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The One-Minute Dash
Reading quickly and with ease is very important to successful reading, but, like running, it requires a lot
of coaching and practice. To become a fluent reader, your child must practice reading quickly. Remember, however, that too much practice at one time is not helpful.
What you'll need: - A watch or clock with a second hand and a book. Your
child must be able to read the book with little or no help.
What to do: - Tell your child, "Let's play a game called the one-minute dash. I want to see how many words you can read in one minute." (Point to a place in the book where the child
should begin reading.)
- Then, "When I say Go, I want you to begin reading. After one minute, I'll tell you to stop." When your child is ready to start, say, "Get ready. . . Set. . . GO!" Check your watch. After a minute, ask your child to stop reading.
- Count the total number of words your child read. If you like, make a chart to show how many words per minute your child has read in a week, two weeks, a month, or more.
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Word Wizard
Learning about words is important to learning inside and outside school. The more words
a child knows, the more the child will learn.
What you'll need: - A newspaper, magazine, or book. A notebook.
What to do: - Have your child find a word in a newspaper,
magazine, or book that he or she does not know and has not seen
before. For example, your child may not know the word
foretell (meaning "to predict or tell beforehand," as in,
"The woman in red could foretell the future").
- Your child might also find a word that is familiar but used in a new way. For example, the word
boat means a small vessel used for getting around by water. However, when boat is used in the sentence, "The people were all in the same boat," it means "faced with the same problems."
- Ask your child to listen for a new word in everyday talk or look for a new word in the newspaper. Have your child find a new word or an old word used in a new way each day. Ask your child to keep track of the words in a special notebook.
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In Laughing Order: The Comic Strips
When children read about events, they must keep the major actions in order. Children can develop a sense for order while reading comic strips.
What you'll need: - Your child's favorite comic strip.
What to do: - Find a comic strip that you and your child enjoy. Before reading the strip, cut it out and separate the frames. Mix them up and ask your child to put the frames in the correct order. Once they are in order, have your child read the comic strip and tell you what the strip means or is saying.
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Tall Tale Retell
Children love to read and talk about tall tales--stories about events, people, and places that are bigger than
life and not real.
What you'll need: - A book of tall tales (ask your librarian for help in finding a tall tale book).
What to do:
- Have your child choose a tall tale to read. Ask your child to read it silently. Then ask your child to tell you how the tall tale reminds him or her of something that has happened in real life--at home, at school, or in the news.
- At another time, ask your child to tell you what the story is about--but ask your child to add something to the story that was not in the original story. Tell your child that you are going to be listening very carefully to guess the part of the story your child made up! Try to figure out the "tall tale" part that your child added to the story.
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Word Families
Words come in all shapes and sizes, but many words that children read and hear come in word families.
What you'll need:
What to do: - Give your child a word (such as add) that is found in many
other words (such as addition and adding). Ask your child to think of other words that are "roots" for related words, such as compete, and ask the child to write out the
related words (competition, competitor, competitive).
- Ask your child to keep a record of the "word families." See how many words made from root words your child can find in a month.
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Word Webs
Words can be used to describe other words. Everyone likes to play with words and use words to talk
about other words.
What you'll need:
What to do: - Choose a word such as vehicle and write it in the center of a sheet of paper. Then ask your child to think of other words that tell more about the word vehicle. Children might think about types of vehicles (buses, cars, trucks, boats), uses for vehicles (transportation, recreation), and words
describing how vehicles look and move (sturdy, fast, dangerous).
- Then ask your child to write the words on the sheet and connect them to the main word vehicle. This will show your child how the words are linked ot the main word and form a "word web."
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Lessons Learned
An important part of reading is guessing what the lesson or theme of a story is.
What you'll need: - A collection of fables from the library.
What to do:
- Choose a short fable to read to your child. Read the story but stop before you get to the moral at the end of the story. Ask your child to state what lesson the story has to tell. Then read the moral (usually the last line of a fable).
- At the end of this game, talk to your child about the story. Were there any surprises in the story?
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Favorite Writers
Children who read a great deal often have favorite writers. These writers become favorites because of
clever ways they use language or special story lines they develop.
What you'll need: - Several books by your child's favorite writer. A notebook.
What to do: - Have your child check out from the library several books by a favorite writer. As your child reads each book, have the child jot down in a small notebook interesting phrases, or sentences, and special observations the author makes.
- Skim one or more of the books yourself, and read to your child some phrases you like in the author's words.
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The Moose Cafe
Opportunities for reading and writing are all around us--even when the subject is food.
What you'll need:
What to do:
- Go with your child to several restaurants to ask for free copies of their menus. Take them home. Ask your child to read several of the items on each menu with their descriptions.
- Then ask your child to make up a menu for an imaginary restaurant--the Moose Cafe or the Tuna Bake Bistro--with creative descriptions.
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My Turn, Your Turn--Our Story
Writing stories is fun, but it really comes alive when your child creates and writes a story
with you.
What you'll need: - Paper, pencil, and a story title.
What to do:
- Create or choose an exciting title for a story you would like to write with your child, such as "The Golden Eye" or "Suddenly Midnight and Silence." Write the title on a sheet of paper and invite your child to write the first sentence. You write the second line. Take turns writing sentences until the story is complete.
- When the story is finished, invite the family to a story-reading session, or read the story to the family during dinner.
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The Dictionary Game
Working with reference books like a dictionary is important to learning about words.
What you'll need: - Paper, pencil, a dictionary, and the list of questions given below, each written on a separate piece of paper.
What to do: - Fold each question in half and put them all in a hat. Ask your child to read a question and then use the dictionary to answer it.
- Is a burnoose the cousin of a moose?
Can you bustle, hustle, and jostle at the same time?
Is a hog likely to hog all the hogmeat?
How much bread is there in breadfruit?
Is it possible for a fowl to have a jowl?
Can a gnu be a guru to a few?
Is a lingbird likely to linger long on a clothesline?
Are calligraphy and otography the same?
Can you abandon an abalone?
Can an ermine be a hermit?
Explain why we drive on a parkway and park on a driveway.
Can a sphinx put a jinx on you?
- Once your child answers these questions, ask your child to develop some questions for you, using challenging words from the dictionary.
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Journey Journal
A journal is an excellent way for your child to write about everyday events and to record thoughts. It is fun to keep a journal when on a special trip.
What you'll need: - Journals or notebooks and pencils for you and your child.
What to do: - Plan a special trip with your child to a museum, zoo, sports game, or other place of special interest to your child. Ask your child to take along a journal to use for noting interesting things seen or heard.
- Tell your child you are taking a journal too, so that you also can write about your experiences. Compare your journals throughout the day, and especially at the end of the journey.
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Family Words Matter
Reading and writing can enable family members to share important life stories.
What you'll need: -
Letters from grandparents or other family members.
What to do: - Select a family member whom your child knows well and likes. Ask the family member to write a letter to your child. The letter should tell a story, funny event, or something about your child.
- When your child receives the letter, have the child read the letter. Ask your child to write a return letter to the family member, telling a story or something about the family member that the family has told the child.
- Repeat the letter with another family member.
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