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By Traci Geiser
Most parents know that reading to your child for fifteen
minutes every day is one of the most important activities
you can do with your preschooler to help her succeed in
school. But what you may not know are some of the
secrets teachers use during storytime to teach important
early literacy skills to their kids. Well we've got a slew of
sneaky teacher tips to share with you the next time you
read with your child. Try a few of these simple ideas as
you read books for the first time (or the hundredth time!)
to help promote beginning literacy skills with your little
bookworm.
•Left to Right This may sound simple, but running your
fingers under the words as you read has many valuable
lessons for young readers. The left to right and top to
bottom orientation in the English language is not natural
to young children. (You may notice this when she starts
to write her name, often times right to left.) This is a
simple skill that has to be learned and what an easy way
to teach it! As an added bonus, she may also begin to
recognize the words you are reading,and perhaps even
start to recognize words used frequently in books.
•Working With Words If your child is inquisitive, she may
naturally ask the meaning of words she doesn't
recognize. Reading is a wonderful opportunity to expand
your child’s vocabulary as most picture books contain
some words that your child may not know. After reading
the book at least once all the way through (just for fun),
begin to discuss some of the words you think your child
may not know. As she begins to read, it will much easier
to sound out a known word than one she has never
heard or seen before (this is true for adults as well!).
•Point Out Punctuation Although it's not necessary for
her to know what an explanation point, question mark or
period is before she starts to read, being familiar with
these common punctuation marks will help her feel more
comfortable in the world of print. Make a game out of it
by showing her (in an exaggerated way) what an
exclamation point does to the sentence as you read it,
or give her an opportunity to answer each question as
you come to it. And for extra practice, you can even try
reading the same sentence with different inflections
based on the type of punctuation.
•Letter Hunt For a fun alternative to just reading a book,
give your child a specific letter to hunt for on each page.
Give her a magnifying glass and tell her she's a letter
detective! Begin with the letters in her name to pique her
interest in the activity. See how many upper case “B’s”
are in the book, and then show her what the lower case
“b” looks like. How many “B’s” and ”b’s” are in the book
all together? This is a fun way to practice letter
recognition and you can find most of the alphabet in
almost every book!
•Sight Word Search If your child's a little older, you can
begin to help her recognize some simple sight words
found in most books. The ten most common used words
in the English language (ranked by frequency) are: the,
of, and, a, to, in, is, you, that, it. Give your little one a
head start at reading by helping her recognize these
words in print. Write one word on several mini self stick
notes and have her stick one on each page where she
finds the word. (For example, make ten notes that say
the word “and” and let her search through the book for
the word “and” to mark with a sticky note each time she
finds it.) Read each sentence containing the word so
she can hear and see the word in print. Don’t push this
unless she thinks it's fun or it may have the opposite of
the intended effect!
•Make a Prediction Before you read a new book
together, look at the cover and ask your child what she
thinks the story will be about. What gives her that idea?
Read the title and ask her if she still thinks her
prediction is correct or if she wants to change it. After
you read the book, evaluate her prediction to see how
close she was. She may also wish to make predictions
about what will happen next as you read the book
together. This is also great practice for basic
storytelling, which is a skill she'll learn in the coming
years as she writes more.
•Check for Comprehension After you have read a story
for the first time, ask a few questions to see how much
she remembers and understood. If you ask a question
she can't answer, help her find the answer in the book,
and then reread the page the answer is found on. Good
reading comprehension skills will serve her well as she
begins to read.
Creating a love of books and learning in your young
child is more important than any literacy skill. Beware of
focusing too much on the skill and forgetting to enjoy
books together. Enjoy great books together often and
when it feels right, and sneak in a little bit of extra
learning as you snuggle up and read!
Most parents know that reading to your child for fifteen
minutes every day is one of the most important activities
you can do with your preschooler to help her succeed in
school. But what you may not know are some of the
secrets teachers use during storytime to teach important
early literacy skills to their kids. Well we've got a slew of
sneaky teacher tips to share with you the next time you
read with your child. Try a few of these simple ideas as
you read books for the first time (or the hundredth time!)
to help promote beginning literacy skills with your little
bookworm.
•Left to Right This may sound simple, but running your
fingers under the words as you read has many valuable
lessons for young readers. The left to right and top to
bottom orientation in the English language is not natural
to young children. (You may notice this when she starts
to write her name, often times right to left.) This is a
simple skill that has to be learned and what an easy way
to teach it! As an added bonus, she may also begin to
recognize the words you are reading,and perhaps even
start to recognize words used frequently in books.
•Working With Words If your child is inquisitive, she may
naturally ask the meaning of words she doesn't
recognize. Reading is a wonderful opportunity to expand
your child’s vocabulary as most picture books contain
some words that your child may not know. After reading
the book at least once all the way through (just for fun),
begin to discuss some of the words you think your child
may not know. As she begins to read, it will much easier
to sound out a known word than one she has never
heard or seen before (this is true for adults as well!).
•Point Out Punctuation Although it's not necessary for
her to know what an explanation point, question mark or
period is before she starts to read, being familiar with
these common punctuation marks will help her feel more
comfortable in the world of print. Make a game out of it
by showing her (in an exaggerated way) what an
exclamation point does to the sentence as you read it,
or give her an opportunity to answer each question as
you come to it. And for extra practice, you can even try
reading the same sentence with different inflections
based on the type of punctuation.
•Letter Hunt For a fun alternative to just reading a book,
give your child a specific letter to hunt for on each page.
Give her a magnifying glass and tell her she's a letter
detective! Begin with the letters in her name to pique her
interest in the activity. See how many upper case “B’s”
are in the book, and then show her what the lower case
“b” looks like. How many “B’s” and ”b’s” are in the book
all together? This is a fun way to practice letter
recognition and you can find most of the alphabet in
almost every book!
•Sight Word Search If your child's a little older, you can
begin to help her recognize some simple sight words
found in most books. The ten most common used words
in the English language (ranked by frequency) are: the,
of, and, a, to, in, is, you, that, it. Give your little one a
head start at reading by helping her recognize these
words in print. Write one word on several mini self stick
notes and have her stick one on each page where she
finds the word. (For example, make ten notes that say
the word “and” and let her search through the book for
the word “and” to mark with a sticky note each time she
finds it.) Read each sentence containing the word so
she can hear and see the word in print. Don’t push this
unless she thinks it's fun or it may have the opposite of
the intended effect!
•Make a Prediction Before you read a new book
together, look at the cover and ask your child what she
thinks the story will be about. What gives her that idea?
Read the title and ask her if she still thinks her
prediction is correct or if she wants to change it. After
you read the book, evaluate her prediction to see how
close she was. She may also wish to make predictions
about what will happen next as you read the book
together. This is also great practice for basic
storytelling, which is a skill she'll learn in the coming
years as she writes more.
•Check for Comprehension After you have read a story
for the first time, ask a few questions to see how much
she remembers and understood. If you ask a question
she can't answer, help her find the answer in the book,
and then reread the page the answer is found on. Good
reading comprehension skills will serve her well as she
begins to read.
Creating a love of books and learning in your young
child is more important than any literacy skill. Beware of
focusing too much on the skill and forgetting to enjoy
books together. Enjoy great books together often and
when it feels right, and sneak in a little bit of extra
learning as you snuggle up and read!
