Supporting Your Child s Literacy Learning

Transcription

1 Supporting Your Child s Literacy Learning How can I help my emergent/early reader? When your child brings home a reading book from school Show an interest Find a quiet place where you can t be distracted Talk about the pictures and the title One to one finger pointing Assist your child to point to each word as he/she reads the word As your child gains fluency, encourage them to use their eyes rather than their finger. If your child makes an error that does not make sense - Pause, prompt, praise! If your child makes an error that doesn t alter the meaning, don t correct them, as this shows they are reading for meaning. If your child is struggling with the text or it is too long Read it to your child and talk about it Take turns at reading REMIND YOUR CHILD TO TAKE HIS/HER READING BOOK BACK TO SCHOOL. If you have concerns or questions, see your child s classroom teacher.

2 PAUSE PROMPT PRAISE If your child makes a mistake or gets muddled up ~pause~ Let your child try and solve the problem Then you can ~ prompt~ by saying Go back and try again. What would make sense. Get your mouth ready to say the word. Read on to the end of the sentence and fit in a word that makes sense. If your child loses meaning while reading, stop them and say Listen to what you said... Did that sound right? Did that make sense? Tell the word if it is still not right after two tries. Always ~ praise~ your child. For reading well. For substituting a word which makes sense. For having a go even if the attempt doesn t make sense. For trying hard to correct a mistake. For reading a book by themselves. I like the way you went back and fixed it up. That s good because it makes sense. That s good because it looks like the word. That s good because it starts the same way.

3 Read to them! Why read to them when they can already read for themselves? It s enjoyable Models good reading Introduces new authors Develops listening comprehension Fosters interaction with the text Frees your child from the mechanics of reading to allow them to focus on meaning, predictions, inferences, visualisation, purpose, messages, etc Read together Talk together Talk to your child about books and reading. Discuss and share opinions. Tell them what you are reading Ask them what they are reading Read from a variety of sources Read your child s writing, your writing, fiction, non fiction, comics, jokes, poems, riddles, internet sites, magazines, newspapers, cartoons, newsletters etc Key Messages to Remember Read to your child. Reading must be enjoyable. Ask questions. Encourage questions. Read books, stories, riddles, shopping lists, cartoons, articles, jokes, TV guide, magazines, web pages, labels, signs, songs, newsletters.. together. Be a reading role model. Talk about books and stories. Listen to your child reading. Listen to them talking about books, stories etc. Value your child s reading. The library is free. Join together. Read together in an unusual place. Be enthusiastic!

4 HOW CAN I HELP MY CHILD WITH WRITING? For Emergent and Early Writers þ Help them learn the names and sounds of the letters þ Label items around the house þ Get them to label items around the house For All Writers þ Read examples of good writing to them þ Talk to them þ Engage them in discussions about everyday things þ Provide them with experiences that they can talk about and write about þ Write to your child, with your child and encourage your child to write to you þ Encourage them to share their writing with you When your child shares his/her writing þ Focus on the content þ Comment on what they have written þ Tell them what you liked about their writing þ Ask them questions about what they have written When written work comes home þ Be positive, even if you shudder at the grammar and spelling þ Comment on the content þ Praise what is correct þ Point out good attempts at spelling

5 What about Spelling? Spelling is a tool to help a writer. It shouldn t prevent them from writing. Encouraging children to attempt a word enables them to use vocabulary from their oral language. Having a go teaches children to begin using effective strategies such as Letter / sound relationships Initial and familiar sounds (c-at, mat, fl-at) Chunking (yes-ter-day) Good spellers learn to spell by seeing words in their heads. Not-so-good spellers have difficulty seeing words. They can be helped by using lots of different ways of recording words pen, chalk, computer, whiteboards, sandtrays, paint brush, play dough, spaghetti, etc My child reads a lot, why can t they spell? Poor spellers can still be keen readers. When you read, you recognise a word from the context and in part from what it looks like. The order of the letters does not prevent us from reading a word. Spelling involves different skills. You have to remember each letter in the correct sequence. What words should children learn?! High frequency words (Essential Lists)! Words with similar patterns! Words of high interest to them Don t be overly concerned with grammar and spelling. Pointing out their short comings will discourage them from writing. Keep a dictionary close to hand and let your children see you using it to check a word in your own writing. Your attitude towards spelling and grammar will influence their attitude, without you having to make correctness a bugbear that takes away the pleasure from their writing.

6 Some Strategies for Learning to Spell a Word Written Approach Copy the Word Check Is it correct? LOOK at the word SEE its shape SAY the word HEAR its sound SAY the word again SPELL out the letters WRITE the word as you spell it out WRITE the word again COVER the word WRITE it down CHECK Is it correct? Visualisation Approach 1. Write the spelling word in large print in bright colours. 2. Look for the tricky part of the word. 3. Write over the tricky part in a different colour. 4. Hold the card at arm s length, just above your forehead. 5. Study the word and picture the word in your mind. 6. Do something crazy to the word in your imagination. 7. Place the word somewhere in space (in front of you or above your head) 8. Spell the word backwards with your eyes closed. 9. Spell the word forwards with your eyes closed. 10. Open your eyes and write the word ONCE. Other approaches that help with spelling Visualising the shape of the word Letters that are tall, have tails etc Mnemonics (Big Elephants Can Always Understand Small Elephants is a mnemonic for because ) Spelling rules and how to apply them Highlighting the hard spot (because) Using meaning and derivatives of root words Over pronouncing the words (Wed-nes-day) Proofreading (dictionary and thesaurus skills) Singing the letters in sequence Invent stories the principal is your pal. Pa pays the rates for sepa rate. It is necessary to have one collar (c) and two sleeves (ss)

7 The Learning Staircase 3, 3, 3 method for teaching individual words 1. Ask your child to have a go at the word. Encourage him/her to be aware of the sounds and to try to work it out. 2. Write the correct version by his/her version clearly and in fairly large letters (always lower case). Using colour can sometimes help. Be careful to praise all the correct letters and point out when his/her attempt is phonically logical, even if it wasn t correct it shows he/she is developing the right skills. 3. Discuss what he/she finds the difficult bit of the word. If possible, find a mnemonic to help him/her remember that bit. e.g. because à Big elephants can always upset small elephants 4. Now cover up his/her version and only look at yours. The reason for this and for writing the words in lower case letters is that you are building a visual memory of the word and you want it to be the right one! 5. Ask your child to spell the word out loud while looking at the letters pointing if necessary. Do this until he/she has done it correctly three times. 6. Cover the word and ask him/her to spell it to you again, this time without looking. If there is any problem, go back a stage and look at the word. Do not go on until he/she has spelled the word correctly three times without looking. 7. Let him/her look at the word again. Ask him/her to visualize the word in his/her mind. You can ask him/her to take a picture with your mind. Then get him/her to close his/her eyes and see if he/she can still see it. Don t worry if he/she can t at this stage! 8. Cover the word again and ask him/her to write it, saying the letters out loud as he/she does it. Do this until he/she has done it three times correctly. If necessary go back to previous steps and repeat them. The next time you are working together, ask your child to write the word without having seen it first. Celebrate success! If there was a mistake, go through the process again. Please do not persevere if your child is upset, hungry, worn out or generally uncooperative! Have a break and try again when you are both relaxed.

8 BE A WRITING ROLE MODEL ENCOURAGE THEM TO WRITE! Make writing an authentic part of every day Write a note and put it in their lunch box Have lots of exciting writing materials available; fancy paper, crayons, coloured markers, stickers, notebooks, blank cards, envelopes Leave a love letter on their pillow Leave clues around the house that lead to a treasure Write instructions for your child to follow Lists. Shopping lists, to-do lists, invitation lists, packing lists, top-ten lists, birthday lists etc Hide notes in unusual locations Write jokes and riddles and place them where your child will find them Journals: Buy a nice journal for them to keep a diary. Dialogue journals writing conversations or imagined conversations between people/animals/things Write a rebus (draw pictures to replace some of the words) for fun Write rhyming couplets about your child - It doesn t need to be too complicated Send them a postcard in the mail Send them an (if they have ) Make writing fun by writing silly things, funny things, unusual things such as: Fascinating facts, jokes, sayings, cartoons, unusual facts, gruesome facts, puns, spoonerisms etc Do some of the above together! Writing and reading cannot be separated. They both require lots of opportunities for children to enjoy and practise reading and writing. W