October 2007 Tiger Times Article
MRS. BROWN AND MRS. SEMENZA - Reading Consultants
Reprinted from American Federation of Teachers / U.S. Dept. of Education
THE BASICS
There is no more important activity for preparing your child
to succeed as a reader than reading aloud together.
Fill your story times with a variety of books. Be consistent, be patient,
and watch the magic work.
START YOUNG AND STAY WITH IT
Children learn to love the sound of language before they even notice the
existence of printed words on a
page. Reading books aloud to children stimulates their imagination and expands
their understanding of the world. It helps them develop language and listening
skills and prepares them to understand the written word. When the rhythm and
melody of language become a part of a child’s life, learning to read will be
as natural as learning to walk and talk. Even after children learn to read by
themselves, it is still important for you to read aloud together. By
reading stories that are on their interest level, but beyond their reading
level, you can stretch young readers’understanding and motivate them to
improve their skills.
REMEMBER WHEN YOU WERE VERY YOUNG
Between the ages of 4 and 7, many children begin to recognize words on a page.
In our society, this may begin with recognition of a logo for a fast food
chain or the brand name of a favorite cereal. But, before long, that special
moment when a child holds a book and starts to decode the mystery of written
words is likely to occur. You can help remove part of the mystery without
worrying about a lot of theory. Just read stories and poems and let them word
their wonders. There is no better way to prepare your child for that moment
when reading starts to “click”, even if it is years down the road.
It will help, however, if we open our eyes to some things adult readers tend
to take for granted. It is easier to be patient when we remember how much
children do not know. Here are a few concepts we adults know so well we forget
sometimes we ever learned them.
• There’s a difference between words and pictures. Point to the print as you
read aloud.
• Words on a page have meaning, and that is what we learn to read.
• Words go across the page from left to right. Follow with your fingers as you
read.
• Words on a page are made up of letters and are separated by a space.
• Each letter has at least two forms: one for capital letters and one for
small letters.
HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS
Children who are to grow to love books. Over the years, these children will
have good memories to treasure. They remember stories that made them laugh and
stories that made them cry. They remember sharing these times with someone
they love, and they anticipate with joy the time when they will be able to
read for themselves. By reading aloud together, by being examples, and by
doing other activities, parents are in a unique position to help children
enjoy reading and see the value of it. It is never too late to begin. Start
today.
November 2007 Tiger Times
Reading Levels—Mrs. Brown and Mrs. Semenza
In reporting your child’s reading ability we are usually talking to parents
about reading levels. This month we would like to clarify what we mean by
reading levels.
Below are the definitions of the three types of reading levels needed in order
to help your child to become a proficient reader.
Independent Level
An independent reading level is material that is easy for a student to read
fluently with few word identification problems and high comprehension. Word
identification should be 99% with 90% comprehension.
Note: Even if your child can read at a higher level than his grade, some
material may not be suitable for an elementary school child or they may lack
the emotional maturity to understand the text. In our Reader’s Workshop time
your child is reading at his/her independent level. Without the decoding
load,the child is freed up to concentrate on the meaning of the text, our
ultimate goal in reading. Reading material on this level provides practice and
strengthens their reading muscles. During reader’s workshop time the teacher
conferences with your child on his independent book choice to encourage and
develop deeper understanding of the text.
Instructional Level
The standard at this level is 90% - 94% accuracy word identification and 75%
comprehension. This is the level at which your child can be challenged but not
frustrated. The instructional level is one where the student can
read successfully with classroom instruction and support. Classroom
instruction at this level takes place in a guided reading group. In Guided
Reading (a component of Reader’s workshop)the teacher chooses appropriate
leveled text and selects a focus for instruction based on the group needs.
This focus is intended to be the next step that will move the group toward
being independent readers.
Frustration Reading Level
Material at this level is too difficult to read successfully by a student,
even with normal classroom support. Independent
strategy use may break down at this level when there are too many “hard” parts
and meaning is lost with an extraordinary amount of decoding work. Frustration
level is indicated by less than 90% accuracy in word identification and less
than 50% comprehension. Reading at this level is not productive and certainly
not enjoyable. It may result in your child turning off to reading.
A quick guide for an independent level – Independent level is about one or two
levels below your child’s guided
reading level.
Scholastic has a web site that lists the levels of thousands of books.
http://src.scholastic.com/ecatalog.
