Home Grown Readers

HOME GROWN READERS

Supporting reading growth at home

more that

“The more that you read, the more things yo The more that you learn, the more places yo

“At the moment that we persuade a child, any child, to cross that threshold, that magic threshold into a library, we change their lives forever, for the better.”

change their Barack Obama

“A good book is an education of the heart.

It enlarges your sense of human possibility, what human nature is, of what happens in the world. It’s a creator of inwardness.”

Susan Sontag

Intelligence p

“My alma mater was b library … I could spen reading, just satisfyin

“Books are a uniquely portable magic.”

sense of huma Stephen King

t you read

ou will know. ou’ll go.”

Dr. Seuss

“If one reads enough books one has a fighting chance. Or better, one’s chances of survival increase with each book one reads.”

lives forever Sherman Alexie

“The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education.”

Martin Luther King, Jr.

plus character

books, a good nd the rest of my life ng my curiosity.”

Malcolm X

“I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading! How much sooner one tires of any thing than of a book!”

Jane Austen

an possibility

At The Intergenerational Schools, we use The CAFE Book and The Daily Five,

by Gail Boushey and Joan Moser, as a framework for teaching reading. The strategies in this booklet for Comprehension, Accuracy, Fluency, Expanded Vocabulary, and Coaching Your Reader Toward Improvement are adapted from The CAFE Book.

LEARNING TO READ AT TIS AND AT HOME Real life matters at The Intergenerational School. We make it clear to our students that reading really matters, too. Once reading is mastered, reading leads to successes in other school subjects, and in life beyond school. At TIS no other pursuit receives as much attention as reading. Reading is everywhere!

Teachers read to students, students read to teachers, students read to each other, a student reads to himself or herself, senior volunteers read to students and vice versa.

At TIS, reading happens at school, and it happens at home, too. Each child is assigned thirty minutes of reading every night, but that’s just the minimum. The more a child reads, the better reader s/he becomes.

Learning to read requires lots of practice: practice reading, and practice listening to reading.

This booklet is designed to share a few strategies that parents and guardians can use to coach their students’ growth and improvement in reading. It is based on The CAFE Book and The Daily Five framework that we use for teaching reading at the Intergenerational Schools. Reading with and coaching your reader at home will help your student become a better reader. Try these strategies while reading together in the kitchen, in the living room, at bedtime. Try them while waiting for the doctor’s appointment or waiting for a sibling’s sports game to begin. Every place is a good place for reading.

Click here to view the online companion video

COMPREHENSION I understand what I read STRATEGIES: Check for understanding …

Does it make sense?

It doesn’t make sense? ...

Back up and reread I don’t understand…

Continue reading, then back up and reread Use the pictures in the story to help you understand the text Use what I already know to make connections to understand the text Make a picture to help me remember details better Ask questions before, during, and after reading …

“What does this word mean?”

“Why did that happen?”

“What do I think will happen next?”

“Do I need to reread this?”

Retell the story in sequence …

Don’t remember?

Stop and reread.

Click here to view the online companion video to this section

ACCURACY I can read the words STRATEGIES: Think of a word that makes sense Cross checking …

Do the pictures and/or words look right?

Do they sound right?

Do they make sense?

Use the pictures …

Do the pictures help me figure out the word?

Use beginning and ending sounds Look for chunks, chunk letters and sounds together … in/for/ma/tion … to/geth/er Look for word families. Use known words to work out other words …

“It looks a lot like c-a-k-e”… c-ake … cake m-ake … make Click b-ake … bake here to view Skip the word, then come back

the online companion video to this section

FLUENCY I can read accurately, with expression, and understand what I read STRATEGIES: Read lots!

Be an enthusiastic reader!

Read “just right” books Read favorite books … again and again and again Listen to fluent, expressive reading Read with expression …

Show the meaning or feeling of the text in the way I read it Pay attention to punctuation …

. , ? !

Echo Reading …

Reread the very same way that your partner read aloud to you

Click here to view the online companion video to this section

EXPAND VOCABULARY I know, find, and use interesting words STRATEGIES: Read lots!

Be an enthusiastic reader!

Tune in to interesting and new words Use what I already know to predict a word’s meaning Ask someone to define the word for me Use a dictionary TOGETHER Use new vocabulary in my speaking and writing

Click here to view the online companion video to this section

ON THE IMPORTANCE OF READING ALOUD TO CHILDREN These are words of wisdom from Jim Trelease, author of The Read-Aloud Handbook, Lucy Calkins, author of The Art of Teaching Reading, Katherine Paterson and Cynthia Rylant, each of whom is an author of numerous children’s books, and Becoming a Nation of Readers.  C hildren reading independently, and reading aloud to your children are both important to developing readers.  T he highest scores, regardless of family income, are among children who are read to daily, and who read for pleasure daily.  W ith the sounds and desire already planted from being read aloud to, children learn how to read more easily and willingly, enjoy reading more, and end up reading more. And the more they read, the better they get at it.  W e know that we are growing lifelong readers when they are bringing books on trips, reading over vacations, asking for books and magazine subscriptions for birthday presents, initiating reading on their own, sharing what they are reading with others.  T he single most important activity for building the knowledge required for eventual success in reading is reading aloud to children.  R ead to them, take their breath away…then be quiet, don’t talk the experience to death…let your child feel and think.  C hildren learn to read by reading, and they learn to read by hearing books read aloud to them.  W ords are necessities. To give children the words they need is to give them life and growth and refreshment.

COACHING YOUR READER TOWARD IMPROVEMENT What are you noticing about your reader?

Reading Goal that is affected

Chooses books that are too hard, or chooses books that are too easy.

 Reading Behaviors  Comprehension  Accuracy

Reads too quickly with many errors

 Fluency  Comprehension

Reads too slowly

 Accuracy  Fluency  Comprehension

Omits words, adds words that are not there.

 Accuracy

Leaves off ends of words

 Accuracy

Sounds out each individual letter

 Accuracy  Fluency

Gets stuck on a word

 Accuracy

Reads with little expression, lacks rhythm, omits punctuation

 Fluency  Accuracy  Comprehension

Reader jumps right into reading story, then lacks understanding

 Reading Behaviors  Comprehension

Can’t remember what was read

 Comprehension

Doesn’t remember details but understands the main idea

 Comprehension

Doesn’t understand the text because does not understand key word in selection

 Expand Vocabulary

Doesn’t stick with a book

 Reading Behaviors

Possible Coaching Strategies  Explain that the book will not hold the reader’s attention, will not increase reading stamina, will not improve comprehension, accuracy, fluency, or expand vocabulary.  Read appropriate level text.  Choose just right books.  Adjust reading pace to match text.  Use punctuation.  Back up and reread.  Adjust reading pace.  Echo reading: read aloud to reader, then have reader echo your pace.  Ask: Did that make sense? Did you miss something?  Back up and reread.  Cross check.  Chunk letters and sounds together.  Chunk letters or parts of words together.  Use word families.  Skip the word, continue reading, then come back and reread.  Tell reader the word so that reading is not interrupted.  Adjust reading pace, phrasing.  Use punctuation.  Reread.  Read a lot.  Echo reading: read aloud to reader, then have reader echo your expression.  Preview the book together: look at the illustrations, ask questions before reading.

Use personal experience to connect with text while reading.  Check for understanding.  Back up and reread.  Ask questions during reading: “Who did you just read about?”, “What just happened?”  Use text features (titles, headings, illustrations, pictures, etc.). Retell the story.  Make a picture.  Retell the story.  Reread.  Ask questions during reading: “Who were the main characters?”, “What problem did the main characters experience?”, “How was the problem solved?”, “How did the story end?”, “What happened first, next, and last?”  Tune in to interesting words, new words.  Reread to clarify the meaning of a word.  Ask someone to define the word for you. Use a dictionary together. Back up and reread with the new understanding of the key word.  Read appropriate-level texts.  Choose just right books.

Senior Cluster Students’ ADVICE ABOUT READING to their Primary and Junior Cluster Schoolmates WHEN READING  Read carefully  Use your finger to guide you  HAVE FUN!  Read at YOUR pace 

If you don’t know a word, use your reading strategies.  Ask for help if you need it  Ask questions while you read 

Make sure you understand what you have read BEHAVIORS THAT SUPPORT READING  When it is “Reading Time,” get started right away 

Stay in one place when you are reading; don’t move around from spot to spot, or from room to room 

Just read; don’t try to talk to your friends, watch tv, or play video games during your planned reading time 

Read the whole time that has been planned as reading time  Select and read “just right books” 

Always have a “just right book” with you so that you can read in the car, or at the doctor’s office, or anywhere you are 

Never give up reading, even if it is hard.

Know that reading is the key to success.

SUGGESTED RESOURCES FOR FINDING AND SELECTING CHILDREN’S BOOKS CLEVELAND PUBLIC LIBRARY: cpl.org ALA – American Library Association: ala.org The American Library Association (ALA) is the oldest and largest library association in the world. It is widely used by librarians and others to select quality book titles. The ALA juries some of the most highly regarded book and media awards and honors in the world.

Several of the awards that that are issued through ALA are issued through its division, The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC): ala.org/alsc. Some of them are listed below:  Belpre Medal The Belpré Award is presented annually to a Latino/Latina writer and illustrator whose work best portrays, affirms, and celebrates the Latino cultural experience in an outstanding work of literature for children and youth.  Caldecott Medal The Caldecott Medal is awarded annually to the artists of the most distinguished American picture books for children.  Coretta Scott King Book Awards The Coretta Scott King Book Awards are given annually to outstanding African American authors and illustrators of books for children and young adults that demonstrate an appreciation of African American culture and universal human values. The award commemorates the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and honors his wife, Mrs. Coretta Scott King.  Geisel Award The Geisel Award is given annually to the author(s) and illustrator(s) of the most distinguished American book for beginning readers published in English in the United States during the preceding year.  Newbery Medal The Newbery Medal is awarded annually to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children.  Schneider Family Book Awards The Schneider Family Book Awards honor an author or illustrator for a book that embodies an artistic expression of the disability experience for child and adolescent audiences.  Sibert Medal The Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal is awarded annually to the author(s) and illustrator(s) of the most distinguished informational book published in the United States in English during the preceding year.

ALA’s The Booklist Editors’ Choice: Books for Youth The Booklist Editors Choice list of books for youth is committed to providing a broad selection of outstanding books that mixes popular appeal with literary excellence. There are selections for various grade levels.

ALA’s Booklist Online: booklistonline.com/awards Booklist Online includes links to all of the ALA’s book and media awards and honors lists.

IBBY – The International Board on Books for Young People: ibby.org IBBY is a non-profit organization that promotes international understanding through children’s books. It is comprised of seventy four National Sections located all over the world.

NEW YORK TIMES CHILDRENS’ BOOKS REVIEWS: topics.nytimes.childrensbooksreviews.com

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There is Nothing More Valuable to Your Chi Growth as a Learner than “Just Reading.”

Cathy Wh

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You’re ne “Be as careful of the books you read, as of the company you keep; for your habits and character will be as much influenced by the books you read as by the company you keep.”

Paxton Hood

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“Reading can be a road to freedom or a key t garden, which, if tended, will transform all

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en I say to a parent, “read to a child,” I don’t want it to d like medicine. I want it to sound like chocolate.”

Mem Fox

ever alone “You’re never alone when you’re reading a book.”

Susan Wiggs

r information, read in order to understand ople with quite different ideas. Learn about r door. Learn to be compassionate and grow in elp us in all these ways.”

freedom Katherine Paterson

to a secret of life.”

Katherine Paterson