I found (and loved) this short article.
http://www.adlit.org/article/23399/
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Intermediate and Teen Readers: FREE BOOKS!
So as I was bumming around on the internet today, looking for something cool to post, and TA-DA! It appeared! I was looking around a website that is all about adolescent literacy (grades 4-12) and found a lot of super cool things. By far and away the coolest was a page that has the opportunity for free books. They listed websites, mostly of publishers, that are looking for people to send out advanced copies of their books to as long as you're willing to give feed back. Who isn't excited to read a book and then tell someone what you really think! There was also a section about an online book club that reads and discusses new a new book every week, sending the book to you, I believe for free, a chapter at a time. Are you as interested as I am? Click here! After you've checked that out. I would definitely recommend continuing to look around. There was all sorts of interesting tidbits!
Other cool finds?
Book Obsessed: Welcome to Book Obsessed, the Emmy® award winning mini documentary series that travels the length and breadth of the USA to meet folks whose love for books knows no bounds! From New York to LA, our intrepid crew tracks down obsessed readers, revealing a fascinating glimpse into their world and the books they love.
Free Rice: This vocabulary game asks you to match words with their correct definition. For each definition you get correct, they donate 10 grains of rice. It get's pretty hard. I was totally addicted!
Other cool finds?
Book Obsessed: Welcome to Book Obsessed, the Emmy® award winning mini documentary series that travels the length and breadth of the USA to meet folks whose love for books knows no bounds! From New York to LA, our intrepid crew tracks down obsessed readers, revealing a fascinating glimpse into their world and the books they love.
Free Rice: This vocabulary game asks you to match words with their correct definition. For each definition you get correct, they donate 10 grains of rice. It get's pretty hard. I was totally addicted!
Reading Comprehension Strategies, The Final Chapter...
The moment you've all been waiting for, the last 4 strategies for reading comprehension!
4. Determining importance: This one is exactly as it sounds. When we read, there are so many words and so much information that it is important for us to be able to automatically prioritize the importance of everything. Some things are important to keep in mind, some is less important. This is just working with kids to look at things like text features (bold words, headers, graphs, pictures, captions, etc) in non-fiction texts and things like strong verb choice in novels to look for clues about each things importance.
5. Creating mental images: This one is another easy one to figure out. As kids read, they should be making pictures in their minds about what is happening. There are a couple of reasons for this. The first is the ability to gather extra meaning from a picture. If the author doesn't give pictures, you can create one yourself to try to figure out what they are talking about. I know I often stop reading just to think about and imagine what is happening to be sure I understand the meaning. The second important part is if you can make a picture, you are probably understanding what is happening. It's an easy check!
6. Repairing understanding when meaning breaks down: This is a lot of words for one small, but extremely important thing. Kids need to be able to monitor themselves when they are reading. If they realize that they don't understand what's going on, they have to be able to fix that. The best way to do so is to re-read. Good readers do this all of the time. Think about a time when you were trying to read, but were distracted by something, so you ended up reading the same page about a million times. Why did you keep reading it over and over? Because you were distracted and didn't remember what you were reading. Kids have to be able to realize they've lost the meaning of what they were reading and then go back and figure it out!
7. Synthesizing information: Blah, blah, blah, right? Let's make this short, sweet, and easy. Synthesizing information is a very high leveled skill. When you have synthesized information, you have taken it in, thought about it, connected it to other things you know, and basically made it a part of all of the things you know. In the future you'll be able to pull out that piece of information and use it easily, perhaps to build on with more information, to help you solve a problem, to make a comparison to, etc. It's pretty much owning the piece of information.
Okay, that's that article in a nutshell. Lots of really good information. Lots for the brain to process. Feel free to post any questions, comments, or concerns and I'll do my best help you out!
4. Determining importance: This one is exactly as it sounds. When we read, there are so many words and so much information that it is important for us to be able to automatically prioritize the importance of everything. Some things are important to keep in mind, some is less important. This is just working with kids to look at things like text features (bold words, headers, graphs, pictures, captions, etc) in non-fiction texts and things like strong verb choice in novels to look for clues about each things importance.
5. Creating mental images: This one is another easy one to figure out. As kids read, they should be making pictures in their minds about what is happening. There are a couple of reasons for this. The first is the ability to gather extra meaning from a picture. If the author doesn't give pictures, you can create one yourself to try to figure out what they are talking about. I know I often stop reading just to think about and imagine what is happening to be sure I understand the meaning. The second important part is if you can make a picture, you are probably understanding what is happening. It's an easy check!
6. Repairing understanding when meaning breaks down: This is a lot of words for one small, but extremely important thing. Kids need to be able to monitor themselves when they are reading. If they realize that they don't understand what's going on, they have to be able to fix that. The best way to do so is to re-read. Good readers do this all of the time. Think about a time when you were trying to read, but were distracted by something, so you ended up reading the same page about a million times. Why did you keep reading it over and over? Because you were distracted and didn't remember what you were reading. Kids have to be able to realize they've lost the meaning of what they were reading and then go back and figure it out!
7. Synthesizing information: Blah, blah, blah, right? Let's make this short, sweet, and easy. Synthesizing information is a very high leveled skill. When you have synthesized information, you have taken it in, thought about it, connected it to other things you know, and basically made it a part of all of the things you know. In the future you'll be able to pull out that piece of information and use it easily, perhaps to build on with more information, to help you solve a problem, to make a comparison to, etc. It's pretty much owning the piece of information.
Okay, that's that article in a nutshell. Lots of really good information. Lots for the brain to process. Feel free to post any questions, comments, or concerns and I'll do my best help you out!
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Comprehension is Key, Part II
Okay, so the summary of the article that I promised!
This article is about teaching kids (or helping kids use) strategies to build better reading comprehension (understanding what they're reading). The article provides 7 strategies. Here's the first 3 in plain speak instead of teacher talk!
1. Activating background information to make connections between new and known information: Sometimes when kids read they read without thinking, so they only do half of the work and only get have of the information. When teachers talk about activating background knowledge, all they are trying to do is help the kids think about the things they know and relate them to what they are reading. We talk about 3 areas to make connections in. The first is text to text. The point of this is to get kids to make connections between two different texts or books they have read. This can include using information to make another text make sense or simply comparing and contrasting two different books. The second is text to self, which includes reading something in a text and having it remind you or think about something that has happened to yourself. If a kid is reading a story about a vacation, it might remind them of the time they went on vacation and the car ride was really long, for example. The third connection is text to world. This is when kids are able to make connections about things they have heard about happening around them and make a connection to what they are reading. A good example of this would be reading a non fiction text about hurricanes and remember Hurricane Katrina. When kids make these connections, they are thinking about what they are reading and understanding the text better.
2. Questioning the text: This is when kids are able to stop reading, think about what they were reading, and realize that they either didn't understand what they had read or wished they had more information about what was read. By asking and finding answers for these questions the develop a better understanding of what they are reading.
3. Drawing inference: This is when kids can take their background knowledge and take the information they've learned from the text to make predictions about what will happen next and also to gather information that's only indirectly stated in the text. A good example of this would be the book Officer Buckle and Gloria. In the story, the words are saying one thing and the pictures are doing something just a little different. A child needs to be able to put this all together to understand the point of the story.
This article is about teaching kids (or helping kids use) strategies to build better reading comprehension (understanding what they're reading). The article provides 7 strategies. Here's the first 3 in plain speak instead of teacher talk!
1. Activating background information to make connections between new and known information: Sometimes when kids read they read without thinking, so they only do half of the work and only get have of the information. When teachers talk about activating background knowledge, all they are trying to do is help the kids think about the things they know and relate them to what they are reading. We talk about 3 areas to make connections in. The first is text to text. The point of this is to get kids to make connections between two different texts or books they have read. This can include using information to make another text make sense or simply comparing and contrasting two different books. The second is text to self, which includes reading something in a text and having it remind you or think about something that has happened to yourself. If a kid is reading a story about a vacation, it might remind them of the time they went on vacation and the car ride was really long, for example. The third connection is text to world. This is when kids are able to make connections about things they have heard about happening around them and make a connection to what they are reading. A good example of this would be reading a non fiction text about hurricanes and remember Hurricane Katrina. When kids make these connections, they are thinking about what they are reading and understanding the text better.
2. Questioning the text: This is when kids are able to stop reading, think about what they were reading, and realize that they either didn't understand what they had read or wished they had more information about what was read. By asking and finding answers for these questions the develop a better understanding of what they are reading.
3. Drawing inference: This is when kids can take their background knowledge and take the information they've learned from the text to make predictions about what will happen next and also to gather information that's only indirectly stated in the text. A good example of this would be the book Officer Buckle and Gloria. In the story, the words are saying one thing and the pictures are doing something just a little different. A child needs to be able to put this all together to understand the point of the story.
The harder the book, the more your child gets from it, right?
As a teacher, I seem to be constantly busy from August through June. This can be hard for someone who loves to read because it can be hard to find the time and the energy! I love to read and as a result I'm a good reader who reads books quickly and well. Do you know what I like to read when I get the chance during the school year? New young adult novels. Are they at my level? Do I have to work hard to read them? Nope. Not at all. That's exactly why I love them. I can read them and just enjoy. I bet you do the same thing. Who likes romance novels? Who likes the Twilight books? Who enjoys the Harry Potter series? They're pretty easy, but you love them! Who has a second and pulls out a medical text book, just for a challenge? That's what I thought.
Kids are the same way! It's absolutely good for them to be reading books that are challenging for them. It's also really important for them to learn to ENJOY reading. That is the first and most important step. The more they enjoy reading, the more likely they are to do it. The more they do it, the better they get. The better they get, the more they enjoy it... It's a cycle. Your child shouldn't be reading significantly below their level most of the time, but if you go to the library and your 2nd or 3rd grader really wants to read one of the Mo Willems Pigeon books (hilarious!), let them. Have them read it to you and enjoy it together. Then make sure they have a more difficult book as well!
Kids are the same way! It's absolutely good for them to be reading books that are challenging for them. It's also really important for them to learn to ENJOY reading. That is the first and most important step. The more they enjoy reading, the more likely they are to do it. The more they do it, the better they get. The better they get, the more they enjoy it... It's a cycle. Your child shouldn't be reading significantly below their level most of the time, but if you go to the library and your 2nd or 3rd grader really wants to read one of the Mo Willems Pigeon books (hilarious!), let them. Have them read it to you and enjoy it together. Then make sure they have a more difficult book as well!
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Comprehension is Key
One of the key things to watch for when your child is reading is comprehension. This is your child's ability to understand what they are reading rather than just reading words and gaining no information from it. Check out this article about the 7 Reading Comprehension Strategies.
I know, it's kind of long. Give it a go and I promise some Cliff's Notes on it soon! :-)
I know, it's kind of long. Give it a go and I promise some Cliff's Notes on it soon! :-)
More fun ways to read together
1. Get a joke book and read jokes to each other. Little boys especially seem to take to this. Keep in mind, though, sometimes they'll need some help understanding, mostly with things that are punny. :-)
2. Have them become pen pals with an aunt, uncle, cousin, grandparent... They get the great experience of reading letters, post cards, and/or emails and also have to do some writing themselves. Good reading skills and good writing skills go hand in hand!
3. Read a story together, then rewrite the ending. This can be really fun with fairy tales and stories kids are really familiar with. Prompt them. Hey, what do you think would have happened if Beauty had turned into a beast when she kissed the Beast?
4. Family Movie Night! Read a story as a family, then watch the video together. Talk about how they were the same and how they were different. With younger kids, this can work with about any fairy tale. With kids that are a little older (2nd gradeish and higher) some fun books that are also movies include Harry Potter, Mary Poppins, and Pippi Longstocking. For older elementary school kids you can also throw in the Wizard of Oz.
5. Plan a treasure hunt. Leave clues and riddles around the house that your child has to follow in order to find a "treasure." In my opinion, cupcakes are the best treasure EVER! :-)
2. Have them become pen pals with an aunt, uncle, cousin, grandparent... They get the great experience of reading letters, post cards, and/or emails and also have to do some writing themselves. Good reading skills and good writing skills go hand in hand!
3. Read a story together, then rewrite the ending. This can be really fun with fairy tales and stories kids are really familiar with. Prompt them. Hey, what do you think would have happened if Beauty had turned into a beast when she kissed the Beast?
4. Family Movie Night! Read a story as a family, then watch the video together. Talk about how they were the same and how they were different. With younger kids, this can work with about any fairy tale. With kids that are a little older (2nd gradeish and higher) some fun books that are also movies include Harry Potter, Mary Poppins, and Pippi Longstocking. For older elementary school kids you can also throw in the Wizard of Oz.
5. Plan a treasure hunt. Leave clues and riddles around the house that your child has to follow in order to find a "treasure." In my opinion, cupcakes are the best treasure EVER! :-)
Monday, July 11, 2011
It's never too early!
Check out this article. I LOVE all of the great benefits kids get when you start reading to them early and often!
http://www.earlymoments.com/Promoting-Literacy-and-a-Love-of-Reading/Why-Reading-to-Children-is-Important/
http://www.earlymoments.com/Promoting-Literacy-and-a-Love-of-Reading/Why-Reading-to-Children-is-Important/
Choosing Books
One of the most important things to think about when you're getting your kid reading is making sure you're sure your child is reading books that are a good fit for them. One important part of this is making sure they have the opportunity to read books that interest them. When kids are picking out books they need to have choices. Let kids make choices about what they want to read about. I know you have the whole Junie B. Jones book series on the shelf, but if your little girl is going through a huge animal phase they may prefer the Puppy Pals books, or perhaps even some non-fiction. Your older son loved the realistic fiction series, The Magic Tree House, but if your younger son loves aliens, perhaps he'd prefer the Space Brat series. Think about how hard it is as an adult to start a book you're just not in the mood for. Kids have the SAME problem. If they're interested, they'll read. If not, well...
Difficulty is also important to consider and can be difficult to figure out off the cuff. Even as a teacher, I'll pull books off of my shelf, start reading them with a kid, and think, "oh no, I forgot how hard this part was..." Never fear, there are a few ways to figure out the difficulty of books, and one of them is easy enough for kids to use alone!
1. If you are pre-planning your trip to the book store or the library, you could use a website such as www.arbookfind.com. This site allows you to either type in the title of a book or search through some of their book lists and it will tell you the approximate grade equivalency of the book. For example, the book A Chair For My Mother is rated as a BL (book level) 3.4. This means it should be appropriate for the average child to read independently about half way through 3rd grade. On downside of this is that it's based on an average, and let's face it, how often are kids exactly average?
2. Observe your child reading to themselves. If they can sit and read by themselves and stay engaged, the book is probably at a good level for them. If they sit down with the book, but you can soon see them "wandering" mentally or physically, the book is probably too easy or too hard.
3. (This is the easy one kids can do independently!!!) Teach your child the three finger rule. Have your child read the first page or two of the book they've chosen (two pages with few words, one page with a lot of words, you want about 100 words). As they are reading, they should hold up a finger for every word they cannot read. If they get to the point that they are holding up three fingers (hence the name of the rule) the book is probably too hard to read alone and they should find another one.
Of course, if they are really attached to a book that is too hard, feel free to get it anyway and read it with them! If they want to read, right on! That's what we're working for!
Difficulty is also important to consider and can be difficult to figure out off the cuff. Even as a teacher, I'll pull books off of my shelf, start reading them with a kid, and think, "oh no, I forgot how hard this part was..." Never fear, there are a few ways to figure out the difficulty of books, and one of them is easy enough for kids to use alone!
1. If you are pre-planning your trip to the book store or the library, you could use a website such as www.arbookfind.com. This site allows you to either type in the title of a book or search through some of their book lists and it will tell you the approximate grade equivalency of the book. For example, the book A Chair For My Mother is rated as a BL (book level) 3.4. This means it should be appropriate for the average child to read independently about half way through 3rd grade. On downside of this is that it's based on an average, and let's face it, how often are kids exactly average?
2. Observe your child reading to themselves. If they can sit and read by themselves and stay engaged, the book is probably at a good level for them. If they sit down with the book, but you can soon see them "wandering" mentally or physically, the book is probably too easy or too hard.
3. (This is the easy one kids can do independently!!!) Teach your child the three finger rule. Have your child read the first page or two of the book they've chosen (two pages with few words, one page with a lot of words, you want about 100 words). As they are reading, they should hold up a finger for every word they cannot read. If they get to the point that they are holding up three fingers (hence the name of the rule) the book is probably too hard to read alone and they should find another one.
Of course, if they are really attached to a book that is too hard, feel free to get it anyway and read it with them! If they want to read, right on! That's what we're working for!
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Getting Boys Reading
Thinking about my favorite read aloud books, I noticed common thread. Because of what I read as a child and because of the genre of books I still enjoy most, I read a lot of fantasy novels and often with female characters. This not actually uncommon. It can be hard to find books that really interest boys. Lucky for me, I had a younger brother and was such an avid reader that I read his books too! :-) For those of you without this luxury, I thought I'd link some websites that focus on book lists for boys, often listed by genre, such as animals, building, explosions, aliens, etc. Below are a couple websites and brief descriptions or quotes from each.
Guys Read- Research shows that boys are having trouble reading, and that boys are getting worse at reading. No one is quite sure why. But the good news is that research also shows that boys will read — if they are given reading that interests them. So the biggest part of this site is the collection of book titles below. These are books that guys have told us they like. Our idea is to help guys become readers by helping them find texts they want to read.
Boys Read- Developing a new generation of literate men. It's not that boys can't read; it's that they don't. Our mission: Transform boys into lifelong readers.
Guys Read- Research shows that boys are having trouble reading, and that boys are getting worse at reading. No one is quite sure why. But the good news is that research also shows that boys will read — if they are given reading that interests them. So the biggest part of this site is the collection of book titles below. These are books that guys have told us they like. Our idea is to help guys become readers by helping them find texts they want to read.
Boys Read- Developing a new generation of literate men. It's not that boys can't read; it's that they don't. Our mission: Transform boys into lifelong readers.
Friday, July 8, 2011
Fun ways to practice reading
1. Get in the kitchen and read a recipe together
2. Read a book with two parts such as You Read to Me, I'll Read to You
3. Going on vacation? Read a story that takes place where you're going or buy a travel book and read it together
4. Have your child record themselves reading, then send the tape and the book to a relative. What grandma, aunt, cousin wouldn't love getting that in the mail?
5. Have a relative record themselves reading and have them send it to your child with the book so your child can read along while someone they love and may not see reads to them
2. Read a book with two parts such as You Read to Me, I'll Read to You
3. Going on vacation? Read a story that takes place where you're going or buy a travel book and read it together
4. Have your child record themselves reading, then send the tape and the book to a relative. What grandma, aunt, cousin wouldn't love getting that in the mail?
5. Have a relative record themselves reading and have them send it to your child with the book so your child can read along while someone they love and may not see reads to them
Creating Great Readers
Do you remember learning to play your favorite sport? Better yet, have you ever seen a kindergarten soccer game? It's a mess, right? There are kids running all over the field, they don't pay any attention to the rules, the kick the ball in whatever direction the happen to be facing... You're lucky if they all stay on the field instead of wandering away! Flash forward ten years and think about a high school soccer game. It's a totally different game. There's a chance you might not even recognize them as the same thing. What's the difference? Practice. More practice. Then some practice after that. Then a little more practice. Years and years and years of hard work and practice is what takes the normal kindergartner to a high school athlete, or even more, to a professional athlete.
Reading is the same way. Parents often ask me the best way to make their kids better readers. There are TONS of ways to make kids better readers. The BEST way to make kids better readers though, is to practice. Practice by themselves, practice with siblings or friends, practice with parents, practice with grandparents... Reading silently, partner reading, choral reading, being read to... Easy books by themselves, hard books being read to them and discussed, on level books. To get kid to read, it can't be a hard, hard thing to do. Things are most enjoyable when we do them well. The only way to get better is t practice.
Reading is the same way. Parents often ask me the best way to make their kids better readers. There are TONS of ways to make kids better readers. The BEST way to make kids better readers though, is to practice. Practice by themselves, practice with siblings or friends, practice with parents, practice with grandparents... Reading silently, partner reading, choral reading, being read to... Easy books by themselves, hard books being read to them and discussed, on level books. To get kid to read, it can't be a hard, hard thing to do. Things are most enjoyable when we do them well. The only way to get better is t practice.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Getting Kids to Love Reading
There's a lot of discussion on the best way to get kids to love reading. As with anything, there are many schools of thought and my goal on this blog is to help parents sort through a varieties of methods, programs, and plans to help kids learn to love reading. Some of this may work for you and your family, some of it may not. My hope is that by presenting a variety of different ideas, you can find one to work.
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