squeetus

Common mistakes parents make with their beginning readers

Final post from squeetus guest blogger and teacher, Kirsten Wilcox. This post Kirsten addresses common mistakes parents make while helping their kids learning to read.

 



Covering up the pictures:  Even if your child is on a beginning level and you feel they are just “memorizing the words” they are still reading.  DO NOT COVER UP THE PICTURES!  If they have “memorized” the words they are still benefitting from reading the book, especially if you have them point to the words as they are reading it.  Each time they look at the word and read it correctly it is working its way into their memory. 



Getting books that are above their child's reading level:  Don’t get anxious and buy harder books because you want them to grow.  This will slow their learning down rather than speed it up and will cause confidence issues.  



Continuing to read with a child when they are frustrated and angry:  When a child is angry they are unable to concentrate, focus or think.  This will only lead to more anger from both child and parent, and confirm their belief that they don’t like reading.  Try saying, “I can see that your angry right now, and need a little time to cool down.  Go get a drink and let me know when you’re feeling better about things”.  Sometimes they’ll insist they are ready even when you know they aren’t.  I usually say, “I love you too much too read with you when you’re upset.  We need to take a few minutes to calm down”.  They don’t need to go to time out, and it doesn’t need to be a consequence.  When working with my foster boy, he would sometimes throw a raging fit about it, but he quickly learned it just made things last longer.   I never talked to him about it when he was in the angry state.  I learned from their therapist that kids can’t process what you are saying when they are angry.  It is better to talk to them about things when they have calmed down and their mind can listen and think things through.  



Telling a child to sound it out whenever they come to a word they don't know: Sounding out a word is only one strategy and isn’t the answer to everything.  Many words can’t be sounded out.  I usually say, “Let’s say the sounds of the first couple of letters and see if the word ‘pops’ in our head”.  Or I just completely use the other strategies all together. 

Correcting a word immediately after the child makes a mistake:  Sometimes when reading the child will read the word wrong.  Let them continue reading to the end of the sentence to see if they can figure out that the word didn’t make sense.  If they go back and correct it on their own, praise them for it.  If they don’t go back, ask them if what they just read made sense.  



Getting frustrated when a child can't figure out a word or saying, "You just read that word!!!"  :D  This can be frustrating for us as adults, but even if a child just read a word, or it is a word you just talked about, they might need to see it and read it 500 more times before it becomes rote.  This is all part of the learning process and it’s ok.  How many things do we need to hear and do before we get something new down correctly? 



Not reading with their child on a daily basis (even when they've made it to chapter books):  I know it takes a lot of time, and is extremely difficult.  I’ve experienced this first hand, but reading with your child 20-30 minutes each day is so important especially if they’re struggling.  If it is too much time for them you can break it up into smaller pieces.  Let part of the time be talking about the pictures and the book.  Practice sight words with your child (there are many apps that help kids learn sight words you can use for part of the reading time). 

The most important thing is to have fun with it and keep it positive.  :D

 

THANK YOU, Kirsten! Your tips are timely for me. What are your thoughts? Any other traps you've caught yourself falling into? What's worked for you and your kids?

Helping your child with reading comprehension and fluency

Continuing on with our 3-part series, welcome back squeetus guest blogger, Kirsten Wilcox, 1st grade teacher, literacy specialist, and darn fine lady. Next I asked Kirsten what parents can do with emerging readers if they're struggling with comprehension.

 

There are different things you can do with them.  Make sure you are reading with them when they read.  Stop after every few sentences and talk about what was read.  Here are some comprehension strategies I like:

Predict:  Have your child tell you what they think will happen next.
Retell or Summarize:  Have them tell you what they just read--do this every few sentences or paragraphs.  Don’t wait till a whole chapter has been read.
Make Connections:  Have your child tell you what the book reminds them of.  (ie. The Little Red Hen: This book reminds me of when my brother wouldn’t help me clean up our room, or when mom made us homemade bread, etc.) They can also make connections to other books (This book reminds me of Chicken Little because they both had Hens in it). 
Make a picture in their head:  Have them describe or draw what they are seeing when they read a part in the story.  This is a skill some kids have to develop. 
Questioning:  Probably the one we’re the best at.  Asking basic questions, but just because your child can answer the basic questions doesn’t mean they have good comprehension.
Inferring:  Many times kids can ask the basic questions but have trouble with inferring, where I believe true comprehension comes into play.  For example: Once I was doing a reading group with some third graders.  We were reading Stuart Little.  There is a part in the book where the cat is talking to another cat about how frustrated he is having to share his home with a mouse he isn’t allowed to eat.  Meanwhile a bird is sitting on top of a lightpost listening to their conversation.  The other cat says he will go to the home and eat the mouse for him.  That night Stuart Little finds a note saying he is in danger and needs to leave.  When I asked the students, “Who do you think left the note?”  No one could figure it out.  We ended up reading it three times before someone finally said, “It was the bird!”  A good rule of thumb is, when reading with your child, whenever your mind does something or thinks something, check to see if your child’s mind did the same thing.  You would be surprised at how much they might be missing. 
When reading any book, let your child look at the pictures and stop to talk about it.  This processing time is just as important as the time spent reading the words.

If your child is struggling with fluency: 

First of all, fluency isn't just reading fast.  I tell my first graders, it's making your reading sound like talking.  It includes reading smoothly, reading with expression, and phrasing correctly.  Fluency and comprehension go hand in hand.  Many times if a child is having trouble with fluency they are also struggling with comprehension and vice versa. 

One thing that can help with fluency is pair reading.  When you pair read with your child, read the book together at the same time matching your speed to theirs.  As your child starts to read more smoothly stop reading with them, when they start to get choppy, join in again.  I always prepare my students before doing this.  I tell them we are going to read together, but if I stop reading they should continue to read without stopping. 

I also really like the You Read To Me, I Read To You books by Mary Ann Hoberman.  They are fun to read with your child to help build fluency and the kids really like them.  I wouldn’t start this until your child is at least on an F or G reading level. 

It also helps children to hear fluent reading.  Reading to your child can be effective.  If you feel you aren’t a good reader, you can have your child listen to books on cd or audio books on the kindle or ipad.  They should listen while following along with the book. 

Reading books more than once is huge when working with fluency.  If it is a chapter book I always pick a paragraph for them to read a few times working on fluency.  Many times I try to find a paragraph with quotes, because phrasing can be tricky and imperative to comprehension.  It can also help them work on their reading expression. 

Strategies for beginning readers

Today I have a guest blogger! I asked first grade teacher, literacy specialist, and all around fab lady Kirsten Wilcox to give some advice to parents with beginning or struggling readers.

Wow this is a loaded question.  :D  

First of all, if you have a child that is young or in the pre-reading stage, phonemic awareness is a great way to give them a boost for when they start reading. Phonemic Awareness is playing with words and sounds without print or letters.  It is all auditory. For example, reading them books, singing songs, playing with rhymes, clapping syllables, changing the first letter of a word, alliteration, breaking words apart, blending sounds together to make a word are all good exercises.  Nursery rhymes and singing songs with your child at a young age is a great way to build their foundation for reading.  Reading to your children daily is also extremely beneficial. 

When a child has learned the names and sounds of the alphabet and are able to start blending sounds together they are in the first stages of reading.  When reading with a child, it is critical that children are reading books on an independent (98% accuracy) or instructional (95% accuracy) level.  Anything beyond that is frustrating and will not be beneficial.  A good note of thumb is if it's frustrating or difficult for you to listen to, it's probably frustrating for the child trying to do the reading.  Confidence is key!  

Make sure you are consistently telling them what a good reader they are.  Try to keep things positive.  If they're getting upset go to an easier book for a while. 

When I first started reading with my 10 year old foster boy, he would get extremely angry and upset whenever he had to stop and fix a word, or got to a word he didn’t know.  I knew I needed to keep things positive even though it was difficult.  I would never continue until he calmed down.  When kids are angry and upset their “brains turn off” (just an expression I use).  I told him we needed to get our reading done before he could play, etc but I couldn’t read with him till he was calm.  I also got some m&m’s and every time he came to a word he didn’t know and was able to stay calm and figure it out with my help he would get an m&m.  Sometimes we have to get creative in helping our kids to feel ok about making mistakes.  They many times have ingrained in their mind that they are stupid or CAN’T do it.  If their mind believes they can’t do it, they really can’t.  Confidence is everything, so if they’re struggling, the first step is to build their confidence through praise and finding them books they can be successful with, even if it means going back a level or two for a while.  Sometimes one step back will gain two steps forward in the end. 

When a child gets stuck on a word help them use reading strategies to figure it out.  If you see them getting overly frustrated, it's ok to just tell them the word once in a while especially if it's a word you know they aren't going to be able to figure out. 

Some of my favorite strategies are: Look at The Picture,  Look for a word Inside the word (ie: hand),  look for parts you know (ie: playing), Skip the word and read to the end of the sentence (I always tell my students when using this strategy to remember to go back and see if they can get it),  Think about what makes sense, Think of the first word that “pops” in your head.  


As a child uses these strategies, I praise them for it by saying "That's what good readers do".  For instance, if a child reads a word wrong but then fixes it on their own I say, "Great job self correcting!  That's what good readers do!"  Or if I see a child look at the picture to try and figure out a word I say, "Great job looking at the picture.  That's what good readers do."  




Preparing a child before they read a book is also very effective.  When starting a new book with a child I always tell them the title. We look at the cover and I have them predict what they think the book is going to be about.  We then go on a “picture walk”.  Go through each page looking at the pictures.  Have the child talk about what they see and what they thing is going to happen.  As they are looking and talking about the pictures, scan the words and look for words you know they will have trouble with.  Use those words over and over again as you talk about the picture with your child.  Sometimes I even point out the word on the page.  I say, “look at this word.  It’s a hard one.  This says….).  Sometimes I say, “laugh is a hard word.  Do you think you can find it on this page?"  Then we talk about it.  I keep it light and joke with them.  I say, “what a crazy word!” and read it the way it would sound if I said the sound of each letter. They usually laugh and I say, “No one knows why that word is spelled that way, it’s a red word.  It doesn’t follow the rules”.  Basically you are preparing them to read the book, so when it comes time for them to read it they are more successful.

 

Thanks, Kirsten! We'll hear more from her later. What do you think? Anything she said surprise you? Any strategies that have worked for you?

An open letter to everyone I've ever ignored

reposted from Dec 2011:

Dear reader/writer/event organizer,

Thank you for the email/letter/blog comment. I really do care that you reached out to me. You asked so kindly if I would read your manuscript/answer questions for your school project/sign and return your books. Surely I'm no busier than you are. We're all busy. The very least you deserve is a response. But silence followed.

The truth is, it really would be in my best interest to blurb your book/be interviewed on your blog/attend your book event. Publicity is important for any author and you were so kind to think of me. You must think me rude for not responding to your email/Facebook message/tweet. You may have expected more from me. After all, I sound so accessible on my blog/Facebook/interviews. And we have a personal connection since we're from the same place/have a friend in common/both like cheese fries. Surely I'm the kind of person who doesn't get so full of herself she ignores the common reader?

I don't have great excuses, just the usual of kids/books/sloppy brain syndrome. In all sincerity, I feel guilty about my ineptitude at responding to your kindness. Every day. I can't respond to everyone, of course. That would be impossible unless I had a personal assistant/magic time expander/clone. But because you were so awesome with your request, I fully intended to respond to you, and then a baby woke up/I realized I hadn't eaten all day/I plumb forgot. I hope you don't take this personally. You are a noble woman/man/giant ant deserving of real attention. You know what would be awesome? You should go ahead and become a famous writer/entertainer/cheese fry chef and when I ask you for something, you should ignore me! Justice, baby.

Take care, enjoy this snow/rain/sunshine, and I hope one day you can forgive me. I really am sorry.

Cheers/xoxo/sincerely,
Shannon.

What will you think of the Austenland movie?

My prediction:

1. Some people who love the book will love the movie
2. Some who hate the book will love the movie
3. Some who love the book will hate the movie
4. Some who only liked the book will love the movie
5. Some who loved the book will only like the movie
6. Some will be indifferent to both
7. And some will decorate their bedroom with JJ Feild/Ricky Whittle/Bret McKenzie/James Callis posters

I fall in category 1, and I hope most people will!  But there's really no way to ever guess how anyone will respond. I can tell you that the crowd reaction to the Sundance screenings was marvelous. Laughter was constant. There were visible meltings at romantic moments and audible "ahh"s too. It's not exactly like the book. I think it helps to prepare yourself for that. Jane's story is a little different, some of the characters aren't quite the same, some scenes don't make it from book to movie but most of your favorites do. Women reported to me that they left the movie feeling swoony and happy. Men (and women too) reported to me that they couldn't remember the last time they'd laughed out loud so much. What will you think? You'll have a chance to find out this summer! As more info on the movie's release emerge, you can be sure I'll post them here.

Jerusha Hess said, "We wanted to make a movie for all you Jane Austen fans, and we wanted to make a movie for all you who think Jane Austen fans are funny."