What prepares children and makes them ‘ready for reading’?

What helps them to establish an interest in reading, and develop the skills to understand and be informed by what they read?

The teachers at SJIS are very experienced at running literacy programs in their classrooms which teach early phonics, reading knowlegde and skills, and fluency and comprehension.

But there are also some tips for parents to help with reading at home, either during home reading sessions, or when reading for enjoyment.

 

Retelling: Retelling is an essential component of literacy development. How can children learn to retell?

Strategies: Start with your child reading the text independently, without adult intervention. Then ask your child to verbally retell what they remember, what they saw/observed/noticed, and if they have learnt anything new. This will establish whether they can articulate their understanding, retell in their own words, explain main events, and interpret information from the pictures.

 

Comprehension: Asking questions encourages students to recall specific information and make connections to what they are reading.

Strategies:

Literal: Ask questions to help your child locate specific information directly stated in the text.

e.g. ‘How many children were in the book?’

Inferential: Ask questions which require your child to draw conclusions about the meaning of the text.

e.g. ‘Why didn’t the boy like visiting the doctor?’

Applied: Ask questions which require your child to explain things beyond the text through giving a personal response.

e.g. ‘What would you do if the same thing happened to you?’

Vocabulary: Ask questions which require your child to provide the meaning of words, or alternative word meanings.

e.g. ‘What does the word greedy mean?’, ‘What other word could replace the word rattle?’

 

Happy reading everyone!

 

Author: Ms Dalziell