Reading Strategies

If you are looking for ways to build reading skills for your child you are on the right page.  From basic phonemic awareness (letter and sounds) to higher level reading techniques, the teachers at Lantrip would like this forum to serve as your private tutor to help develop reading skills at home!  Please leave a comment for specific areas of assistance and we will look to find you the support you need.

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Developing Inferencing Skills: Grades PK - 5th

Reading Between the Lines

This Pixar short film uses animation without words to express feelings between the characters.  The more you connect to a story, the easier it is to infer what the characters are thinking and feeling.  Watch the short film and see how many inferences you can make about thoughts and emotions between the two characters.  

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Developing Comprehension Skills:  Grades PK -5th

Think Alouds

Why use think-alouds?

• It helps students learn to monitor their thinking as they read and improves their comprehension.
• It teaches students to re-read a sentence, read ahead to clarify, and/or look for context clues to make sense of what they read.
• It slows down the reading process and allows students to monitor their understanding of a text.

 Try some of these think aloud questions or create your own.

What do I know about this topic?
What do I think I will learn about this topic?
Do I understand what I just read?
Do I have a clear picture in my head about this information?
What more can I do to understand this?
What were the most important points in this reading?
What new information did I learn?
How does it fit in with what I already know?

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Picking Just Right Books:  Grades PK - 5th
I Pick 

The secret to helping kids learn how to choose the right book is simple.  It's all about teaching them one word that they can keep in their back pocket any time they're in the library or school media center. It's one word they can lean on when they're in the class book corner or at the book fair.

All they need to remember is P.I.C.K.

P.I.C.K. stands for Purpose, Interest, Comprehension, and Know the Words.

P = Purpose: We need to have kids consider their purpose for reading. 

I = Interest. When choosing a book, it should be something of interest.

 

C = Comprehend.  Is the book something that the child can comprehend? Can he or she understand what's read?  Is it a book that is appropriate for his or her level or abilities?

K = Know the Words.  Readers should be able to decode -- or read -- and understand the majority of the words on the page.  The key is to remembering the "Five Finger Rule."

The "Five Finger Rule" outlines a general idea of how many words a reader should be able to read on each page.
•    0-1 unknown words = book is too easy
•    2-3 unknown words = book is just right
•    4-5 unknown words = book is too difficult

Knowing P.I.C.K. is empowering for kids. They want to know how to choose books that fit for them -- books that are enjoyable, fun, and exciting.  It's all about giving our kids the tools they need to be strong, confident readers. Choosing the best book is the starting point.

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Building Word Knowledge:  PK-2nd
Understanding Compound Words

Compound words are made by putting two words together to form another word with a different meaning. Two common compound words are "handshake" and "lawsuit." Compound words sometimes need hyphens, as in "able-bodied" or "three-legged." Click here and here to practice word reading skills!

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I Can be a Great Reader

Setting Reading Goals:  PK

HISD's Pre Kinder Blog has fantastic resources to help develop your child's learning skills at home.  Use these I Can objectives to help track progress in learning.  Your little one will love sharing all the new things they CAN do! Follow this blog for Pre-K literacy resources and beyond.