Read Between the Lines
Listening To Children Read
We Learn To Read by Reading
Before Reading
- "Look at the cover." Examine the pictures and the title.
- "What do you think will happen in this book?"
- "Read the book and see if you are right."
During Reading
- Be keenly interested in the your child's reading (by watching - focusing on the book and child)
- Be a silent observer most of the time
Pause -for incorrect reading giving your child THINK TIME (count at least 5 seconds)
Prompt-when your child begins to appear frustrated or lacks confidence to be a risk taker. Ask:
Does it make sense?
Does it sound right?
Does it look right?
Praise - for correct reading - "I like the way you stopped and worked out the word by yourself."
(If too many errors occur - the book is too hard- more than 1 error per 10 words)
More Prompts and Praise
One-to-one matching
(Have your child match each word on the page as it is spoken)
"Read it with your finger"
"Did it match?"
"Were there enough words?"
"Did you run out?"
Encourage self-monitoring for mistakes
Encourage your child to be responsible for his/her own reading.
"Look at the picture."
"I like the way you did that."
"You found the hard bit."
"Where was it?"
"Try that again."
"It could be..."
"But look at the letters, do you see...?"
Helping phrases for parents to use
Read an error sentence back and ask. "Is that right?"
Reread the previous words with fluent phrasing and stop at the problem word.
Check to see if what you read looks right and sounds right to you.
"You said...Does that make sense?"
"You almost got that page right. There was something wrong with this line. See if you can find it."
"I liked the way you found out what was wrong by yourself."
"How did you know? Were you right?"
Writing
Young children's writing development begins long before they attend school. Children use scribbles, drawing and letter-like symbols to record their thoughts. As reading develops, their writing begins to resemble adult models. Later, as children gain experience in reading and writing, they begin to develop knowledge about writing conventions and use them independently.
Helping to write grocery lists, birthday cards, notes to family members, labeling possessions, and e-mailing provides opportunities for children to understand the purposes for writing.
The correction of spelling errors is dependent on the child's age and level of development. For beginning writers, approximations are accepted. The spelling lists below are words that should be correctly spelled (according to ability level)
Children learn from demonstrations that clear, legible printing and writing are necessary for other people to understand their written messages. Attached is a reference chart that demonstrates correct letter formation.
Parents can promote
writing by engaging children in a variety of
meaningful writing activities at home. For example, children may:
- write thank you notes
- keep a personal diary
- write captions for pictures in the family photo album
- write stories
- write a letter to a favourite author
- create a travelogue of a trip
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