How to Raise a Reader

10 Tips for Parents!

Find a character your child LOVES. Then keep going with that character!
Guess what happens next! When your young reader guesses what happens next in the story, it becomes a game - and it is a great way to reinforce reading comprehension.
Talk all the way through the book. ASK: Why do you think the character did that? Did that surprise you? The skill of learning to understand the story while reading will help your child switch from a word-by-word reader to a fluent reader.
Share the reading with your child! Show your young reader how to recognize a word like "Woof". Then have him or her spot that word and read it aloud whenever it occurs.
When you read books aloud, have fun with the voices. Try using a different voice for each character.
Have your child read to the dog. No kidding! Dogs are good, nonjudgmental listeners.
Be a role model. Let your child catch you reading. Encourage daily reading moments - like following directions in a cookie recipe, or reading a billboard
Stay positive. Your job is to be reassuring and supportive, never critical. You want your child to look forward to reading and enjoy it. Reading is hard work and your encouragement goes far.
Celebrate success! A progress chart, stickers, or getting to pick the next story is a great motivator for kids!

Reading tips cited from

www.harpercollinschildrens.com

Helpful Reading Terminology

Source: National Institute for Literacy's A Child Becomes a Reader (http://lincs.ed.gov/publications/pdf/reading_pre.pdf)

alphabetic knowledge - Knowing the names and shapes of the letters of the alphabet
alphabetic principle- The understanding that written letters represent sounds, for example, the word big has three sounds and three letters
big books- Oversized books that allow for the sharing of print and illustrations with a group of children
blending- Putting together individual sounds to make spoken words
comprehension-The ability to understand and gain meaning from what has been read
decodable books- Books that are made up of words that contain only the letter-sound relationships that the children are learning, along with a few words that are taught as sight words
decode- The ability to recognize and read words by translating the letters into speech sounds to determine the word's pronunciation and meaning
developmental spelling-The use of letter-sound relationship information to attempt to write words
emergent literacy-The view that literacy learning begins at birth and is encouraged through participation with adults in meaningful reading and writing activities
environmental print- Print that is part of everyday life, such as signs, billboards, labels, and business logos
experimental writing- Efforts by young children to experiment with writing by creating pretend and real letters and by organizing scribbles and marks on paper
explicit instruction- Direct, structured, systematic teaching of a task
fluency- The ability to read text accurately and quickly with expression
graphic organizers- Diagrams that visually represent the organization and relationships of ideas in a text
informational text - Text that conveys information - this may include books, magazines, websites, directions, etc.
invented spelling- The use of letter-sound relationship information to attempt to write words
irregular words- Frequently used words that don't follow the letter-sound relationship rules that children are learning
leveled books- Books that have been assigned a particular level (usually a number or letter, such as Level 1 or Level B) intended to indicate how difficult the book is for children to read
literacy- Includes all the activities involved in speaking, listening, reading, writing, and appreciating both spoken and written language
phonemes- The smallest parts of spoken language that combine to form words - For example, the word hit is made up of three phonemes (/h/ /i/ /t/) and differs by one phoneme from the words pit, hip,hot.
phonemic awareness- The ability to hear and identify the individual sounds in spoken words
phonics- The relationship between the sounds of spoken words and the individual letters or groups of letters that represent those sounds in written words
phonological awareness- The understanding that spoken language is made up of individual and separate sounds - Phonological awareness activities can involve work with rhymes, words, sentences, syllables, and phonemes.
predictable books- Books that have repeated words or sentences, rhymes, or other patterns
prefix- A word part such as re-, un-, pre- that is added to the beginning of a root word to form a new word with a new meaning
pretend reading- Children's attempts to "read" a book before they have learned to read - Usually children pretend read a familiar book that they have practically memorized.
print awareness- Knowing about print and books and how they are used
root word- A word or word part to which a prefix or suffix is added
segmentation- Taking spoken words apart sound by sound
sight words- Words that a reader recognizes without having to sound them out - Some sight words are "irregular," or have letter-sound relationships that are uncommon. Some examples of sight words areyou, are, have, and said.
suffix- A word part such as -ness, -able, or -er that is added to the end of a root word to form a new word with a new meaning
syllable- A word part that contains a vowel or, in spoken language, a vowel sound (e-vent, news-pa-per, pret-ty)
vocabulary- The words we must know in order to communicate effectively - Oral vocabulary refers to words that we use in speaking or recognize in listening. Reading vocabulary refers to words we recognize or use in print.
word walls- Word-study and vocabulary words that are posted on the classroom wall so all children can easily see them - Usually, word walls are arranged alphabetically, with words starting with a certain letter listed under that letter for easy location.
word recognition- The ability to identify printed words and to translate them into their corresponding sounds quickly and accurately so as to figure out their meanings