Curriculum & Instruction
Amy Smith - Director of Curriculum & Federal Programs
40 Eleventh Street
Elkins, WV 26241
304-636-9154, ext. 138
Fax: 1-304-636-9157
Kathy Beahm - Executive Secretary
304-636-9154, ext 137
Parent Information on Reading & Writing
Talk to your children, and encourage them to talk. Include vocabulary lessons in everyday activities, explaining to your children what things Talk to your children, and encourage them to talk. Include vocabulary lessons in everyday activities, explaining to your children what things are called and having them tell you what things are and what words mean. This will help you ensure that your children know words and can properly use them in conversation.
With younger children (birth to pre-K), talk and sing. Recite nursery rhymes and other verses with repeated sounds. Practice the alphabet. Use single words and simple sentences so they can understand. Help your children follow directions. And show enthusiasm.
With older children (kindergarten and older), ask questions and answer questions. Engage in conversation about their day, what they are doing, what is happening around you and them. Show your interest in what they have to say. Make sure they are speaking in complete sentences and using words correctly, but try to do this by modeling rather than just pointing out errors.
Understand the processes of reading. Know the areas in which your children need help. If they have difficulty sounding out words, focus on phonics skills, by playing rhyming games and putting sounds together. If they struggle in reading a paragraph or page, work on fluency skills by rereading familiar paragraphs or books. Children often enjoy reading to you a book you may have read to them several times; this is good fluency practice! If they have finished a book, but cannot tell you what it is about, concentrate on their reading comprehension skills by asking questions before, during, and after reading, and by talking with them about events in the story. All are important to building strong readers.
Point out printed words to your children at home, at the grocery store, driving down the street. Help them to read street signs, billboards, and bus advertising - make it a game. Have them read recipes or directions as you prepare dinner, or labels and grocery lists at the store.
Take children's books and writing materials with you whenever you leave home to make any time reading time.
Use your time in the car, bus, or train wisely. Always have books available. Bring a mini chalkboard and chalk or paper and crayons and encourage your children to write with them. If you are in the car, use tapes of songs and nursery rhymes (for younger children) and books on tape (for older children).
As your children are reading, watch or listen for passages where they may struggle or have problems. Have them reread that section until they are comfortable with it. Doing so will build fluency skills.
Ask your children questions about what they have read, and help them think about it. Have them retell the story. Talk with your children about the sequence of events in the story, and about the characters. Doing so will build comprehension skills.Create a quiet, special place in your home for your children to read, write, and draw. Have your children use that reading space every day. Keep reading materials in places where your children will see them and can access them.
If your children insist on watching television, focus on educational programs such as Sesame Street or Between the Lions. Watch TV with your children whenever you can, and talk about the stories and reading activities on those programs, and then recall those when reading with your children.
Provide your children a wide variety of reading options - fairy tales, song books, poems, magazines - and encourage them to reread favorites.
Tap into your children's interests. If video games are their thing, turn them onto comic books. If they are into sports, have them read the sports section in the newspaper. If they are glued to the computer, make sure they spend time reading informational pages and stories online.
Most of today's movies also come out in book form. Before letting your children see the latest blockbuster, have them read the book. Then, after you see the movie, discuss the differences.
Set a good example. Let your children see you read newspapers, magazines, and books. Children tend to mimic parents.
Reward your children with books. Through community book sales, used book stores, and programs like Reading is Fundamental (RIF), you can give your children a gift that will keep giving.
Reach out to your libraries and community and faith-based organizations. They have age-appropriate books for your children and can often offer creative ways to use books.
Create a book club for the children in the neighborhood, where they read books together. Share hosting duties with other parents or older children. Have book club members act out the books they are reading.
Do not limit your involvement or concern to summer. Reading is a year-round activity. Just like any other complex skill, strong reading skills come from practice, practice, practice. Make sure that any summer activity is continued come the fall. Bring your children to the library, and make it fun.
~ provided by the Partnership for Reading, a collaborative effort of the National Institute for Literacy, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the U.S. Department of Education. Their mandate is to make evidence-based reading research available to anyone interested in - and responsible for helping all people learn to read well. For more information on these issues and other discussions of scientifically based reading research, please visit Partnership for Reading.
With younger children (birth to pre-K), talk and sing. Recite nursery rhymes and other verses with repeated sounds. Practice the alphabet. Use single words and simple sentences so they can understand. Help your children follow directions. And show enthusiasm.
With older children (kindergarten and older), ask questions and answer questions. Engage in conversation about their day, what they are doing, what is happening around you and them. Show your interest in what they have to say. Make sure they are speaking in complete sentences and using words correctly, but try to do this by modeling rather than just pointing out errors.
Understand the processes of reading. Know the areas in which your children need help. If they have difficulty sounding out words, focus on phonics skills, by playing rhyming games and putting sounds together. If they struggle in reading a paragraph or page, work on fluency skills by rereading familiar paragraphs or books. Children often enjoy reading to you a book you may have read to them several times; this is good fluency practice! If they have finished a book, but cannot tell you what it is about, concentrate on their reading comprehension skills by asking questions before, during, and after reading, and by talking with them about events in the story. All are important to building strong readers.
Point out printed words to your children at home, at the grocery store, driving down the street. Help them to read street signs, billboards, and bus advertising - make it a game. Have them read recipes or directions as you prepare dinner, or labels and grocery lists at the store.
Take children's books and writing materials with you whenever you leave home to make any time reading time.
Use your time in the car, bus, or train wisely. Always have books available. Bring a mini chalkboard and chalk or paper and crayons and encourage your children to write with them. If you are in the car, use tapes of songs and nursery rhymes (for younger children) and books on tape (for older children).
As your children are reading, watch or listen for passages where they may struggle or have problems. Have them reread that section until they are comfortable with it. Doing so will build fluency skills.
Ask your children questions about what they have read, and help them think about it. Have them retell the story. Talk with your children about the sequence of events in the story, and about the characters. Doing so will build comprehension skills.Create a quiet, special place in your home for your children to read, write, and draw. Have your children use that reading space every day. Keep reading materials in places where your children will see them and can access them.
If your children insist on watching television, focus on educational programs such as Sesame Street or Between the Lions. Watch TV with your children whenever you can, and talk about the stories and reading activities on those programs, and then recall those when reading with your children.
Provide your children a wide variety of reading options - fairy tales, song books, poems, magazines - and encourage them to reread favorites.
Tap into your children's interests. If video games are their thing, turn them onto comic books. If they are into sports, have them read the sports section in the newspaper. If they are glued to the computer, make sure they spend time reading informational pages and stories online.
Most of today's movies also come out in book form. Before letting your children see the latest blockbuster, have them read the book. Then, after you see the movie, discuss the differences.
Set a good example. Let your children see you read newspapers, magazines, and books. Children tend to mimic parents.
Reward your children with books. Through community book sales, used book stores, and programs like Reading is Fundamental (RIF), you can give your children a gift that will keep giving.
Reach out to your libraries and community and faith-based organizations. They have age-appropriate books for your children and can often offer creative ways to use books.
Create a book club for the children in the neighborhood, where they read books together. Share hosting duties with other parents or older children. Have book club members act out the books they are reading.
Do not limit your involvement or concern to summer. Reading is a year-round activity. Just like any other complex skill, strong reading skills come from practice, practice, practice. Make sure that any summer activity is continued come the fall. Bring your children to the library, and make it fun.
~ provided by the Partnership for Reading, a collaborative effort of the National Institute for Literacy, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the U.S. Department of Education. Their mandate is to make evidence-based reading research available to anyone interested in - and responsible for helping all people learn to read well. For more information on these issues and other discussions of scientifically based reading research, please visit Partnership for Reading.
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