Why parents need to work with their child to develop Reading Comprehension Skills
Here's a breakdown of why parents should work with their elementary children to build reading comprehension:
Active Comprehension Strategies:
Active Reading: Good readers are active as they read, engaging with the text by predicting, associating ideas with prior knowledge, revising prior knowledge, interpreting the text, and evaluating its quality.
Lack of Activity in Young Readers: Young and less skilled readers often lack these active reading behaviors.
Comprehension Strategies: Teaching children to use comprehension strategies like generating questions, constructing mental images, summarizing, and analyzing stories can significantly improve their memory and comprehension of text.
Use of Multiple Strategies: Excellent readers use a combination of these strategies simultaneously, rather than one at a time. Therefore, it's essential to teach children how to use these strategies together.
Transactional Strategies Instruction: This approach encourages students to use strategies in a self-regulated manner, which has been shown to be effective in improving comprehension over a longer period.
Consistency and Long-Term Instruction:
Regular Instruction: Teaching comprehension strategies should be a daily practice in schools and at home.
Long-Term Benefits: Effective comprehension instruction provides consistent and significant benefits over a semester or school year.
Monitoring:
Self-Awareness in Reading: Good readers know when they need to put in more effort to understand a text.
Decoding and Making Sense: They monitor their decoding efforts to ensure words make sense in the context.
Seeking Clarification: When confused or when the text doesn't make sense, good readers seek clarification, often through rereading.
Teaching Monitoring: Children should be taught to monitor their reading by consistently asking themselves, "Is what I am reading making sense?" and to take action when confused, like rereading or sounding out a word.
Why Parents Should Work with Their Children:
Support and Reinforcement: Parents can reinforce the comprehension strategies taught at school by practicing them at home with their children.
Personalized Attention: Parents can provide individualized attention, addressing specific areas where their child may struggle with comprehension.
Encouragement: Parental involvement can boost a child's confidence in their reading abilities and motivate them to practice comprehension strategies independently.
Real-Life Application: Parents can help children see the practical application of comprehension strategies in everyday situations, making the learning more relevant and engaging.
In conclusion, working with elementary children to build reading comprehension is crucial for their academic success and lifelong learning. Parents play a vital role in supporting and reinforcing the comprehension strategies taught at school, helping children develop into active and proficient readers. Through consistent practice and monitoring, children can improve their reading comprehension skills, leading to better understanding and enjoyment of texts across various subjects.
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Help Your Elementary Student Master Sentence Writing
As parents and teachers, we know that helping our kids become confident writers is a big step toward their success in school and beyond. Maya Angelou said, "You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have." This is especially true for young writers!
So, let's guide our young learners as they discover the joy of crafting sentences. Here are some parent-friendly tips to get you started:
Start Simple
Introduce your child to the building blocks of a sentence: the subject and the predicate. Keep it simple and fun to lay a strong foundation.
Discover Parts of Speech Together
Help your child grasp the basics by playing games that focus on nouns, verbs, adjectives, and more. Spotting these in sentences they read or write can be a fun challenge!
Grow that Word Bank
A strong vocabulary makes for strong sentences. Here are some ways to help your child learn new words:
Read diverse books together to find new words.
Teach them to guess word meanings from context.
Start with age-appropriate dictionaries.
Play word games and puzzles.
Introduce a new word each day and use it in a sentence.
Encourage them to keep a word journal.
Talk about interesting words you encounter daily.
Practice Makes Perfect
Like any skill, writing sentences gets better with practice. Here's how you can make practice engaging:
Sentence-building Exercises: Give them subjects and predicates to match and create complete sentences.
Sentence Puzzles: Make learning fun by creating sentence puzzles with jumbled words. Can they put them back together correctly?
Sentence-building Games: Games like 'Sentence Relay' or 'Sentence Scramble' can make learning feel like playtime!
Start with some simple sentence arranging games to make learning fun and engaging for your little one.
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Understanding Fractions builds a Wonderful Mathematical Foundation for Third Grade
Understanding fractions is crucial for a child's mathematical journey, especially in third grade where foundational concepts are introduced. It's not just about learning numbers; fractions teach kids about parts of a whole, a skill that extends beyond math into real-life situations.
Traditional methods of teaching fractions can be daunting for young learners. Instead, parents and teachers can gradually introduce concepts like numerator and denominator, proper and improper fractions, and mixed fractions. This approach helps children grasp the idea that a fraction represents a part of the whole, making it more relatable and easier to understand.
Using real-life examples, like dividing a pie into slices, can make fractions more tangible. Kids can visualize how fractions work by seeing how portions of the pie relate to the whole.
To reinforce these concepts, interactive and engaging practice is key. Worksheets tailored for third graders provide a structured and effective way for children to practice fractions. Activities such as determining equal parts, representing shaded regions, and verifying statements about fractions help solidify understanding and problem-solving skills.
By incorporating these activities into learning, children not only improve their math skills but also develop critical thinking and analytical abilities. So, whether it's through slicing pies or completing worksheets, practicing fractions is a valuable endeavor that sets the stage for mathematical success.
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Your Child will Improve their Brain Capacity by doing Word Puzzles
Word puzzles are not just a fun way to pass the time; they're also incredibly beneficial for your child's development. In a world filled with screens and digital distractions, word puzzles offer a refreshing alternative that can support your child's learning in numerous ways. Here are nine reasons why word puzzles are an essential and enjoyable activity for your child:
Improving Spelling: Word puzzles provide a practical way for your child to practice spelling while reinforcing spelling rules learned in school. Whether it's completing crosswords or unscrambling anagrams, these activities make spelling practice engaging and enjoyable.
Expanding Vocabulary: Exposure to a variety of words is key to building a strong vocabulary. Word puzzles introduce your child to new words in context, helping them understand meanings and usage.
Enhancing Working Memory: Working memory is crucial for academic success, as it aids in both short-term and long-term memory processes. Word puzzles challenge your child to recall vocabulary and definitions, thus improving their working memory skills.
Boosting Processing Speed: By encouraging quick thinking and problem-solving, word puzzles help your child develop faster processing speeds. This skill is valuable not only for literacy tasks but also for other classroom activities requiring rapid mental calculations.
Developing Problem-Solving Skills: Crosswords, code breakers, and other word puzzles require logical and strategic thinking. They challenge children to consider multiple solutions and think outside the box, fostering problem-solving abilities and creativity.
Fostering Persistence: Word puzzles can be challenging, requiring multiple attempts to solve. Teaching children to persevere through failures instills an invaluable lesson in resilience and determination.
Improving Test-Taking Skills: Word puzzles target essential skills such as verbal reasoning, vocabulary, and memory, which are crucial for academic success. Regular practice enhances these skills, leading to improved performance in tests and exams.
Boosting Self-Esteem: Successfully completing a word puzzle instills a sense of accomplishment and pride in children. This boost in self-confidence prepares them to tackle future challenges with optimism and resilience.
Portability and Accessibility: Word puzzle books are portable and require no electronic devices, making them ideal for on-the-go entertainment. Whether on a long journey or at a social event, word puzzles provide a quiet and cost-effective way to keep children engaged while nurturing their learning.
In essence, word puzzles are not just entertaining games; they're valuable educational tools that cultivate essential skills and prepare children for success in academics and beyond. So, the next time your child reaches for a screen, consider offering them a word puzzle instead—it's a decision that could make a lasting impact on their development.
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Why Story Starters are Helpful for Kids
Crafting the beginning of a story can be challenging for children. The pressure to hook the reader while introducing characters, settings, and conflicts can feel overwhelming. Story starters alleviate this pressure by offering pre-written openings, allowing children to focus solely on building upon the provided foundation.
Here’s why story starters are beneficial:
Spark Creativity: By presenting intriguing scenarios or dialogue, story starters ignite the imagination and inspire unique narrative ideas.
Reduce Writer’s Block: The fear of a blank page is real, even for young writers. Story starters provide a starting point, eliminating the intimidation of beginning from scratch.
Encourage Writing Exploration: With various story starters, children can explore different genres, perspectives, and styles, broadening their writing repertoire.
How to Use Story Starters to Get Kids Writing
Incorporating story starters into your child's writing routine can be both enjoyable and educational. Here are several ways to utilize them effectively:
Writing Station: Create a dedicated writing space at home where your child can freely explore their creativity. Introduce story starters through activities like story bags or opening line cards to add an element of surprise and choice.
Story Planner: Use story starters as prompts within a structured writing lesson. Incorporate them into story planners to help children grasp plot structure and character development while providing a starting point for their narratives.
Warm-Up Exercises: Kickstart writing sessions with a quick warm-up using story starters. Encourage your child to free-write for a few minutes based on the provided prompt, priming their creativity for the main writing activity.
Skill Development: Tailor story starters to focus on specific writing skills your child is working on, such as using descriptive language or developing characters. Provide prompts that challenge them to expand their vocabulary and storytelling abilities.
Collaborative Projects: Engage in collaborative writing projects where multiple children contribute to a story based on a shared story starter. Encourage creativity and teamwork as they collectively shape the narrative.
Longer Writing Challenges: Challenge older children to connect multiple story starters into a cohesive narrative. Prompt them to plan a story with each starter serving as the beginning of a new chapter, fostering continuity and storytelling innovation.
Visual Prompts: Explore storytelling through visual mediums by using images as story starters. Encourage your child to write a narrative inspired by a captivating picture, allowing their imagination to roam freely.
Cultivating a Love for Storytelling
Story starters are powerful tools for nurturing your child's storytelling skills and instilling a love for writing. By providing a starting point for their creative endeavors, you empower them to explore new worlds, express their ideas, and develop their unique voice as writers. So, next time your child faces a blank page, introduce them to the magic of story starters and watch their imagination soar.
Enhancing Your Child's Reading Fluency: The Power of Reading Aloud Together
As a parent, you play a crucial role in helping your child develop reading fluency. By engaging in daily read-aloud sessions, you provide them with a model of fluent reading that they can emulate. Here are some tips on how to support your child's reading fluency:
Model Expression and Speed: Demonstrate how to vary expression and pace while reading. Show them how to adjust their voice for different characters and situations in the story. Encourage them to match your expressions and speed as you read aloud.
Choose Appropriate Books: Select books that are at the right level for your child. Ensure that they can comfortably read most of the words in the book with only a slight challenge. This prevents frustration and encourages confidence in their reading abilities.
Provide Feedback: Encourage your child to move beyond "robot reading" by giving them constructive feedback. Help them understand the importance of infusing emotion and rhythm into their reading. Offer specific guidance on areas where they can improve, such as pausing at the end of sentences.
Repeat for Perfection: Practice makes perfect when it comes to reading fluency. Encourage your child to repeat sentences until they sound just right. This helps them develop a natural flow and expression in their reading.
Engage in Chorus and Echo Reading: Practice reading together as a chorus or have your child echo sentences after you. This interactive approach helps improve fluency and encourages active participation in reading.
Explore Poetry: Encourage your child to re-read their favorite poems regularly. Poetry provides opportunities for them to control their voice, tempo, and expression while enjoying the beauty of language.
Encourage Performance Reading: Turn reading into a performance by acting out scenes from books. Let your child take on different roles and use props to enhance their storytelling experience.
Utilize Audiobooks: Listen to audiobooks together and follow along with the text. Hearing skilled storytellers read with expression can inspire your child to adopt similar reading habits.
By implementing these strategies and emphasizing the joy of expressive reading, you can help your child develop strong reading fluency skills that will serve them well throughout their academic and personal lives.
Using Roll a Dice Activities to Build Writing Stamina
Ever hear your child say, "I don’t know what to write about!" during writing time? It's a common frustration, and believe me, they're probably not just making excuses. So, how can we help them break through this creative block?
Let's talk about story starters. These nifty tools can work wonders for unlocking your child's imagination. Whether they're working on a narrative fiction unit in class or just doing some independent writing at home, story starters provide the essential building blocks of a story: characters, setting, and problem. With this basic framework in hand, your child can start brainstorming ideas and watch their stories come to life. Plus, the more they write, the more confident they'll become as writers. Who knows? They might even surprise themselves with the stories they create!
Now, here's where it gets exciting—Roll-a-Story writing. Picture this: your child grabs some story templates and a dice, and with just a few rolls, they've got the foundation of their story all set. It's quick, it's easy, and it's a ton of fun! All they have to do is let their imagination run wild and get those ideas down on paper.
But the best part? Roll-a-Story isn't just about having a good time—it's also a fantastic learning opportunity. Your child will pick up all sorts of writing skills without even realizing it! From understanding story structure to practicing their reading fluency by sharing their stories with others, there's so much to gain.
So next time your child is feeling stuck, why not give Roll-a-Story a try? Who knows what kind of wonderful stories they'll come up with!
Guess Who Games Help Build your Child’s Vocabulary of Adjectives - Here’s How.
Let's talk about Guess Who—a game that's not only loads of fun but also packs a punch in terms of learning and skill-building for your elementary school kiddos.
Many therapists love incorporating this game into their sessions, whether it's speech/language or occupational therapy. But guess what? You can easily bring all that therapeutic goodness right to your kitchen table.
Here are some awesome ways you can use Guess Who to help your child grow and learn:
Social Participation: This game is like a ticket to improving communication skills! By asking questions back and forth, your child gets to practice engaging with others and feeling comfortable in conversations. If your little one feels a bit nervous, no worries! Give them some prompts to boost their confidence and get the chatter flowing.
Handwriting: Who knew Guess Who could also be a handwriting workout? Encourage your child to write out their questions, descriptions, or opponent's responses. Not only does this help with penmanship, but it also flexes those cognitive muscles as they strategize their moves.
Negation: Get ready to flip the script! Instead of just asking questions, try describing your character by what they're not. It's a fun twist that keeps the game fresh and challenges your child's deduction skills.
Descriptive Vocabulary: Time to get descriptive! Guess Who is a goldmine for building up your child's vocab. If they need a little boost, brainstorm some descriptive words together before the game starts and make a handy reference chart. Pictures or words—whatever works best!
Question Formation: From "Is your person a boy?" to "Does your person have blue eyes?", this game is a playground for practicing question-making skills. It's like a mini language lesson disguised as fun!
Articulation: If your child is working on their speech sounds, Guess Who is a secret weapon. Whether it's practicing the /s/ or /r/ sounds in questions or comments, there are tons of opportunities to sneak in some speech practice while having a blast.
What you will find in this workbook?
This workbook holds 12 activities to give your child opportunities to develop the skill of using adjectives to articulate information in the form of sentences, paragraphs and essays and, ultimately. analyzing and discerning the world around him/her.
I have found that , as a third grade teacher, I notice many students are ‘stuck’ when it comes to be able to describe a scene, a person, an adventure that they have been on in their own lives other than in very BASIC terms. I want to help your child become a better writer but also be able to really deepen their understanding and awareness of all of the amazing discoveries and opportunities they can have the chance to experince in life.
I truly hope you will find value in the pages of this workbook. DOWNLOAD HERE
Why should we encourage kids to play I-Spy?
Engaging in Hidden Pictures puzzles with your child isn't just a fun pastime—it's a valuable learning opportunity that offers a multitude of developmental benefits.
Promotes attention to detail: Hidden Pictures puzzles encourage children to pay close attention to the details of each scene, honing their observational skills and fostering a keen eye for detail that extends beyond the puzzle itself.
Increases vocabulary: By deciphering picture clues to locate hidden objects, children expand their vocabulary as they become visually familiar with the names of various objects within the puzzles. This exposure to new words enhances their language development and comprehension skills.
Instills good work habits: The immersive nature of Hidden Pictures puzzles captivates children's attention, promoting concentration, persistence, and determination as they work through each challenge. Moreover, relying on picture clues fosters independence and problem-solving skills, empowering children to tackle tasks on their own.
Develops self-confidence: Success in completing Hidden Pictures puzzles isn't limited by age. Young children often demonstrate an impressive ability to spot hidden objects, boosting their self-esteem and instilling a sense of accomplishment. This confidence extends beyond puzzle-solving, positively impacting various aspects of their lives.
Improves visual perception: Searching for hidden objects within complex scenes enhances children's visual perception, enabling them to recognize and interpret figures in diverse contexts. This skill refinement supports academic learning and everyday tasks that require visual discrimination.
By engaging in Hidden Pictures puzzles with your child, you're not only fostering their cognitive development but also creating joyful bonding moments filled with laughter and learning.
Check out my FREE I-Spy Workbook: CLICK HERE
A Note to Parents of Third Graders
As a parent myself, I know how homework can be a bit of a nightmare. Some kids love to work on homework while others cannot even fathom picking a pencil to do MORE of what they have been working on at school.
I have been a preschool teacher, kindergarten teacher and this year was the first year I got into the older grades. I always knew third grade was a big year for students which State testing and all. But what I did not realize is that third grade is the year that many children made decisions about whether or not they like school. Third grade is the year where homework gets very challenging. In fact, until I was a third grade teacher I did not fully understand that third grade calls for a rigor to those moving from second grade might not be ready for. And if you child is missing little fundamental pieces of the puzzle, it will show up in third grade.
There is this saying that educators know: k-3rd grade, students are learning to read and when they go to fourth grade, they are reading to learn. What does that mean? It means if your child has issues with reading fluency, decoding words, understanding prefixes and suffixes, reading for context clues, comprehending what they are reading, they will not be able to keep up.
I take the role of the parent very seriously. I know as a teacher that if you as the parent are not on board to help support what we are doing in the classroom, it will be very difficult to keep your child on track.
I want to help you. Please sign up for my newsletter to get access to my resource library for materials created by me to help support your Kindergarten to 3rd grade student.
Let me know if there is anything you are struggling with currently that I can help you with.
If you had to choose your favorite Montessori practical life lessons…
The practical life section of a Montessori classroom is designed to help children develop practical skills and foster independence and I love the way students come into a space and feel connected instantly by the structure of this work.
Let’s discuss some tried and true favorite activities:
Food Preparation: Simple food preparation activities, like slicing fruits or spreading butter on bread, teach children basic kitchen skills and encourage independence in preparing their own snacks.
Lacing and Sewing: Children practice lacing and sewing on provided materials, such as cards or fabric, improving their fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, and concentration.
Care of Animals: Children engage in activities like feeding fish or caring for classroom pets, learning about empathy, compassion, and responsibility towards living creatures.
Grace and Courtesy: In this category, children learn polite greetings, table manners, how to take turns, and other social skills that promote respect and positive interactions with peers and adults.
It's important to note that the specific activities may vary depending on the materials available in each Montessori classroom, as well as the preferences and interests of the children.
A List of the Most Popular Montessori Practical Life Activities: part 2
Care of Plants: Children learn to care for plants by watering them, removing dead leaves, and observing their growth. This activity nurtures responsibility and a connection with nature.
Care of the Environment: Children engage in activities like sweeping, dusting, and wiping tables, fostering a sense of order, cleanliness, and responsibility for their classroom environment.
Polishing: Using child-sized brushes, children polish various objects, such as shoes or silverware, learning the technique and gaining a sense of accomplishment from making objects shine.
Have I listed your classroom’s favorites yet?