Just Right Reading

Our first field trip is Elkhorn Sough in Moss Landing, Friday, October 21st.

Please return all field trip forms- permission slips and or driver forms. Elkhornslough.org

 "Just Right" Reading

We have been focusing on how to choose "just right" books and why it is so important to choose books that we are able to read. Research shows when children are reading independently, they should be reading books they can read and understand. Reading books that are too challenging can lead to frustration, inability to understand the story, thus causing reading to no longer be enjoyable. We want children to love reading, which means it is important they are reading books they are interested in and on their just right level! And of course Nibbles loves reading too.

Research also shows that children are motivated to read when they can choose their own books. The strategy we will use in class to choose just right books is called IPICK. You can use the poster to help your child in picking good fit books at home.

This year we will be focusing on applying reading strategies to a variety of literary genre. Our class will learn how to read fiction stories and nonfiction articles carefully. We will learn the basic skills that we will use in our reading throughout the year.  Ask your child what genre we focused on this week.  (Hint:  It has characters, setting, or events that can not exist in real life, animals have human-like characteristics, and these stories teach a lesson.)

During our reading time we will focus on:

• Ways to talk about their reading with partners and the class.
• Strategies to help pronounce long words.
• Strategies to figure out the meanings of hard words.
• How to find important details in fiction stories and nonfiction articles.

• How to analyze what we read and write about it.

Here are a couple of activities you can do to help your child.

• Read together a fiction story. Discuss what happens in the story and who the characters are.
• Read together a nonfiction book or article. Ask your child what the story is about. Discuss what kinds of photos and images they see. What can they learn from these images?