Reading with the Cheetahs
September 2019
Dear Crestview families,
Welcome to this school year's first edition of Reading with the Cheetahs! Whether you have been reading with us all summer long in the classroom or if you are new to Crestview this fall, we are happy to have you here. Please enjoy this monthly newsletter to keep you updated on school wide literacy events, initiatives, and suggestions to keep your students engaged in reading all year long.
What do I need to know about reading at home with my child?
Students should be reading books at home with 98% accuracy. Therefore, they should only need to be word solving about 2% of the time. If your child is stuck on an extra tricky word, it is ok to just tell them what it is to maintain the flow of reading with 98% accuracy.
There are many effective and efficient strategies to encourage your child to use. "Sounding out" words is probably the least efficient strategy and does not hold much generative value for future word solving. Look at the picture above to see what we encourage your child to do at school when they need to solve tricky words. Lastly, it is not uncommon for readers to use multiple strategies for one word.
Families often wonder about the following 3 practices in reading...
Re-reading Books
It is great to read a variety of books, though it is also perfectly ok for students to re-read favorite books! This is where they will gain fluency, confidence, word recognition, and understanding of books at a deeper level when they are re-reading.
Listening to an adult read
It is a great idea to read aloud to kids of ALL AGES. There is a lot of research that supports students reading growth when they hear fluent adults read to them. Also, students are able to comprehend books at a much higher level when they are listening to a book than when they are reading it.
Memorizing books
Is my child really reading when they have memorized every word in a book? Yes! For many of our students just taking off with reading, this is a great way for them to build sight word recognition and support strong reading behaviors when they are reading books they know really well and have memorized.
Books with repeating words
Is your child reading books that have a repeating phrase, sentence, or word? Help them recognize this repeating pattern and use it to help them read the book accurately. Also, help your child notice when the repeating pattern stops-- which is typically at the end of a book. Noticing the author's craft is an important skill for students to acquire.
Mrs. Hagan
I am a Reading Specialist at Crestview Elementary who is passionate about literacy instruction and supporting our most striving readers as they navigate all types of books and develop their love of reading.
Location: Crestview Elementary School, North Holmes Street, Kansas City, MO, USA
Twitter: @elizhagan