How%20Can%20I%20Help%20My%20First%20Grader%20Become%20A%20Better%20Reader?

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How Can I Help My First Grader Become A Better
Reader?

• Reading and Word Attack
• Strategies

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Reading and Word Attack Strategies

• Reading is so much more than just sounding out
  words. Good readers use a variety of strategies
  to help them understand the text.
• Reading is a multifaceted process involving word
  recognition, comprehension, fluency, and
  motivation.

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• Sometimes you can identify words without being
  able to construct much meaning from them. Read
  the opening lines of Lewis Carroll's poem,
  "Jabberwocky," and you'll see what I mean.
• 'Twas brillig, and the slithy tovesDid gyre and
  gimble in the wabeAll mimsy were the
  borogoves,And the mome raths outgrabe.

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• Finally, sometimes you can identify words and
  comprehend them, but if the processes don't come
  together smoothly, reading will still be a
  labored process. For example, try reading the
  following sentence
• It           isn't          as        
  if          the          words
•       are        difficult                  
  to          identify          or
• understand,                   but         
  the          spaces
•                    make                  
  you          pause                   between
•      words,                    which              
       means        your
•         reading                   is
                     less                   
  fluent.

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• Reading in its fullest sense involves weaving
  together word recognition and comprehension in a
  fluent manner.
• Hopefully these reading and word attack
  strategies will help you guide your child towards
  reading success.

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Make Predictions

• Helping your child make predictions will
  encourage active reading and keep him/her
  interested.

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Retell and Summarize

• Retelling the story in his/her own words helps to
  build comprehension. It also allows students to
  discriminate between main ideas and minor details.

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Making Connections

• Connecting the text to your childs experiences
  and knowledge helps them to personalize the
  information. It sparks interest and builds
  comprehension.

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Story Talk

• Talking about what you read can help your child
  develop language and thinking skills.

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Word Attack Strategies

• The strategies help your child to decode,
  pronounce, and understand unfamiliar words.

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Use Picture Clues

• Look at the picture.
• Are there people, objects, or actions in the
  picture that might make sense in the sentence?

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Sound Out the Word

• Touch each letter moving from left to right
  through the word.
• Blend the sounds together and try to say the word
• Not all words can be sound it out words, some
  contain special sounds or follow a different
  rule.
• Words in motion

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Look for Chunks in the Word

• Look for familiar letter chunks.
• (See handout)They may be sounds/symbols,
  prefixes, suffixes, endings, whole words, or base
  words.
• Read each chunk by itself. Then blend the chunks
  together and sound out the word.

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Connect To a Word You Know

• Think of a word that looks like the unfamiliar
  word.
• Compare the familiar word to the unfamiliar word.
• Look for like chunks and apply to the unfamiliar
  word.

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Reread the Sentence

• Read the sentence more than once.
• Think about what word would make sense in the
  sentence.
• Try the word and see if the sentence makes sense.

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Keep Reading

• Read past the unfamiliar word and look for clues.
• If the word is repeated, compare the second
  sentence to the first. What word makes sense in
  both?

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Use Prior Knowledge

• Think about what you know about the story. (What
  has happened, what might happen next)
• Do you know a word that might make sense in the
  sentence? Try it.

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Special Sounds to Know About
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Blends

• Blends are two or three consonants grouped
  together, with each letter keeping its own sound.
  (see handout)

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Consonant Digraphs

• A consonant digraph is a combination of two
  consonants sounds that together represent a new
  sound. Some examples of consonant digraphs are
     
•   sh--- shop ch--- chin   th--- thin
•  wh---- what   ck---- duck  ph--- photo 
  qu--- queen ng----sang

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Short Vowel Sounds

• This letter says his short name.
• When there is a single vowel in a short word or
  syllable, the vowel usually makes his short
  sound.
• These short vowels usually appear at the
  beginning of the word or between two consonants.
•  Examples of short vowels are found in these
  words
•   c a t ,  e n d,  p i g,  l o g,  b u s
• Okie Vowels

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Long Vowel Sounds

• This letter says his long name.
• When a short word or syllable ends with a
  vowel/consonant --e combination, the vowel is
  usually long and the "e" at the end of the word
  is silent (this rule doesn't apply in all cases).
  
• Examples of a VCe combination are
•  b a k e,   r i d e,  p o l e, t u n e

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Long Vowels

• When a word or syllable has a single vowel and it
  appears at the end of the word or syllable, the
  vowel usually makes the long sound.
• Examples are  no    he    po/ny    

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Vowel Digraphs

• If two vowels are beside each other in a word or
  syllable, the first vowel  is usually  long while
  the second vowel remains silent. Examples of
  vowel digraphs are       ai maid  ee--
  sweet 
• ea--bean      oa---- boat
•    ay-----tray   
• The first one does the talking, the second one
  does the walking.
• This rule does not apply to diphthongs.

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Vowel Diphthongs

• Vowel diphthong refers to the blending of two
  vowels sounds, both vowel sounds are usually
  heard and they make a gliding sound.
• Examples of vowel diphthongs include    
• oi--- boil      oy----- toy      au---- haul 
•   aw----- saw   ew----- new    ow----  cow     
• oo---- moon    oo----- look    ou---  mouth

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R-Controlled Vowels

• When a vowel is followed by the letter "r", the
  vowel does not make  the long nor short sound but
  is considered "r-controlled".
• Examples of "r-controlled" vowels are
• ar--- car    er--- fern ir--- bird  
• or---corn    ur--- nurse
• R is a bully!!

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Helpful Reading Websites

• www.starfall.com
• www.pbskids.org
• www.readingrockets.org
• www.readinglady.com
• www.trelease-on-reading.com