Yearly Archives: 2018

Help kids learn vocabulary through read alouds

You can help kids learn vocabulary through read alouds.  Books that you read aloud to your kids will often have more sophisticated vocabulary than books that they can read on their own.  Even when kids can read on their own, reading aloud can expose them to new vocabulary, allow you to model fluent reading and extend their comprehension. 

Here is an interesting article that supports reading aloud and vocabulary development. The article discusses how written language gives kids access to a wide range of language and vocabulary that they might not hear in spoken language. https://edsource.org/2015/study-says-reading-aloud-to-children-more-than-talking-builds-literacy/82045

Lately, we have been reading Charlotte’s Web to Tim as a read aloud at night. He has seen the movie, so he is familiar with the story and characters, but the book has so much more detail and rich vocabulary.  We have been reading a chapter or two a night and we are almost finished with the book. While we are reading, we stop and talk about what is happening in the story and I explain some of the vocabulary.  We have focused on the friendship between Wilbur and Charlotte and what makes Charlotte a good friend. We have also been discussing the difference between Templeton and Charlotte and their reasons in helping Wilbur. A lot of our discussion is prompted by Tim’s questions about what is happening in the story or about the different characters.

The other night, I was reading a chapter and the word timothy was used in a paragraph in the story. The sentence read, “Then the hay would be hoisted, sweet and warm, into the big loft, until the whole barn seemed like a hole bed of timothy and clover.” Since this word is Tim’s name, he was very interested in learning what this word meant. To help Tim figure out what the word timothy meant, we first talked about the meaning of the word clover used in the sentence.

Tim remembered the word clover from St. Patrick’s day and we talked about a four leaf clover and how clover is often seen outside in the grass. Tim made a guess that timothy was a type of plant that grows in the grass outside based on the clues that were given by the author.   We googled the word timothy and I read the definition and showed Tim some images. Our guess was close!

We discovered that timothy is a perennial tall meadow grass. We also realized that we had seen timothy grass before outside in fields or often in spots where the grass is not mowed. When we were leaving a park the next week, Tim pointed out some timothy grass that was growing in the park. He was so proud of himself for using the word timothy and for knowing what the word meant!

Here are some tips to help kids learn vocabulary through read alouds:

  • Select a few new vocabulary words in the story. Make sure to focus on just a few and not too many. This can be done by skimming the chapter or book quickly beforehand or it can be done as you read the book to your child. Have your child try to figure out what the meaning is based on the context clues in the story. Reread the sentence before the word, the sentence with the word, and the sentence after the word. You can make a guess based on how the word in used in the story and google the word to figure out the meaning.  Tim enjoyed doing this because it seemed like a game!
  • Talk about the book in advance and give your child some background knowledge. You might introduce some new vocabulary.  Before reading Charlotte’s Web, we talked about farms, the types of animals that live on a farm and what they eat. We also talked about cows producing milk for people to drink and chicken producing eggs for people to eat.
  • Select a couple of vocabulary words that are important for understanding the main idea of a chapter or a story. For example, in Charlotte’s Web, the words injustice and runt are key words in chapter 1. These words go along with the main idea that Fern is able to convince her father to keep Wilbur.
  • Use your new vocabulary words in conversation and in your daily life if the situation arises. Using new vocabulary will help reinforce the meaning and help your child to use the word correctly.

In order to help kids learn new vocabulary through read alouds, make sure to only pick a couple of words central to the main idea of the story, and keep it fun!

Continue ReadingHelp kids learn vocabulary through read alouds

Kids reading activities for the plane: what’s in our carry-on bag

This post will focus on kids reading activities that you can pack for plane trips.  I will be sharing read alouds, books and kids reading activities that are in our carry-on bag.

Airplane travel can be unpredictable. It can consist of waiting around, delays, time changes and long hours sitting still.  It can be exhausting for parents and kids! It is important to be prepared with lots of snacks and entertainment!  Traveling on airplanes is definitely easier for us now that Tim is older.  We don’t have to worry about traveling during nap time as those days are over.  Also, we don’t have to play chase in the airport or on the airplane-ha! Tim can focus on activities on the airplane. He understands that he needs to stay seated with his seatbelt fastened… for awhile!!

 While Tim does have some time on technology consisting of a show or a movie on the ipad or computer, I try to take advantage of the time to read together in the airport or on the airplane.  Waiting around in the airport or on the airplane can be a perfect time to spend time with your child and can be a great bonding time.

Here is what we packed in our carry-on bag for an airplane trip that we took this week.

For a read aloud, I packed the Magic Tree House book Hour of the Olympics by Mary Pope Osborne. The Magic Tree House books are books that Tim was read aloud last year in Kindergarten as part of the Tools of the Mind Curriculum.  He is familiar with Jack and Annie and the first twelve books in the series. He loves listening to the adventures of Jack and Annie!

With each Magic Tree House book, there is an opportunity to extend background knowledge by researching and reading more information about each place or experience that Jack and Annie have in the book. In this book, Jack and Annie are traveling to Ancient Greece and  they are learning information about the Olympics in Ancient Greece.  We researched some more information about Ancient Greece and Tim learned about a chariot, javelin and discus.

 I find novels lightweight for travel as well as opposed to hard cover picture books that take up a lot of room and are heavy in a carry-on bag.  Instead of packing a bunch of picture books, you may want to pack an anthology with lots of stories.

While I was shopping for snacks at the local supermarket, I found a small aluminum tray and these Melissa and Doug magnetic letters with both uppercase and letters.  I thought that this would be perfect for playing some word games on the plane.

We played a game in which Tim had to make some CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) words such as “cat”. I would have Tim change the first, last or middle sound and he would have to tell me what word he spelled.

We also played a game in which I put out a group of letters and we would see how many words we could make with that group of letters. Tim loved that game!! We played this in the airport and he made 16 words!

I packed a variety of books at Tim’s reading level that I found on ebay.  I found that most of the books at the local libraries do not have well written books at Tim’s reading level. Most of the books in the library are appropriate for the end of first grade and older, although they can be deceiving and look like they are for younger children.  I plan on blogging about this dilemma in a future posting.

 My favorite books for Tim’s reading level are Rigby readers which are often used in classrooms to teach guided reading.  These books are often expensive. Ebay had several variety packs of Rigby books at Tim’s level for a bargain.

 I also bought a Fundations level 1 pack for $20 on ebay. Fundations is a whole class phonics program that is taught based on the Wilson program that works well for teaching children phonics skills.

 

The Fundations pack came with a dry erase board that is the same board that Tim used at school for writing letters with the sky, plane, grass and worm line.  It also came with a journal with a picture and the same lines as the white board that will be perfect for a travel journal. We packed the journal in our carry-on.

We also received a magnetic folder with magnetic letters that is perfect for traveling.  I found this after I bought the Melissa and Doug letters, but I may use both.  The Fundations magnetic letters have the vowels in a different color. Also, the digraphs like sh, ch, th, wh and qu grouped together on one letter tile. This helps kids remember and identify these sounds when making words.

 Tim had fun making and reading words with the Fundations magnetic letter tiles in the airport. I liked how we were able spread them all out on the folder and how portable it was.

 Overall, I feel that our travel activities were a success. Tim had fun playing word games with the letter tiles, reading books at his level and listening to the adventures of Jack and Annie! What kids reading activities are in your carry-on bag?

 

Continue ReadingKids reading activities for the plane: what’s in our carry-on bag

Reading tips for travel with kids

Who is ready for a road trip?

In the next couple of blog posts I will be providing reading tips for travel with kids. These tips will consist of reading activities to do in the car or plane and travel book recommendations. I will also be sharing reading activities and books that are in our carry-on bag.

Grand Canyon, Arizona

Our family loves to travel! We have driven cross country with Tim, traveled out of the country, and taken many plane trips to visit friends and family. Traveling has gotten easier as Tim has gotten older but the theme when you travel with kids remains the same- be sure to have endless entertainment! Long hours in the car, waiting at the airport and being trapped on an airplane can be a parent’s nightmare if you are not prepared. Thankfully, there are lots of reading activities to pass the time and support reading development at the same time.

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

Reading on the Road: 10 reading tips for travel with kids in the car.

1. Before your trip, visit your local library and have books at your child’s reading level to read in the car. You may also have books about the place that you are traveling to.

2. Play the alphabet game with signs on the highway. Beginning at A, have everyone find a sign that has a word each letter in the alphabet in it. Once one person uses a sign for his or her word, that sign is off limits. The first person to get to Z wins! I used to play this game as a child on long road trip and it was a lot of fun!

3. Play I spy… You can say “I spy something that begins with the letter______. I spy something that begins with the sound_________. I spy something that ends with the sound__________. I spy something that rhymes with__________. You could also play 20 questions. We often play 20 questions at a restaurant while waiting for our food to arrive. Tim loves it!

4. Make a travel diary or scrapbook with pictures from your trip and captions or sentences to go with them. Your child could take pictures of sites along the way or draw pictures and then write captions under the pictures and/or a brief sentence as to why this place was special to them. Barnes & Nobles had an awesome travel journal. You could also make your own!

5. Write a postcard to a friend or family member from each place that you stop or visit. You can mail them at your hotel that you stop at for the night.

6. Bring a cookie sheet with magnetic letters and have your child see how many words he or she can make in each word family i.e. “at” family words-cat, sat, hat, bat etc. Your child may just want to play and make words on the cookie sheet as well.

7. Books on cd are also a great way to pass the time for long car rides! Oftentimes children’s books on cd come with a copy of the book as well so your child can follow along. Children’s cd and songs work as well as they often promote rhyming!

8. Bring along a children’s atlas or book about the place or state in which you are going. You could have your child follow your route, read facts about the places that go through or are going to. Your child could also draw pictures of different scenery or landscapes that he or she sees along the way. We bought a children’s atlas and read a few facts about each state we went through during our drive cross country. Tim loved learning about each new place!

9. Collect brochures, handouts, or information sheets about sites that you visit along the way or about your destination. You and your child could create your own travel brochure for that place or you could read more information about your travel site to your child.

10. You or your child could jot down a list or questions that your child has about the place in which you are travelling. You could check out some books at the library when you get back or research the answers online to answer your child’s questions. Tim loved visiting the Grand Canyon in Arizona and we were able to find some books at the local library to read to him because he was interested in learning more about it.

Johnny Cash Museum in Nashville, Tennesee

Hope these reading travel tips help make your experience fun when you travel with kids!

Continue ReadingReading tips for travel with kids

Support reading development through experiences

4th of July beach day!

Teaching your child through experiences helps support reading development in that it helps build a child’s background knowledge. Reading doesn’t always have to involve reading a book or having your child read a book to you. Background knowledge includes the following: children’s memories about themselves, others, objects and the world around them and values and expectations for behavior developed in different environments.

Fireworks!!

Building background knowledge is crucial to reading comprehension in that it helps a child make connections with the characters in a story, supports vocabulary development and builds a deeper understanding of a book’s main themes. Having background knowledge on a topic can also help children use context clues to sound out tricky words quickly when they are reading. Children’s experiences with their families and communities help develop their background knowledge.

Tim with one of the colonists

Since we just celebrated the Fourth of July, I thought that I would tell you about a recent trip to the Boston Tea Party ship in Boston, Massachusetts. My husband loves history and has been teaching Tim about the American Revolution. We recently visited Lexington and Concord and took a tour of the Boston Tea Party Ship and Tim loved it. My husband had discussed the tax on tea and the colonists, so Tim already knew some information about the Boston Tea Party before we arrived.

Tim throwing the tea overboard

At the beginning of the tour we were each given a card with the name and description of a colonist who we were supposed to pretend to be. The tour guides were dressed in period clothing, and “Samuel Adams” led the meeting about the new tax on tea. Through role playing on the tour, we learned more about why the colonists threw the tea overboard, and why they wanted to break away from England and form their own government. Tim was able to ask some excellent questions because my husband had already taught him about the American Revolution and the Boston Tea Party. Tim enjoyed throwing the tea overboard too!

Family picture aboard the Boston Tea Party Ship

The following books are several books that we have read aloud to Tim as a follow up to our visit to the Boston Tea Party ships.

Books related to the American Revolution

Here are some ideas to support background knowledge and reading development through experiences:

• Have fun spending time traveling with your child and learning about new places. You can enjoy learning along with your child or you can teach your child if the place is a place you have a lot of knowledge about. Make sure the experience is something you are interested in too, as if you are excited about the experience, your child most likely will be too!• Support your child in asking questions about the new experience. If you are at a museum or other location with available staff, be sure to engage them in discussion or ask them questions. They are often very knowledgeable and happy to answer questions that you have.

• Discuss the new experience before going and after going to talk about what your child learned, his or her favorite part, something your child would like to learn more about. It might be helpful for you to read up on the place you are going beforehand so that you can teach your child some information about it in advance.

• If you didn’t get to experience everything, plan a follow up trip or see what other activities or programs are offered.

• Experiences can be free! A walk outside talking about the flowers, insects, wildlife and other things you see on your walk is free, fun and supports reading development!

• Follow up by checking out a variety of books on your experience. For example, if you visited an aquarium, check out books about sea life that you saw or read stories about visits to the aquarium.

• Some suggestions of experiences include: historical monuments, national parks, museums, farms, beach trips, camping etc. Possibilities are endles

Continue ReadingSupport reading development through experiences

Our Reading Adventure at the Park: Free Reading Libraries, Reading Areas and Word Play Centers

 

Local parks are promoting reading with free little libraries, designated outdoor reading areas and outdoor word play centers with letter manipulatives.

I have seen playgrounds and parks with free little libraries in places all over the country. Free little libraries are small outdoor cabinets with free books. The idea behind the free little libraries is that people will take a book and give a book. These are often books that people  have already read or books that their children have out grown. This week at the park, Tim and I found Bats at the Beach and a Magic Tree House book at the little free library.

We plan on giving two books to the little free library when we return to the park the next time. Bats at the Beach is a wonderful read aloud for children ages Pre-K through Grade 2. Discussion ideas when reading Bats at the Beach can include facts about bats, rhyming words and new vocabulary. You could also discuss what happens in the beginning, in the middle and at the end. The Magic Tree House is a series that is part of the tools of the mind curriculum at Tim’s school. The first 12 books have been read aloud to him st school and I thought I might read a couple more Magic Tree House books to him over the summer. Overall, two great finds from the free library!!

This park had a cute outdoor reading area in a shady spot of the park by the playground. The area was labeled “Reading Room” and there was a sign advertising the free little library. I only pictured one area with adult and child chairs, but there were several other areas under the shade. Tim and I took a break from playing on the playground and we read Bats on the Beach in the shade. It was a beautiful, sunny day that day and he loved being outside and reading at the park in a different spot.

The word play area was awesome! This was something new that I hadn’t seen at a park before. It was a table with colorful letters, both uppercase and lowercase, painted on rocks of all different sizes. There were a couple of basic sight words painted as well. Tim had fun making some word family words such as words from the -at family like cat, bat, hat, rat. He also made other short three letter words such as the word “fun.”

I could see this word play area being fun for kids particularly ages 3-6. Digraphs such as ch, sh, th and vowel teams such as ea, ee, oo could be painted on rocks for older students as well. What a fun way to practice some phonics skills and have kids engaged in making and reading words while playing outside at the park!

Check out your local park to see if your park has any of these reading areas or activities. You could easily make your own outdoor “reading room” in your backyard. The word play area could be made at home if you have a sand table or a water table. You could write letters on rocks or other objects that you could put in the sand table. For a water table, you could write letters on ping pong balls. You could use something to scoop out one letter at a time for your child to make words that way.

While we had a blast making words and reading at the park, we had lots of time to run and play! Tim had fun playing at the playground and riding the different cars in the tennis court!


Hope that you enjoyed reading about our reading adventure at the park. I also hope that this post gave you some ideas of how to making reading fun while being outside in the summer!

Continue ReadingOur Reading Adventure at the Park: Free Reading Libraries, Reading Areas and Word Play Centers