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/)

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)

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.

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

Reading Tools: Writing

I was recently told that my oldest needs practice with "written expression."  At first I was mystified (since this is a comment from his science teacher, not English) but I did some research and came up with a few strategies I think might work to help with this area.

Written expression involves:
Spelling
Handwriting
Main Ideas
Typing
Organization

Some games we've been playing over the Thanksgiving break are Crossword Puzzles, Scrabble, Hangman, and Appletters.  Also I've been writing him emails in order to get him to respond typing to me.  Crossing my fingers that this helps him in school.

Reading Tools: Decoding

Decoding is the process of "sounding out" a word.  Most of us probably remember hearing that from when we were young readers ourselves.  There are many ways to help children decode a word without giving it away:

• Ask, "What part of the word do you recognize?"
• WAIT! Give them a chance to figure it out on their own
• Look at the picture for a clue
• Ask, What would make sense?
• Skip it, finish the sentence, then go back
• Cover up sections of the word (prefix and suffix) and work from the root word
• If the word is way beyond their comprehension, say the word, tell what it means, and then reread the sentence together.

Playing Scrabble or other word games can help boost decoding skills!

Reading Tools: Read the Environment

Words are all around us in our environment.  As adults we often ignore the barrage of words day to day.  But children do not.  They are the ones watching and absorbing everything they go by.  

Next time you and you child are out and about pay special attention to the rich language in your environment. 

What connections can you make to your own life?  

What words does your child recognize?  

What questions and conversations does this spark between you?

Reading Tools: Pacing

One. Word. At. A. Time.  Beginning readers often resort to this strategy to "get through" the page.  I  think of this as survival reading- where one is saying the words on the page, but not taking in any of the meaning.  But there is hope!  Here are a few easy steps to make reading a more pleasant experience for your child.

1. Familiar Text: Choose a book that you might consider to be "easy" for your child.  Familiar text means less sounding-out and allows the reader to focus on fluency.  Even better would be a book that you've read aloud to them when they were little.  This way they know how the text is supposed to sound (even little nuances that you both cherish, like voices and sound effects, which makes it delightful bonding experience).

2. Echo Read:  When we read out loud our eyes are looking a few words ahead of what we are saying. Echo reading allows new readers to do just that.  You read the sentence out loud, while they are reading it on the page.

"Someone has been sitting in my chair!"  

The reader repeats the words, following along in the text and echoing your voice.  Practicing this strengthens fluency as well as word recognition.

 3. Use a pacing tool:  Sometimes it helps to have a rhythm in the background for a child read to a beat.  When I was in college I used to sing my class notes to whatever was on the radio in order to commit them to memory.  It worked! If music is too distracting some readers appreciate a metronome to keep time while they practice fluency. 

Reading Tools: Comprehension Part I

What's it all About?

That IS the question.  Reading the words on the page is only part of being a proficient reader.  In order to help our little ones develop better comprehension we need to be active listeners, asking questions and sharing ideas.  Comprehension involves the following areas:

Contextual Clues: Hints an author gives to define a difficult or unusual word.  So your reader struggled with the word ""experimental," (but wait!)  the author writes, "This project is experimental, something new we're trying."  Now your reader has not only decoded an unfamiliar word, but knows what it means.  

Working Memory: This is the exercise of holding several important details in your mind as you solve a problem. A reader must hold the details of a complex sentence in mind at the same time as they are decoding the rest of the sentence.  This skill especially comes in handy with math word problems and science. 

Making Connections: Readers connect their background knowledge to the text they are reading. By doing this readers comprehend better by thinking actively about their knowledge of the book's topic, their own experiences, and the world around them.  Maybe you are reading a book about fish and your reader remembers that he saw a blue tang at the zoo last week.

Reading Tools: Motivation

Motivation is a large part of what I talk about on this blog.  When children are struggling with a task it is natural that they are opposed to it.  While motivation does not create an innate desire to complete a task, it can alleviate the struggle.  Encourage children with smaller goals at first that are easy to attain.

The Goal:

• Read for 15 minutes
• Fill in the Bingo board
• Read every day
• Read a more challenging text
• Focus on making pictures in your mind
• Focus on decoding

The Prize:
When considering what a good prize should be, think about what your child likes best.  Are they into small toys?  Candy or a treat? Allowance?  A special event?  A phone call to a relative or a playdate?  At our house we have prize box with candy and small toys in it.  Anything I find in bargain bins, garage sales, dollar store, clearance sections.... you get the idea.  Each time the finish a book they get to pick from the prize box AND record the book on their reading log (Bingo Board).  Once they've achieved a set number of books they get an extra special coupon for completing the long term goal.

Remember to have long term goals as well as short term prizes.

Reading Tools: Encouragements and Support Strategies

In order to effectively coach young readers we need to be able to offer them encouragement and support as they read.  There are several strategies and ideas to this end.  Remember that all students learn differently- so what works for one child may not be good for another child.  These strategies may be used cooperatively to create an ideal learning environment.  I will be posting on this blog under the label "reading tools."

Keep It Stress-Free
While it may be frustrating for you and your child to read together it is important to make reading an enjoyable activity.  Read in a fun place (playhouse, or under the bed with a flashlight).  Read to a pet or favorite doll.  And above all- check your own patience.  Kids often can detect our stress levels, sometimes its hard to stop what we are working on just to read for fifteen minutes with them.  Believe me, if you are not interested, they will not be interested.  Your investment to their lives as readers is worth it!