Parents often ask us how they can help their kids with reading comprehension....after your child has read, ask them these simple questions!

BEFORE READING

What kind of characters do you expect to see in the story?

Where and when do you think the story takes place?

Do you think there will be conflict or any sort of problem in the story?

Do you think you will be able to relate the story to your life or our family?

WHILE READING

What can you tell me about the story and characters so far?

What do you think will happen next and how do you think this story will end?

What would you have done if you were one of the characters in the story? Why do you think they have acted the way they have?

What did you see in your head during that last scene?

What are you thinking about as you read?

AFTER READING

Do you think the title was appropriate or would you have named it something different?

What was the story's problem and how was it solved? Are there other ways that it could have been solved?

Who do you think was the main character? If you were them, how would you feel throughout the story?

Why do you think the author wrote this book? What was the point of the story?

TO FOSTER A LOVE OF READING

If your child is a reluctant reader, consider doing some of the following simple, yet effective, ways to improve this at home:

1. Make reading ENJOYABLE: Focus on your child's interests.  Gather books centered around your child's passions.

2. Read in the "Edges" EVERYDAY: Edge out time to read, as a family.  A family read aloud will help your child look forward to reading time together.  Always having a book on hand will help you MAKE the time to read, no matter where you are.

3. Set an EXAMPLE: If your child sees you reading, he will regard it as a worthwhile activity.

4. Book TALKS: Discuss the books you are reading, favorite books from your childhood, and ask questions to test their comprehension.

5. LISTEN to your child read aloud: Your time and attention is so important to their reading development. Give praise and encouragement. Make sure the books they are choosing are neither too difficult nor too easy.

6. CREATE your own library at home: This is a great reminder of the value of books and gives a younger reader some books to look forward to reading when they grow in their reading skills.

7. KNOW what boys and girls like to read: Find out what titles are popular with children their age. You can ask the librarian, visit a bookstore, or join a book forum website like NewsELA (non-fiction) and GoodReads.

8. If you have any questions on how you can help your child with any reading struggles, ASK your child's teacher. I am always glad to help!

WRITING

We will start the year off by exploring our thoughts and ideas through journaling about them! We will spend some time simply learning to love writing! Then, we will move onto understanding basic sentence structure and how to form well constructed paragraphs.  This knowledge will then guide us through writing many different types of writing pieces: narratives, persuasives, and expository pieces based off of student driven research.  Throughout the year we will work to connect our writing to all academic areas by constructing well formulated responses that explain our thinking in a variety of ways.