Parents of JK-3rd Grade Students,
Reading is an integral part of each day. At TKA we want to encourage the love of learning through literacy by teaching our students how to be active, engaged readers. Daily reading is important and should include being read to. Reading aloud to your child at every age exposes your child to higher level literature and increases vocabulary. For students entering 1st grade and older, reading to oneself further supports independent reading stamina. Reading together each day will help your child be better prepared for a new school year.
To help partner and guide parents, we are including the following optional reading ideas in addition to the required reading assignment. These suggestions will help provide an advantage for your child during these foundational years as they develop a love for reading and are exposed to different genres and how to read them for understanding. Read a mix of fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and nursery rhymes.
Daily: “Read to Me”
- Read aloud to your child using a book from the reading list or a chapter book to read over several days. Make sure that they are sitting shoulder to shoulder with you and are following along as you read.
- A key to comprehension is encouraging your child to visualize the story as they are read to. Some goals of a read aloud are exposure to complex text, visualizing, and exposure to vocabulary.
- Choose a question from the question list, depending on genre, and discuss together. Discuss words that are new to your child.
Daily: “Read to Self” (1st-3rd Grade)
- Your child should be reading independently for 15-20 minutes per day. Build stamina over the summer so they are ready for sustained, independent reading for a minimum of 15 minutes. Alternate between silent reading and reading aloud to someone or whisper reading to self.
- Your child may choose a question from the list or a parent may choose the question to ask, depending on the genre of the text.
Questions to ask about fiction books:
- Retell this story in your own words. What were the most important events? Tell them in order.
- What is the setting of this story (when and where did it happen) and how was that important to the story?
- Who were the most important characters in the story? Describe what they looked like (physical traits) and how they acted, felt, or thought (character traits).
- Why did the author write this story? Were they trying to just entertain you or was there a message?
- Did this story remind you of anything that has ever happened to you? If so, what was it?
- Did this story remind you of another book you have read? How was it similar and different from that book?
Nonfiction Questions:
- What was this book mostly about (main idea)? Tell 3 important facts that you learned about from this book.
- Why did the author write this book? What did he or she need to know about before they could write the book?
- How did the subtitles, photographs, illustrations, captions, maps, text boxes, and bold words (text features) help you learn more?
Questions for Poetry and Nursery Rhymes:
- Were there any new words that you did not know in the poem? Discuss the new words with a parent.
- Did the poem tell a story or send a message?
- Why did the poet write that poem?
- Did the poem have rhyming words? If so, find the rhyming words.
- Did you enjoy this poem? Why or why not?
- Make up motions to go with this poem.
- Draw your own illustration to go with this poem.
