Parent Guide to Reading

How Children Learn Reading

All academic areas are important, but learning to read well is the most crucial aspect of third grade. By the end of third grade, your child will be reading well if they can read grade-level texts accurately, fluently, and with good comprehension.

accuracy - at least 90% of words correct
fluency - at a good speed with little hesitation, 130 words per minute by the end of third grade
comprehension - able to remember many details, to understand the main ideas of the text, and to make logical inferences

Many parents teach their children to read by sounding out every word (c + a + t = cat). Though sounding out is one strategy that young readers do need, research has shown that all readers, both children and adults, use three ways to figure out words, as explained in this example:

When the sleepy man yawned, he knew it was time to go to bed.

phonics - letter sounds and spelling patterns (the reader uses the beginning /y/ sound and perhaps the /aw/ sound if they know it)
sentence structure - how the words fit together in the grammar of the sentence (the reader is expecting a verb after the word man because of the structure of the sentence, even if they do not remember the classifications of nouns, verbs, ...)
meaning - how the word makes sense in the context of the story (the reader uses the fact that the man is sleepy to make a logical guess as to what the word is)

Helping Your 3rd Grader to Read

Use the five-finger rule to help your child select a book.
- Turn to a random page and have your child read it.
- Each time they can't read a word or don't understand what the word means, have them count once on your fingers.
- If they reach five fingers, put the book aside for the future and have them choose an easier book.
If your child gets stuck or reads incorrectly:
- Count to 5 in your head before intervening to see if they figure out the word on their own
- Ask them to reread from the beginning of the sentence
- Ask them to key in on the spelling and phonics of the word
- Ask them to skip the word, read to the end of the sentence and then go back
- Ask them if what they said sounds right and makes sense
- If they still don't get it, tell them the word
Discuss the story with your child.
- When they are done with the book, check for comprehension by asking questions to see if they recall details and if they understand the meaning.

Types of Reading Instruction

Read-alouds - the teacher reads fiction and non-fiction books to the class, helping kids to learn comprehension strategies
Shared Reading - the teacher and the class read a projectable book together with a focus on developing fluency, attention to punctuation, and expressiveness
Guided Reading - the teacher meets with a small group of children, gives them each the same new book, listens to them read, and helps them develop their reading skills
Independent Reading - students read by themselves
Partner Reading - students read with a classmate as they monitor and assist each other

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