End of 3rd Grade

Phonological Awareness:

Heggerty Videos Check out the Heggerty videos on your grade level tab under the At Home Reading Club tab above.

SyllablesClap the syllables in words with your child. Make it fun. Use names of friends and family as well as words that will interest them. They can also put their hand under their chin. Their mouth should open one time for each syllable in the word.
Write a word then count the vowels,and then clap the syllables. Does the word have the same number of vowels as it does syllables??

Rhyming Posters Create a new poster each day.Draw or write a word at the top of the page. Post it somewhere where the entire family can see it. Ask the family to add rhyming words to the poster throughout the day. See how many rhyming words your family can create in 1 day.

Ball TossToss a ball back and forth. Everytime a player catches the ball they have to say a word that starts with a particular sound. This game can be played with middle sound, ending sound, and rhyming words as well.

Changing SoundsAsk you child to change a word by manipulating sounds in that word. Tell your child to say “ball.” Now tell them to change the /b/ at the beginning to /f/. Ask your child to say the new word -- “fall.” This can be done with beginning, middle, or ending sounds.This can be done while riding in a car, sitting around a table, or just about anywhere!

Phonics:

You will need to create a free account to access the videos. There are 3 -4 parts to each: Introduction, phonogram review, Spelling analysis, & a gameThe entire series is 8-9 minutes.

Logic of English #1

Logic of English #2

Logic of English #3

Phonics HopscotchMake a hopscotch game with chalk using word families. Have your child read the words as they hop.
Example: op family (hop, top, pop. stop. cop, flop, bop, drop, mop)
This game is not limited to word families.It can be played with long vowels, blends, digraphs, silent e words, or letters.

Sidewalk ChalkPractice writing letters, words, or sentences using sidewalk chalk outside.

Water Balloon Phonics

Here is a list 3rd Grade Phonics skills to use in this section.

Fluency:

Reader’s Theater
Reader’s theater requires no set or costumes and is a fantastic way to improve fluency. Children take turns reading their parts from a script and bring the text alive through their voices. Great family activity or group of friends!

Another way to challenge your kiddo is to try reading materials with different fonts, layouts, and text sizes. Reading larger text, fewer words on a page, and pages with pictures included may sometimes make reading easier and more pleasurable.

Audio ReadingsFind audio readings of books that your child can listen to as he/she follows along. Hearing a fluent reader read can be very helpful.

Buddy reading: Take turns reading aloud. You go first, then have your child read the next part.

Echo Reading:You read a page, sentence first, then have your child read what you just read.

Choral Reading:Read pages or sentences together with your child.

Repeated Reading:Have your child read the same sentence or book over and over to build fluency
Have your child read as many books as possible at his/her independent level

Challenge Yourself
Find a passage or short story. Read the passage and have someone make a tally if you make a mistake. Practice reading the passage. Now read the passage out loud again. Have someone listen and mark tallies - if necessary. Check to see if your score improved. Keep practicing until you can read the passage with less than 5 mistakes.

Record a Reading
Find a passage and practice it a few times until you can read it fluently (without any mistakes).
Record yourself reading the passage. Use a computer, iPad, iPod, or cell phone-with parent permission of course.
Listen to yourself! How did you sound? Did you read like you were talking (no robot)? Did you pause at punctuation? Was your reading smooth? Play teacher and assess yourself!
If you are happy with your reading...send it to someone!!!

Comprehension:

Reading Comprehension Manipulatives

Comprehension Cootie

Beach Ball Questions
Write the following comprehension questions on a beach ball or any type of ball with a Sharpie marker.
What is the title and who is the author? My favorite part was ...Who are the main characters? The setting was ...What is the setting? The main characters were ...What happened in the story? In the beginning ...How did it end? In the middle ...What is your favorite part? At the end .Tell about the words you learned.Tell why you liked or disliked this story.What would I like to know more about from this book?What topic did the author write about?Where could I go to learn more information?From the photos and illustrations, I learned …
As you and your child are reading a story, pause periodically and toss the ball. Read the question that is under their right hand. You can even ask them where the answer can be found in the story and turn back to that page and reread it

Quick WriteAfter reading a story, have your child write a few sentences or paragraphs about his/her favorite part and draw picture of it.
Add a PageHave your child add a page to the book he/she is reading as well as an illustration.
News ReportAfter your child finishes a book have him/her pretend that he/she is a reporter and report a summary of the book while taping it on a phone or ipad.

VisualizingThis involves the ability of readers to make mental images of a text as a way to understand processes or events they encounter while they are reading. Play Teacher - Make a TestAsk you child to be the teacher and make a test about a book they just read. Read the book and take the test that they make for you. Book WalkTalk with your child about the book before they read it. Look at the cover, pictures, and text. Discuss what you see. Help your child make predictions and inferences about the book. Activate Background KnowledgeBefore reading a book talk to your child about what he/she already knows about the topic.
SummarizingAsk your child to summarize and tell you about each page or chapter of the book in their own words as they read it.

Use graphic organizers

Vocabulary:

Create a Crossword Puzzle

Vocabulary Graphic Organizers

Journaling
As your child experiences summer, have them Journal their experiences. They can use pictures, but then write down a few sentences describing what they learned. Using terminology that may be new to them builds their vocabulary. Highlight the new words.
Or if they are reading a non-fiction book, write down a few interesting facts they discovered. Again using new vocabulary they have read.
Journaling also reinforces MANY other skill areas.

Learn a new word each day and write it on the family calendar. They can be words from the dictionary, a book, a magazine, etc…

When you come to a word that you do not know in a book, place a sticky note on that page and do one of the followiing after looking up the meaning:
Write a definition in your own words.
Write a synonym and antonym of the word.
Draw a picture of the word.
Make a comic strip with the word.
Act out the word.
Pretend you are a newscaster and write a headline with the word.
Write the sentence: This word _____ reminds me of ………..

Book WalkTalk with your child about the book before they read it. Point out words that may be challenging or difficult to understand before your child reads the book.

Multiple Meaning WordsGive your child a word that has multiple meanings and ask them to draw a picture of each depicting the different meanings.Example: Bat (They can draw a bat flying or a baseball bat)

Games Play some exciting family games that help build vocabulary such as Apples to Apples Junior, Taboo Kids VS Parents, Bananagrams, and Scrabble

Talking to and reading with your child are two terrific ways to help them hear and read new words. Conversations and questions about interesting words ("The book says, 'The boy tumbled down the hill,' and look at the picture! How do you think he went down the hill?") are easy, non-threatening ways to get new words into everyday talk

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