To ensure that our students become lifelong readers, we use a number of instructional strategies in our classrooms. Throughout the day, students will be involved in various reading activities, across the curriculum. Our day includes periods of shared reading (poems, songs, chants, etc.), read alouds (picture books, big books, and stories), guided reading (teacher lead groups or individual reading instruction), and independent reading (high interest-student choice reading). Most students begin with alphabet awareness, phonemic awareness, and the concepts of print. They will then move into emergent reading with limited and/or repetitive print with many pictures (to help them with decoding unknown words). Many students may even progress into the early reading and transitional reading stages. However, each child is a unique individual with his or her own needs and abilities. Therefore, we work with leveled readers to ensure the needs of each child are met. Developmental reading is not a competition among students. It is extremely important for you and your child to realize that everyone learns at a different pace, and there are many levels of “normal development.” It is quite usual for students to be on different levels within the same class. In fact, even within a level, there are degrees of difficulty (easy, medium, hard). Memorizing text and using picture cues are an important part of learning to read. Please allow your students to use these strategies when learning to read. We will send home books that have been read in class previously. Repetition is an essential part of the reading process.
Here are some strategies you can use at home! * Incorporate a reading time each day (reading to them, with them, or listening to them). * Be patient and allow the child to figure things out on their own. * Give your child a chance to catch his or her own mistakes! * Encourage your child to pick books in which he or she has a high interest! * Ask questions about the story as you read it! * Keep lots of books, magazines, comics, etc. around the house! * Model the joy of reading, show your child the value of knowing how to read! Happy reading!