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Mrs. Buchman's Kindergarten Class
email Mrs. Buchman
Welcome to October!
My class parents should be receiving a weekly email update with specific curriculum information and upcoming events. If you are not receiving these updates, please email me at the link above so I can place you on my distribution list.
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Reading With Your Child
Responding to Errors in Reading-Tips From Megan Carroll, a former Riderwood Reading Specialist
Many parents are wondering how to help their child with reading at home. Here are some tips to keep in mind when your child comes to a difficult word in the book.
Based on the way most of us were taught to read, we have told children to “sound it out” when he/she comes to an unknown word. While phonics is an important part of reading, reading for meaning is the primary goal. To produce independent readers who monitor and correct themselves as they read, the following prompts are recommended before saying, “sound it out.”
• Give your child “wait time” of 5-10 seconds to see what he/she attempts to do to help him/herself.
• Ask, “What would make sense there?”
• Ask, “What do you think that word could be?”
• Say, “Use the picture to help you figure out what it could be.”
• Say, “Go back to the beginning of the sentence and try that again.”
• Say, “Skip over that word and read to the end of the sentence. Now what do you think it is?”
• Say, “Put in a word that makes sense there.”
• Say, “You read that word on another page. See if you can find it.”
• Say, “Look at how that word begins. Get your mouth ready for the word and keep on reading.”
• Say, “Can you find a chunk in that word?”
• Finally, tell your child the word.
• Please remember to focus on what your child is doing well and what they are attempting to do. These prompts are helpful when encouraging your child.
• Good for you! I like the way you tried to work that out!
• That was a good try! Yes, that word would make sense there.
• I like the way you looked at the picture to help yourself.
• I liked the way you went back to the beginning of the sentence and tried that again. That’s what good readers do!
• You are becoming a good reader! I am proud of you.
Many times, adult readers find it necessary to correct their child every time they make a mistake when reading. This takes the control and the self-monitoring away from the child. They eventually become dependent on an adult to tell them if they are reading correctly. In order to help promote strategic, proficient readers it is necessary to encourage children to think about their own reading and whether it makes sense or not. If the sentence does not make sense we need to encourage your child to go back and try it again. We want to help your child to self-monitor when they are reading, so that they are comprehending instead of word calling and learning to apply their own fix-up strategies. If text doesn’t make sense then the child probably mis-read a word or a part of the sentence. Encourage your child to go back and find the mistake by him/herself, rather than telling them what word was wrong. This way the child can be successful when reading, even if there isn’t an adult to tell them the words. Be aware that substitutions that DO NOT impact meaning are acceptable ("the cat went in the house" for "the cat went inside the home"). Please remember to read to your child, no matter how old they get or how independently they can read on their own. And above all, make it fun and appealing for them. Let them guide you by sharing their interests when selecting books, magazines, websites, or other text adventures. What an amazing journey we are on! Reading opens up our world.
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