A Parent’s Guide to Reading

All the Time:

• Encourage your child’s comments and questions
• Share your personal reactions
• Connect ideas in the story to your child’s experiences

Before Reading:

• Look at the cover: What do you think this book will be about?
• Look at the title: What do you think will happen in this story?
• Look at the author: Have we read another book by this author?
• Look at the dedication: What clues does it give us about the story?

During Reading:

• Figure out WHERE and WHEN the story takes place.
• Stop at a high suspense point and ask: What do you think will happen next?
• Ask questions:

-to find out understanding: What does _______ mean?

-to connect your child’s experience: Have you ever seen ________?

-to compare: How is your __________ different from this one?

-to relate to characters: Do you like ________ ? Why/Why not?

-to guide observation: What is happening in the picture?

After Reading:

• Discuss whether or not the story turned out as your child predicted.
• Ask if your child liked the story. Why or why not?
• Talk about your favorite part of the story if you were the author.
• Discuss what would happen next if this book had a sequel.

Other Suggestions:

• Take time to look at details in the pictures.
• List a few of your favorite new words. Listen for people around you using them.
• Have your child start his/her personal library.
• Cut up sentence activity:

Elicit a sentence from your child about or related to the story.

Put each word of the sentence on an index card.

Scramble the cards.

Have your child place the words in the correct sequence to form the sentence.

• Have your child RETELL what he/she read in sequential order.

• Write:

- a different ending to the story

- in a response journal (can be paper stapled together)

- his/her own book modeled after the book he/she just read