How can I support my child in reading? 

Our goal is to ensure every child leaves 4th grade with a love and passion for reading. Students will receive daily instruction on developmentally appropriate reading skills and strategies to build comprehension. 

How can I help my child with reading at home? 

• Create a reading routine with your child. Your child should read at least 15-20 minutes each day. I promise this will become your child’s favorite part of their day! 

• Talk with your child about what they are reading (See questions you can use below!)

• Be a reading role model

• Have your child read out loud to you to build fluency and confidence reading out loud. 

• Find reading activities in everyday activities; read labels, signs, directions, etc.!

• Have a family “word of the day” to promote vocabulary

• Visit libraries and work with Miss Koltas to make sure your child is bringing home appropriate books for their reading level 

What questions can I ask my child about reading? 

During reading instruction, I always start with: Tell me about what you are reading. This is a good starting point to see what your child thinks is important from the book. 

• What are the characters like? What adjectives would you use to describe them? 

• What is the genre of the book? What evidence do you have to support your thinking? 

•  Tell me about the plot. What happened first, next, then, finally?

  • Tell me the parts of the plot: Exposition, Rising Action, Climax, Falling Action, Resolution. 

• What was the problem and solution? 

• What connections can you make to the book? Can you make a text-to-self, text-to-text, or text-to-world connection?

• What is the main idea of the book? What details can you find to support it? 

• Make a prediction about what will happen next or what could happen if there is a sequel to the book. 

• Show me a part where you used context clues to figure out the meaning of a word.

• Find a part in the book that made you visualize something important. 

• Did you enjoy the book? Why? What parts of the book would you change if you were the author? 

• Why do you think the author wrote the book?  

What reading skills will my child work on in 4th grade? 

• Making predictions and inferences

• Summarizing

• Activating background knowledge

• Visualizing

• Author’s craft (Why might an author use similes, metaphors, alliteration, personification, etc.?)

• Using text evidence to support thinking 

• Sequencing

• Problem/Solution

• Cause & Effect

• Main idea

• Context clues

• Theme

• Point of view

• Plot and setting

• Any many more!