Reading Tips for Parents of Kindergartners 

1. Talk to your child.
2. Say silly tongue twisters.
3. Read it and experience it.
4. Use your child's name.
5. Play with puppets. 
6. Trace and say letters.
7. Write it down.
8. Play sound games.
9. Read it again and again. 
10. Talk about letters and sounds.

*These wonderful tips were found at www.readingrockets.org

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Reading Tips for Parents of 1st Graders

1. Make time for reading. (Bring a book or magazine when you have appointments or errands)
2. Encourage your child to read.
3. Have your child reread their favorite books. This improves the accuracy and speed of your child's reading.
4. Ask your child questions about what they are reading.
5. Be patient when your child is trying to sound out an unfamiliar word. Remind them to look at the first letter or letters of the word.
6. Pick books that are "just right." This helps your child have confidence in their reading ability.
7. Take turns reading with your child. 
8. When your child makes a mistake, gently point out the letters they overlooked or read incorrectly.
9. Talk and have conversations with your child. This will help improve your child's vocabulary skills.
10.Practice writing letters and making lists.

*These wonderful tips were found at www.readingrockets.org

Test- Taking Strategies 
1. Always read the title
2. Number the paragraphs and look at the pictures
3. Read all the captions
4. Pre-read the questions
5. Underline key words in the questions
6. Begin reading the text
7. Underline and number your answers in the text
8. Choose the best answer

 

Main Idea
* The most important idea in a paragraph is called the main idea. Main idea is sometimes found in the first sentence of a paragraph.
* The main idea is sometimes found in the last sentence of a paragraph.
* The main idea is sometimes not found in the paragraph. You can figure out the main idea by thinking about the most important idea in the paragraph.
* The main idea is what an article or story is mostly about.
* The main idea tells what a paragraph is mostly or mainly about.


Facts and Details
* Sentences that tell more  about the main idea are called facts and details.
* Facts and details often tell about the who, what, and why of the main idea.
* Supporting details tell more about a passage's main idea.
* Many details in articles are facts.
* Facts are bits of information.

 

Antonyms and Synonyms
* Homophones are words that sound the same but have different meanings and spellings. Example: pair and pear
* Homographs are words that are spelled the same but have different meanings. Sometimes they are also said differently.
Example: "The wind blew."  "I need to wind my watch."
* Antonyms are words that have opposite meanings. Examples: big and small, warm and chilly
* Synonyms are words that have almost the same meaning. Examples: mad and angry, fast and quick

 

Base Words and Affixes
* A  base word is the main part of a word.
* Prefixes and suffixes are two other word parts.
* A prefix is a word part added to the beginning of a base word.
* A suffix is a word part added to the end of the base word.
* Prefixes and suffixes often change the meaning of base words.
Prefix Examples: pre, dis, re, im, in, un, non,mis
Suffix Examples: ly, er, or, est, ness, less,ful

Text Structures
When authors write, they must decide the best way to put ideas together to say what they want.
They arrange words in different ways for different purposes. These are text structures.
Here are some common text structures used by writers.

* Comparison/Contrast- Comparison is when a writer tells how things are alike. Contrast is when a writer tells how things are different.
* Cause and Effect- Writers often tell how one thing causes another.
* Sequence of Events- Often, an author will write about events in the order they happened.

 

Text Features
*Text features are tools writers use to make their meaning clear.
* Text features are like road signs. They help you travel through a text.
Here are some text features you might see in stories, poems, and articles:
* Titles tell what a story, poem, or article is about.
* Headings divide the text into smaller parts and help you find specific information.
* Illustrations are pictures that go with a story, poem, or article.
* Charts and graphs show facts and ideas clearly.
* Captions tell what is happening in an illustration, chart, or graph.
* Maps show where place are located.
* Text boxes are called sidebars, give facts related to the passage.
* Stanzas divide a poem into sections, like paragraphs do in stories and articles.
 

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Informational Text

* Informational texts give information, explain ideas, or explain how something works.
* Text Features include things such as titles, headings, graphs, charts, photos, captions, and maps.
*Types of Informational Text: newspaper articles, manuals, directions, Web sites, and nonfiction books

 

Topics and Themes
* A topic is what a passage is about. 
* The topic can be stated in a word or phrase.
* Topic examples: soccer, space travel, how to fix a bike, friendship, a camping trip
* A theme- is the lesson or message the author wants the reader to learn from the passage
* Examples: "Never give up" "Always do your best" 


Character, Setting, and Plot
* A Character is who a story is about.
* Sometimes characters are people and other times they are animals.
* Stories tell what characters do and how they solve problems.
* Characters often change at the end of a story.
* Setting- is where and when a story takes place.
* Plot- is what happens in the story.
* Events are the things that happen in a story.

 

Sequence
* The order in which things happen in a reading passage is called sequence.
* Sequence tells what happened first, what happened second, and so on.
* Clue words such as first, next, then, last, finally, before, and after often tell the order in which things happen.
* Clues such as times of day, words that tell about days of the week, months, and years tell when things happen.
* Sometimes, there are no clue words. Thinking about the beginning, the middle, and the ending of a reading passage will help you understand the order in which things happen.

Sequence or Time Order Signal Words

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* after               * next

 * afterward     * not long after
* as soon as     * now 
* before            * on (date)
* during            * second
* finally             * soon
* first                 * then
* following        * third
* immediately  * today
* later                * when
* meanwhile

 

Cause and Effect
* What happens and why is called cause and effect.
* A cause is something that makes something else happen.
* Why something happens is the cause.
* An effect is what happens because of the cause.
* What happens because of the cause is the effect.
* Clue words such as so, so that, since, because, and if often signal cause and effect. Other clue words are reason and as a result.

Cause and Effect Signal Words

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* as a result of         * leads/ led to
* because                 * may be due to
* consequently        * so that
* for this reason      * therefore
* if.... then                * thus
* in order to             * when... then
* is cause by            * since

 

Comparing and Contrasting
* Finding how two or more things are alike and how they are different is called comparing and contrasting.
* Comparing is finding how things are alike.
* In a story, characters can be alike; so can settings, plots, and other parts of a story.
* Contrasting is finding how things are different.
* Clue words that signal how things are alike are same, like, and alike.
* Clue words that signal how things are different are but, unlike, different, and however.
* People, places, objects, and events can all be compared and contrasted.

Comparing and Contrasting Signal Words

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* although            * in common
* as well as           * in comparison
* as opposed to   * instead of
* both                    * on the other hand
* but                      * otherwise
* by contrast        * similar to
* compared with * similarly
* different from   * unlike
* either... or          * whereas
* even though      * yet
* however

 

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Making Predictions

* When you think about what might happen next in a reading passage, you are making a prediction.
* Making a prediction is a way of using clues from a reading passage, as well as things you already know, to make a good guess about what might happen next.
* Clues are often in the title of a reading passage.
Clues are often in the facts and details in a reading passage.

 

Context Clues
* When you use clues in a reading passage to figure out the meaning of a new word, you are finding word meaning in context.
* Context clues are often in the sentence where the new word appears. They can also be in the sentences before and after the word.
* Clues about the meaning of a new word are often found by thinking about the way the word is used in the sentence.
* When you read the words and sentences around a word, you are looking at the word's context.

 

Multiple-Meaning Words
* Words that have more than one meaning.
* You can't know which meaning is right without reading the word in a sentence.
*Examples: club (a group of people or a heavy stick), show (to teach or something you watch), kind ( nice or type of), light (color or an amount)


Drawing Conclusions and Making Inferences
* Details are sometimes not clearly explained in a reading passage.
* A conclusion is a decision you make by adding up the facts. Example: You walk outside one morning and you see puddles on the sidewalk and the grass and trees are wet. You can conclude that it rained during the night.
* Inferences are ideas based on clues from the text. 
* When you make an inference, you also think about what you already know. Examples: If you see smoke, you can guess that there is a fire nearby. If you see someone smiling, you can guess that the person is happy.
* Whenever you figure out something that is not told in a reading passage, you are drawing a conclusion or making an inference.
* Pay attention to the details in a reading passage. You can use these details to figure out information that is not clearly stated.
* Use the details from the reading passage and what you know from your own life to draw a conclusion or to make an inference.

Fact and Opinion
* If a statement can be proved, it is a fact.
* If a statement tells what someone thinks or feels about something, it is an opinion.
* Opinions often contain such clue words as think, feel, believe, and seem. Other common clue words are always, never, all, none, most, least, greatest, best, and worst.

 

Author's Purpose and Perspective
* The reason an author writes something is called the author's purpose.
* Authors write for one of four reasons-to describe,to entertain,to explain, or to persuade.
* Inform- Authors just want to help you learn more about something. This type of writing uses a lot of facts and is about real life.
* Describe- some reading passages mainly describe something, such as a person, place, or thing. 
* Entertain- some reading passages mainly tell a personal story, tell something funny, or use a story to teach a lesson. This is sometimes made-up and it tells a good story.
* Explain- some reading passages mainly tell how to do something, or contain lots of information about a person, place, or thing. Writers tell you how something is done or why something happens.
* Persuade- some reading passages are mainly written to try to get readers to do something, buy something, or believe something.

 

Descriptive and Figurative Language
* Similes, metaphors, and idioms are types of figurative language.
* Figurative language makes interesting comparisons. 
*  A simile uses the words like or as to compare two unrelated things. Example: "My brother is as fast as a cheetah."
* A metaphor makes a comparison by saying one thing is another. Example: "My brother is a cheetah on the track."
* Personification gives human qualities to objects or animals. Example: "The wind roared as it knocked over trees and fences."
* Descriptive language creates a mood, feeling, or picture for the reader. It helps the reader imagine how something looks, sounds, smells, tastes, or feels.
* Look for things that are compared in a reading passage.
*Look for phrases whose words have a meaning different from their usual meaning. 
* Figurative language usually brings a picture to a reader's mind. 

 

Distinguishing Between Real and Make-believe
* Things you read that could happen in real life are real.
* Things you read that could not happen in real life are make-believe.
* When you figure out which parts of a reading passage are real and which parts are make-believe, you are distinguishing between real and make-believe.
* Real stories are about events that could really happen.
* Make-believe stories are about events that could not really happen. Clues that signal a story is make-believe are unlikely or magical events, imaginary places, talking animals, and characters who do impossible things.

Description Signal Words

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* appears to be      * in front of
* as in                       * looks like
* behind                  * near
* below                    * on top of
* beside                   * onto
* between               * outside
* down                    * over
* for example        * such as
* for instance        * under
* in back of

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Problem and Solution Signal Words

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* conflict            * possibly
* could be          * possible
* despite that    * resolved
* in efforts to    * result
* mishap            * a solution
* perhaps          * trouble
* recommendations include

Question and Answer Signal Words

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* How...?
* One answer is...
* The question is...
* What...?
* When...?
* Where...?
* Who...?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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