making connections.  But comprehension is so much to, well, comprehend, that I decided to split it up into two posts.

Look for Key Words:  This strategy for comprehension is useful in s testing situation.  Sometimes a key word refers to a phrase than one word.  usually these words are names, dates, facts, locations, or other nouns in a passage.  Sometimes those nouns are qualified with another word that gives the passage a deeper for more specific meaning.  These may include words like most, longest, increasing, less, first, slowest, etc.  Identifying key words helps a reader to get the big picture in a story.

Summarize the Story:  This strategy involves breaking down the elements of the plot.

• Characters- The "who" in the story.  Name the individuals involved in the plot.
• Setting- The "where" in the story.  Talk about the place, or places, in which the story's events occur.
• Problem- Something happens that the characters need to resolve.  What is it?  Why is it a problem?
• Solution- What the characters do, or what happens int he post that solves the problem.

Visualization: As your reader grows, they will eventually be reading books with fewer pictures.  Children's books contain a lot of illustrations in order to convey meaning, but older readers are expected to be able to create these images in their mind.  One way to promos this is with poetry.  Poetry is very visual, yet not always illustrated.  Have your reader close his ir her eyes and visualize what they see as your ready  poem like this one:

My long two-pointed ladder's sticking through a tree 

Toward heaven still, 

And there's a barrel that I didn't fill 

Beside it, and there may be two or three 

Apples I didn't pick upon some bough. 

But I am done with apple-picking now. 

-from "After Apple Picking," by Robert Frost

What are YOU reading?

Live by example.

Throughout school we are told what to read and when to read it.  As adults we have the freedom to choose what we read and when we read it.  We have worked hard and earned this independence.

True, it took me many years after college to be able to find reading pleasurable again, but when I did it was a new adventure.  I discovered genres that I did not know existed.  I read things that my kids are reading to understand them better and we have great conversations!

Take the time to read for fun today!

Amazon's Best of 2018

Amazon.com has released it's own Bestseller book list.  Here are the winners from each category.  Check out the website to see more titles!

Birth-2:
8 Little Planes, by Chris Ferrie








Age 3-5:
Ocean Meets Sky, by Terry Fan

Age 6-8:
The Day You Begin, by Jacqueline Woodson










Age 9-12:
Season of Styx Malone, by Kekla Magoon











Non-fiction:
National Parks of the USA, by Kate Siber








YA:
Children of Blood and Bone, by Tomi Adeyemi

Magic Tree House #31: Warriors in Winter

Releases January 8, 2019!
Jack and Annie have met knights, pirates, ninjas, and Vikings, but they have never met the most fearsome warriors of all: Roman soldiers. When the magic tree house whisks them back to the early 100s AD, Jack and Annie find themselves in a Roman camp. Their mission: Be like a warrior.

That is easier said than done! The Roman soldiers are much scarier in person--and suspicious of strangers. Then a mysterious man riding a black horse gives Jack and Annie some advice to help them on their mission. But the man may not be who he seems. Will Jack and Annie be good warriors? Can they learn what makes the Roman soldiers so great? And who is the mysterious rider . . . ?