COMPREHENSION

Complete the following test to see how well you uderstand what you read.  Read the following extract and see if you can answer the three questions.

...... Unfortunately, the low fluid level over the spillway did end up leading to problems. The xns simulation produced ".tangled" files near the 477th timestep. These files signal that the elements of the mesh have somehow crossed over one another......

If you can't answer these questions it is probably because you have no knowledge of either the technical terms used or the subject matter described.  You can read the words but you do not understand what you have read.  Many children appear to be reading well, but when questioned, do not comprehend what they have read.  Reading and comprehension are two separate skills.

Factual texts containing technical terms are much more difficult to read for cildren with no experience of the subject matter.   For example, it is difficult for a child who has never seen snow to understand a story about the hazards of travelling in a blizzard. Beginning readers will have a hard time understanding what they read if they have no experiences to which they can connect the words. 

A.  Reading about the familiar helps children relate to what is being read to them. 

B.   Talking with your child about a book or story helps him develop vocabulary. 

As a child learns to speak, he also learns how to listen. He begins to understand how words are strung together to make sense, the patterns of language, and the ways language changes when used for different purposes. 

CHOOSING BOOKS

Do they have  bright, colorful or unusual pictures? 

   Are the stories about topics your child might be interested in?  If you know your child has a particular interest or hobby, search out books on this topic. This is a good way to introduce new books. If a child is interested in a particular area they are motivated to read about it. 

   Introduce a book on a completely new topic every now and then. Make sure there is a range of material in your home for your children to read – picture books, fiction and non-fiction, children’s atlases and encyclopedias.  Look for books which broaden the child's horizons. These can be the basis for discussions about different cultures, socioeconomic conditions, and beliefs.

   Are they predictable ?  Books with predictable elements  help children to understand how stories progress. A child easily learns familiar phrases and repeats them, pretending to read. Your child will learn the repeated phrase and have fun joining in with you each time it shows up in the story. Pretty soon, he will join in before you tell him. 
“Pretend reading” gives a child a sense of power and the courage to keep trying. 
Do the books  give hints about what might happen next. ( lift the flap, cutouts, rebus rhymes )

   Do you give your child a say in the books he or she reads, even if you feel they have outgrown them.   Allow children to read their favourite books over and over again.. Be aware that books that are your first choice might not be your child’s.

   Is the print large enough to see easily?

   If your child likes a particular author, read several books by that author. Then find similar ones by another author, always building and expanding the selections.

   For older children select stories with interesting plots and well-developed characters. Always consider the maturational and emotional level of the child.

  READING WITH YOUR CHILD 

Special —
Set aside a regular time when you and your child enjoy reading together.   Children love this special attention.  Pick a comfortable, quiet spot where there will be no distractions.  Sit together so you both can share the book. Establish a routine  -   reading stories at bedtime is a cozy way to promote literacy.

Short -----
Begin reading to toddlers and preschoolers for about 5-10 minutes. Stop reading before your child loses interest. As your child's attention span grows, you can read for a longer time. You may want to read with your school-age child as long as your child likes. Why should you read a book to an infant who doesn't yet know the meaning of words?  Both of these activities help children make connections between words and meaning. 

Sweet-----
Always keep your book and story sharing fun. It's the love of books that helps children become good readers.  Ask grandparents, older children, baby-sitters, visiting friends and relatives.  For some children reading aloud can be very confronting. If this is true for your child encourage them to read to a family pet, a special puppet or a toy. A teddy is a loving and non-judgmental audience!  Reading should be enjoyable for you and your child. 

Preview -----
books with your child.  Look at the pictures and talk about them.  As you chat about the pictures, you prepare your child to enjoy the book, and you can explain some words or names they will hear when you begin reading.

Ask -----
your child to look at the cover and name any objects and characters they know. Read the title and the author's and illustrators name

Flip-----
through the pages and note other objects and characters in the pictures.   Predict what the story might be about. 

Point -----
to each word on the page as you read it. Ask questions like, "What do you think will happen next?" Stop once or twice to compare the story to your child's predictions.   Practise by pointing to words with their finger or any number of homemade pointers (chopsticks, dowels with pom poms on the ends, rubber witchy fingers, etc.) 

Connect -----
the story line to real-life events. Did something like this ever happen to you or your kid? Do the characters remind you of anyone you know?

Evaluate----
the book. Did your child like the story? What was the best part? The funniest picture? The silliest character?
   Look for details in the illustrations.

Reread ----
the book and ask your child to hold the book, look at the pictures, and tell YOU the story.

Play ----
simple, silly games along with reading aloud to emphasize rhyming, how to hold a book, and how to turn the pages correctly. Try turning the pages from back to front or holding the book upside down and see how your child responds.

Read -----
aloud with animation. Listen to your own voice and don't be dull, or flat, or boring.   Change your voice to match the story line and characters.  Read the stories that the kids loveóover and over and over again, and always read in the same ‘tune’ for each book: i.e. with the same intonations on each page, each time. Encourage your child to make sound effects for the characters and events
 
 

QUESTIONS TO ASK 
Only ask one or two questions while reading the story and again ask only one or two questions after reading. Try to vary the questions each time a  story is read.

* Who were the main characters? e.g Goldilocks, Father Bear, Mother Bear and Baby Bear

* Where did the story take place? e.g in the forest

* Does a character in this story remind you of anyone else?

* Choose one character. Why was this character important in the story?

* Tell the main events that happened in the story.

* What was your favorite part of the story ?  why?

* What happened first in the story?    What happened next?

* If you change the ending of the story, how would it end?

* How would you describe the main character in the story?

* What do you think will happen next?

* Ask your child to think of alternative endings for stories read and heard   e.g  what if Goldilocks fell down the stairs in The Three Bears house.

   Visit the public library often to spark your child’s interest in books. Help your children obtain their own library cards and pick out their own books. Talk to a librarian, teacher, school reading specialist, or bookstore owner for guidance about what books are appropriate for children at different ages and reading levels. 

   Seek out educational television or videos from the library. Spend time with your child reading and selecting books to take home and put in his or her special place. You might even have a box or space just for library books, so that they don't get mixed up with your child's own books.

   Set up a special place for reading and writing in your home. Pick a special place for your child's books so that he or she knows where to look for them.   A cardboard box that you can decorate together might make a good bookcase. Or you might clear one of the family bookshelves and make a special place for the books.
A well-lit reading corner filled with lots of good books can become a child’s favorite place. Keep writing materials such as non-toxic crayons, washable markers, pencils and different kinds of paper in a place where children can reach them. 

   Encourage family members and friends to give books to your child as presents for birthdays and other occasions.

   You are your child’s greatest role model.   show your child that you value reading by reading whenever you can

   Have books on tape in your home. Borrow or buy a tape player that is easy for children to use. If you can't find tapes of your child's favorite books, you or a family member could make recordings of the books for your child to listen to while looking at the books. 

   Encourage your child to have a go at reading words that are unfamiliar 

   Restrict the amount and kind of TV your children watch.  Watch some educational TV programs with your children that teach letter sounds and words or give information about nature and science. 

   Provide a variety of texts for your child to read to you, eg stories, comics, poems, plays, cartoons, reference books, magazines, children's recipebooks.  point out words on street signs, food packets and labels, road signs. (They are often one word e.g.‘Stop’ or ‘Slow’ ) shopping lists ans recipes

   Label things in the home such as the table, the refrigerator, doors, etc. Collect the labels and have your child put them back on the correct objects

   Show your child how to find the meanings of unfamiliar words in dictionaries 

   Use terms associated with books, such as author, illustrator, cover, title, page, contents, index, glossary

READING GAMES

   Simple board games teach children to recognise words, images and instructions. 

   Games like ‘I spy’ help them to learn sounds and letters.  When young children have reading and word games as part of everyday life, reading and writing comes more easily to them when they start school.

   Fnd a word in the car, walking or riding the bus, have the child look for and read familiar signs.

   The "same or different" game. Generate pairs of words that are either identical or that differ in a subtle way. e.g pray, play   Say them out loud and ask the child if they are the same or different. Children should rarely miss the ones that are different. 

   Letter games: For young children who are just learning the letters, rather than just teaching them the letter names, have the children sort the letters into groups by their features — letters with curves, letters with straight lines, letters with both, etc. This helps children see that some letters are similar, but still different (such as the u and n or the n and h). Once they see these differences, they will be less likely to confuse them later.

   "Turtle Talk"  Sit one-on-one with a child; tell them that, in addition to walking slowly, turtles talk slowly.. Demonstrate for the child how a turtle would say the word "man" (/m/ /a/ /n/ 

READING STRATEGIES

Learning to read is a complex process.   For children to read well, they need to develop a range of reading strategies.   Reading and writing are closely connected.   When children learn to read and write, they learn about how language is used for different purposes and different audiences.  Some strategies are:

   predicting  what a text will be about using such things as cover, title, illustrations and photos - talk about the book, its title and illustrations with your child before they commnence reading, so they know what the book is about.   Talk about any tricky words, particularly those that can't be sounded such as "surprise" or "because" and  tell your child what they mean, before commencing reading.

   blending  sounds to produce a word, eg `d-o-g' . “sounding out”.

   recognising  words, full stops, capital letters and spaces between words .

   comparing the different size and shape of words 

   finding little words in larger words ( “and” in “ “sandwich”)

Using  the context of the story to help decide on the meaning -  “reading  on” past the unknown word to gain clues from the rest of the sentence .  What word makes sense ?

              e.g  Sam saw the dog.  It _____  across the garden.

                      Sam saw the dog.  It r_____ across the garden.
 
 

PARENT QUESTIONS

Q — How can I tell if my 4-year-old child is ready to start reading?

A — Children who are ready to read can usually do the following: 
Recognise some letters of the alphabet  and match them with the sounds they usually make
Before they can read, children must be comfortable and familiar with the letters of the alphabet. They should be able to identify the letters in different fonts and type case, and they should be comfortable with handwritten letters as well as letters embedded within words (as opposed to presented in isolation). 

They should be able to  Discriminate one letter from the other letters of the alphabet (e.g., what features of the letter p makes it different from the letter q).   For a child, the alphabet is an arbitrary poem or song filled with meaningless babble. (Most people are familiar with the fact that children often think that "lmno" is a single unit.)
The alphabet song does not necessarily have any more meaning to a child than any other song, and many children learn to recite the alphabet without any understanding of what they are reciting.
 

Q — My older son could read by the time he went to kindergarten. His younger brother is now 4 and still doesn't know his letters. Should I be concerned?

A — No. It's hard not to compare your sons, but children learn at different speeds.   No child should be "pushed" to read. Instead, spend individual time with your younger son, sharing stories and looking at books together. Children who grow up with conversation and books become successful readers at their own pace. 

Q — I don’t feel comfortable reading in English.  What can I do ?
A —Read and write with your children in their native language.  Practising their  first language will help your children learn to read and write English.  When your first language is not English,   read books and tell stories in any language. These skills will be valuable when your children learn to read and write in English . 
 
 

© Copyright 2004. Reading Rockets is a service of WETA   flagship public broadcasting station in the U.S capital of Washington.  Funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs
 
 

AVOID

1.   Making comments such as:
"always sound it out "   some words can be sounded out (c-a-n) , while others are “sight words” ( words the child instantly recognizes on sight ( e.g because) Only ask your child to try to sound out a word that is possible to sound out" once they have developed some knowledge of letters and the sounds they make !

“I’ve told you that word a thousand times before”   always praise / never criticize

“Turn the television off and come and read to me”Don’t create rivalry between a child’s favourite show and reading

“Not that book again”your  child will gain a lot from repeated readings of a much loved text--both emotionally and in  preparation for his or her own reading development.  Pay attention to your child's reaction. “Read it again” is a sure sign of a winner.

“Don’t look at the pictures” illustrations are a vital component in many books, particularly for beginning readers

“Why did you borrow that book – it’s much too difficult for you ?”  If there are too many words for you or your child, just tell a story to go with the pictures. Young children initially select books for  varied reasons.  – colour,  size,  front cover, format , texture or pictures.  With maturity and guidance they progress to selecting a book appropriate to their needs and stage of development . 

2.Forcing your child to read  Reading should be enjoyable for you and your child. If your child becomes distressed or loses interest when reading at home,  take a break from reading and try again later.

 3.Scary bedtime stories      check that the book has a happy ending. It is important that children feel safe before they go to sleep.

4. Teaching    expecting your child to read books  too advanced for their stage of development

5.  Finishing something your child does not enjoy    If the book you selected turns out to be a poor choice for the child, close it and find another.  Always have several additional titles on hand.  Ask you child what they did not like,  as this may present a clue for next time.   Responding to what was disliked allows for the development of critical thinking skills.
Associating reading with negative feelings - Always make reading to a child a positive activity and never threaten to take it away as a punishment.

6. Turning reading into a competition    comparing with other children ( When will you be going up to the next level ?) Readiness for reading will differ for each child. 
 
 

reading books online
http://www.starfall.com/

Mem Fox’s website   read extracts from the award winning author's publications such as "Winning The War Between Books And Television" and "Reading Magic"
http://www.memfox.net/

Research on English Second Language children learning to read
HARVARD GAZETTE ARCHIVES @ http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/2003/11.13/03-lesaux.html

Parents as Partners in teaching reading
http://www.tooter4kids.com/family_and_literacy.htm

Board of Studies NSW
http://www.bosnsw-k6.nsw.edu.au/parents/k6reading.html

lots of rhebus rhymes 
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/Rhymes.html

games to play with your child  at different ages
http://www.kiddyhouse.com/Parents/