Student Book Recommendations

Hello,

Is summer flying by fast as fast for you as it is for me? The new school year is just around the corner and there are still so many books to read. How can you possibly choose which ones to read first! To help decide I would like to share with you two recommendations from my students who I privately tutor.

The first book is, IT'S RAINING CUPCAKES by Lisa Schroeder:

The second book is NANCY DREW AND THE CLUE CREW by Carolyn Keene:

Hopefully these will spark an interest in your child and keep them reading through the end of summer and beyond. I will continue to post student recommendations so be sure to check back often. If you or your child has a book you would like to share with me, please leave a comment on my blog or send me an e-mail and I will personally respond.

Happy Reading,


Kathleen

Student Book Recommendations

Hello,

Is summer flying by fast as fast for you as it is for me? The new school year is just around the corner and there are still so many books you are hoping your child will read. To help you out in deciding which books to read next, I would like to share two recommendations from my students who I privately tutor.

The first one is IT'S RAINING CUPCAKES BY Lisa Schroeder:

The second book is NANCY DREW AND THE CLUE CREW, #2, by Carolyn Keene:

Hopefully these will spark an interest in your child and keep them reading through the end of summer and beyond. I will continue to post student recommendations so be sure to check back often. If you or your child has a book you would like to share, please leave a comment on my blog or send me an e-mail and I will personally respond.

Happy Reading,


Kathleen

Engaging Your Struggling Reader At Home

Hello,

The March edition of The Reading Teacher has some excellent and very user friendly tips for parents to try at home with their struggling reader.

Often, the struggling reader is not interested in reading books in general. But, if you try a variety of reading materials you will probably hit upon something that interests your child. For example, magazines for children, (Cricket, Spider, and Ask to name a few are great!), child-friendly websites (SleepyBearWrites.blogspot.com and MooseyMooseWrites.blogspot.com), graphic novels, and even brochures!

Once your child is reading interesting texts, you will find that your child enjoys reading more. In turn, she will want to read more, thus increasing the volume of reading! Along the way it is wise to decrease the expectations of your struggling reader. For example, decrease the number of pages to read each day. Lessening the pressure to read more will help make the reading process more enjoyable.

Lastly, encourage your child to re-read books. They can be books a teacher has read to the whole class or a book she read from the previous year on her own. Your child will already have the background knowledge of the story allowing her to focus on her own accuracy, rate, and phrasing and expression.

Happy Reading,

Kathleen

Thinking and Talking About Books

Hello,

I would like to share a fun and easy way to share books with your child at home. Teachers, this is also a great way to encourage your students either with the whole class or in partners.

This comes from THE READING TEACHER journal, Volume 63, Number 6, March 2010. This lesson uses a structured prompt to engage students in sharing their thinking about what they are reading. Research supports that “… social interaction enhances language development and elevates a child’s intellectual functioning (Clay 1991)” What better way than to interact with your child or classroom of students while reading a book!

The sample prompts provided are:

*Tell me what in your own words what happened in the book.
*Talk about your favorite parts.
*This book reminds me of ...
*Add something new to the book.

If you'd like, you can make a spinner with these prompts to increase the chances of variety in your child's responses.

It is suggested that you model using the prompts for your child first. Soon, your child will begin to naturally use the prompts to begin her own statements and sharing about what she has read or a story she has listened to. Finally, your child will naturally respond to her reading. What’s more, the prompts are not limited to fiction text. They can be used for social studies, science, and even math!

I look forward to hearing how the lesson works for you and your child or students.

Happy Reading,

Kathleen

New Interactice Reading Lesson To Share With Your New Reader

Hello,

I would like to share an article I read in the December 2009 issue of THE READING TEACHER. A reading specialist in an elementary school in New Jersey implemented a parent/child reading program that helped to increase the reading level of kindergartners.

First, the selects a short passage to her child. This can be a poem, a rhyme or a song lyric. The parent then reads the passage 2-4 times out loud to the child, pointing to the words as they are read. A short chat about the content follows.

Second, the parent and child read the passage together, at the same time, 204 times. This time the child can point to the text as it is read.

Third, the child reads the text out loud to her parent, 2-4 times again. The child points to the words as she reads them.

Fourth, the parent and child talk briefly about one phonics feature in the text. The example given in the article is for the rhyme Little Bo Peep. Using words from the -eep family, "write a list of words from the poem that contain that rhyme, and then brainstorm and write other words" from the same family.

This is a wonderful interactive lesson that is fun for both the parent and the child. Plus, the entire session lasts only 10-15 minutes.

Let me know if you try this activity with your own child. I would love to hear your success stories as well as any challenges you experience.

Happy Reading,

Kathleen

Revisiting Read Alouds

Hello,

I hope everyone is off to a fabulous school year. I know I am.

I think it is important to revisit the benefits of Read-Alouds to our young readers. Research supports that “… reading aloud is a powerful way to engage children in the literacy process.” (Reading Teacher, Vol 63, No. 2)

The key benefits for read alouds are:

· Increases language usage.
· Enhances listening skills.
· Engages listeners in the process of reading.
· Promotes critical thinking and deeper understanding through discussions.
· Helps the reader make connections to self, other texts and the world.

Here are a few suggestions for how to engage your reader with you:

· Sit side-by-side.
· Read with expression.
· Pause along the way to discuss what has happened so far.
· Make predictions for how the story will end.
· Let your child/students help in the selection process for the next read aloud story.

If you have questions, be sure to send me an e-mail or a comment on my blog.

Happy Reading,

Kathleen

A New School Year Has Begun

Hello!

Most of us are getting reading to begin our first full week of school. I'm very excited to try new research-based strategies for literacy in the classroom. I also plan to teach my student how to crochet again and to incorporate that into our literacy block. It was a great success last year and their assessment scores reflect their growth as readers.

In October we will begin our preparations for NaNoWriMo which will begin on November 1. This year I'm teaching 3rd grade so our daily word count will probably be less than the 250 words for my 4th graders. NaNoWriMo is an excellent project for young writers to build their confidence putting words on paper. As a writer, I know how daunting that blank sheet of paper can be. With NaNoWriMo, there is no right or wrong and it's pure imagination at its best. After the first week the students beg to have more NaNoWriMo time in the day!

I know Sleepy Bear is also excited to start-up his book club again for boys and girls. Moosey-Moose has had a fun-filled summer but that was mostly because he skipped out on doing his chores and left Sleepy Bear to do all the work. My students are already reading and responding to both Sleepy Bear and Moosey-Moose. You can do the same by clicking on the links in my list of websites.

I hope everyone has a fantastic year reading and writing.

Kathleen