Tips For Oral Reading
When your child reads aloud, always remember that one necessary ingredient is your attention. Listen while your child reads. Try not to become another teacher. Here are other tips:
1. Have your child read only parts of a story to you such as the humorous parts or any dialogue
2. Take turns reading alternate paragraphs with your child.
3. Have your child practice by reading into a tape recorder and listening to himself or herself afterwards. This is a great confidence builder.
4. Read aloud to your child. Make intentional mistakes and see if he or she can detect them. Be obvious at first.
5. Before reading a story, tell your child to listen very carefully because you are going t stop before the end. When you stop, ask your child to finish the story with a possible ending. Don’t forget to read ahead to find a good stopping point.
Helping Your Child choose an appropriate Independent Reading Book -
It is fine to read a number of different books at all levels to your child. In fact, books that are too difficult for independent reading help students gain vocabulary. However when helping your child choose a book to read to themselves it is important that they7 read at their confort level. Using this "Five Finger Test" will help you when choosing books with your child.
 Five Finger Test for Reading
Have your child:
Open the book to a full page of writing and put up one hand.
Each time they come to a word that they don’t know, they put one finger down, starting with the pinky finger.
If it’s a proper name, they don’t need to put a finger down, if they call the person the same name whenever they see it.
If they put their thumb down, before finishing the page, they probably should put the book away until another time.
They can not comprehend what they are reading if they have to decode too many words on a page.
Vocabulary Ideas
Name: Concentration
Objective: Practice sight words
Materials: A double set of word cards to be practiced
Play: Lay out both decks, face down on table. First player turns over one card and says the word. Then s/he turns over another card. If they match, s/he keeps both cards and takes another turn. If they don’t match, play moves to next player. Winner is person with most pairs.
Math Games
Name: Addition Top-It
Players: 2 to 4
Skill: Addition facts 0-10
Object of the game: To collect the most cards
Materials Needed: hand written number cards 0-10 (4 of each)
Directions
1. Shuffle the cards. Place the deck number-side down on the table.
2. Each player turns over 2 cards and calls out the sum of the numbers.
3. The player with the largest sum wins the round and takes all the cards.
4. In case of a tie for the largest sum, each tied player turns over 2 more cards and calls out the sum of the numbers. The player with the largest sum then takes all the cards from both plays.
5. The game ends when not enough cards are left for each player to have another turn.
6. the player with the most cards wins.
Another Way to Play : Use dominoes instead of cards
Learning Activities your child will love:
1. Read a good story out loud to your child – stop at an exciting part. Turn to your child and say, “What do you think will happen next?”
2. Think of a number – 15, for example. How many ways can you “say” that number? Examples: 10+5, 3x5, 30divided by 2, 19-4. Continue with other numbers.
3. Write a secret message using invisible ink. How? Use a toothpick dipped into lemon juice and milk. When the paper is dry, hold it up to the light. Can you see it in the dark?
4. Think of answers to “what if” questions to develop creative thinking. Examples: “What if you could see into the future?” “What if there were no TV?” “What if we had no electricity?”
5. Give each letter of the alphabet a numerical code, such as A=10, B=15, c+20. In this case, the word cab would be written 20-10-15. Write a note in code and see if a parent can figure it out.
6. Name all the animals you would keep if you owned a zoo. Can you think of an animal for each letter of the alphabet? Can’t think of an animal that starts with x? Make up your own and tell what it looks like.
Math Fact Fluency Practice -
Does your child need extra help with Math Fact Fluency? If so.. There's a free website you really should check out. Parents are able to set-up an account on your home computer and your child can log-in and practice at anytime. Don't hesistate as the set-up is simple and completed quickly. Once an account is set-up the program will prompt your child to take an on-line placement test to see what facts they already know. Once this is completed, the computer will set-up drill and practice for your child based on the results. Sessions take 5-10 minutes to complete so it's not too time consuming. If interested go to: https://www.xtramath.org/
Fun Web Sites:
“create and print customized word search, criss-cross, math puzzles, and more using your own word lists”
“an online activity center and bookstore for kids. A great place for kids, parents or teachers to find fun and educational projects to download and print”
“online educational games for kids of all ages (math, grammar, science, spell, history)
“free online educational elementary games for kids as well as printable activities, coloring and crafts that will help kids learn…”
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