Helping Children with Oral Reading


Here are some strategies that we often use to help children read orally, as they encounter unfamiliar words.

1.  Ask the reader if the words sound correct.

        eg.    what

2.  Ask the reader if the word can be broken apart.

        eg.  a - part - ment

3.  Ask the reader if the picture on the page can give them a clue.

4.  Ask the reader if there are little words inside the bigger word.
       
        eg.  brainy

5.  Ask the reader if they see any letter patterns in the word.

        eg.  splat, flat, cat, mat

6.  Ask the reader if the word makes sense in the sentence.

7.  Ask the reader to use the beginning sound to help figure out
     the word.

        eg.  br - illiant

8.  Ask the reader to skip it and go on.


*  As a general rule, if a child is making more than five errors on one page of a book, the material he/she is reading is too difficult for their reading level.






Helping Children with Silent Reading

Most children begin to read silently by grade three.  It is very important that children talk about what they have read to be certain that they are comprehending.

These five W questions may help the student focus on the retelling of events:

1.  Where is the story taking place?

    eg.  in the city, at school, in the dark forest


2.  When is the story happening?

    eg.  after school, during the flood, in the future


3.  Who are the characters in the story?

    eg.  Sam, a boy who wants a dog


4.  What happens in the story?

    eg.  Tell several important events in a chapter


5.  Why does a character do what he/she does?

    eg.  Jonesy, the horse, ran away because his master was
            cruel to him. 


*  Encourage the children to go back and reread what they don’t understand in the book.




Helping Children With Spelling

1.  Ask the speller to spell the word orally.

2.  Ask the speller to write out the word.

3.  Ask the speller to look for word patterns.

    eg.  rhymes with, a little word inside a big word, syllables



Helping Children With Writing

At the beginning of the year, we will be focusing on writing interesting sentences and using proper conventions.

    *  using describing/interesting words

            eg.  At recess I often play on the twisty slide.

    *  checking for capitals at the beginning of the sentence;
        names, and other words that should be capitalized

    *  rereading the sentence to make sure it makes sense