One of the best things about first grade is helping children learn to read. Although the foundation is laid in Kindergarten, and sometimes children learn to read during that year, the true magic happens in the first grade. There is nothing more exciting than watching the journey that children progress through in order to become readers. And once things click for them, that journey takes flight.
Please listen to your child read at home. Enjoy your reading time together! Don't be afraid to let your child reread old favorites, this helps him or her build confidence and fluency. Once your child does learn to read, keep reading to him or her. You are never too old to be read to!
Be patient when your child does read to you. If your child gets stuck on a word, here are a few suggestions.
There are four good reading tips or strategies for you to reinforce with your child when he or she is having difficulty decoding a word.
1. Look at the picture. Often pictures will give hints about some of the words in the text.
2. Think about the meaning of the story. Reading should make sense,tell your child to think about what word would make sense in the sentence.
3.Look at the initial letter or blends in the word and think about the associated sounds. Also look for any chunks in words to help with the decoding process. Don't forget to look at word endings too.
4. It's ok to skip a word, then go back and reread a sentence. Even adults occasionally skip a word in text, then after reading a sentence go back and reread in order to decode a word.
By using all of these strategies your child will be able to read more fluently. When you read with your child, if he or she is getting frustrated, feel free to simply tell your child the unknown word. Reading should always be positive and fun, not stressful.
By the end of the first grade your child should
be able to: (these are the benchmarks)
1. Apply grade level word analysis skills to decode.
2. Use a variety of strategies to solve new words.
3. Read fluently and accurately with expression.
4. Read 100 high frequency words.
5. Know sound spelling for blends, diagraphs, short, long, and common vowel teams.
6. Identify similarities and differences between two texts.
7. Make predictions based on text and pictures.
8. Read and understand a text level 18.
In reading literary text:
1. Identify and describe setting/characters.
2. Retell the sequence of events including details.
3. Answer questions about information found directly in the text.
4. Make connections between text and self.
In reading informational text:
1. Ask and answer relevant questions.
2. Identify the main topic and retell facts.
3. Follow one and two step written directions.
