Help your child to be successful by reading for 20 minutes every night!
Welcome back to another school year! If your busy summer was anything like mine, getting back into a routine can be tough. One of the most important things you can do with your child is make sure that they are reading at least 20 minutes every night. Our school feels that this is so important we do not assign additional homework.
Make it an enjoyable time to spend together!
Books to Read
Find books that engage and excite your child--and you! It will help motivate to want them to read each night and maybe even read more! Here are some ideas for you to try:
- reread a favorite story {it's a great way to practice reading with expression and fluency}
- read books from different genres {fiction, non fiction, fantasy, biographies, folktales, fairytales, etc.}
- read to your child {find a chapter book and enjoy it together-> Ivy and Bean, Amelia Bedelia, the BFG, I Survived Series, Shiloh (Scholastic online is a great place to find book ideas)}
- take turns reading a story pretending to be different characters
Strategies to Practice While Reading
There are some simple things you can talk about while reading with your child to help them think critically about the story. Good readers think about the stories they are reading before, during, and after reading. Here are some questions to ask your child.
Before Reading -> What do you think this story will be about? What do you already know about ___ (topic of story)?
During Reading -> How does the character feel? Why do they feel like that? What has happened so far? What is the problem in the story? What would you do if you were in the story? Where does the story take place? What do you think will happen next? Can you compare and contrast something that happened in the story to your life?
After Reading -> What happened in the story? Did they solve the problem? How was it solved? What was your favorite part of the story? Do you think the title was a good fit for the story? How is this book like another book we have read? What did you learn from this story? Did you like this story? Why?