Stamina
Stamina is an important literacy skill for students to work on and build. It is never too early or too late to work on it. Starting as early as infancy, babies should be read too and kids should see reading as an everyday event, like brushing their teeth. Brushing your teeth daily improves your breath and protects your teeth from cavities. Reading every day protects your child from future struggles with reading, can improve self confidence, reduce the chance of falling below grade level. How can you help your child build stamina?
1) Vary your reading: read to someone, listen to a book on tape, use an e-reader, or listen to someone read.
2) Read books where you get 5 or less words wrong on a page.
3) Set realistic goals. If your child doesn't read at all, start at 5 minutes a day. If your child has never finished a book by them self, then have them finish one book in a realistic amount of time. For older kids, find out how long it takes them to read a page. Time them! Then count the number of pages to figure out how many days it would take them to finish the book.
4) Celebrate their progress! Make it a big deal. Kids love to be rewarded, just like adults at work.
Reading Rockets' Article
http://www.readingrockets.org/article/51787/
Why My Kid Hates to Read
I hear often from students that they "hate to read". What my years have taught me is not that they hate to read, but that there is a reason they don't want to read. Maybe they have never been exposed to a variety of genres and books that might interest them. Maybe they have always been told what books that they HAVE to read. Maybe the books are too hard for them so they get frustrated and feel stupid. These are all reasons that I have heard from my students. So the next time your student tells you that they hate to read, take the time to find out why and do something about it to change it.
20 Ways to Encourage Reading
We've told you why some kids don't like to read and what
other parents believe will not succeed in changing their minds. Now for
some ways to turn a young reader's reluctance into enthusiasm:
1. Scout for things your children might like to read. Use their interests and hobbies as starting points.
2. Leave all sorts of reading materials including books,
magazines, and colorful catalogs in conspicuous places around your home.
3. Notice what attracts your children's attention, even if they
only look at the pictures. Then build on that interest; read a short
selection aloud, or simply bring home more information on the same
subject.
4. Let your children see you reading for pleasure in your spare time.
5. Take your children to the library regularly. Explore the
children's section together. Ask a librarian to suggest books and
magazines your children might enjoy.
6. Present reading as an activity with a purpose
—a
way to gather useful information for, say, making paper airplanes,
identifying a doll or stamp in your child's collection, or planning a
family trip.
7. Encourage older children to read to their younger brothers
and sisters. Older children enjoy showing off their skills to an
admiring audience.
8. Play games that are reading-related. Check your closet for
spelling games played with letter tiles or dice, or board games that
require players to read spaces, cards, and directions.
9. Perhaps over dinner, while you're running errands, or in
another informal setting, share your reactions to things you read, and
encourage your children to do likewise.
10. Set aside a regular time for reading in your family, independent of schoolwork
—the
20 minutes before lights out, just after dinner, or whatever fits into
your household schedule. As little as 10 minutes of free reading a day
can help improve your child's skills and habits.
11. Read aloud to your child, especially a child who is
discouraged by his or her own poor reading skills. The pleasure of
listening to you read, rather than struggling alone, may restore your
child's initial enthusiasm for books and reading.
12. Encourage your child to read aloud to you an exciting
passage in a book, an interesting tidbit in the newspaper, or a joke in a
joke book. When children read aloud, don't feel they have to get every
word right. Even good readers skip or mispronounce words now and then.
13. On gift-giving occasions, give books and magazines based on your child's current interests.
14. Set aside a special place for children to keep their own books.
15. Introduce the bookmark. Remind your youngster that you don't
have to finish a book in one sitting; you can stop after a few pages,
or a chapter, and pick up where you left off at another time. Don't try
to persuade your child to finish a book he or she doesn't like.
Recommend putting the book aside and trying another.
16. Treat your children to an evening of laughter and
entertainment featuring books! Many children (parents, too) regard
reading as a serious activity. A joke book, a story told in riddles, or a
funny passage read aloud can reveal another side of reading.
17. Extend your child's positive reading experiences. For
example, if your youngster enjoyed a book about dinosaurs, follow up
with a visit to a natural history museum.
18. Offer other special incentives to encourage your child's
reading. Allow your youngster to stay up an extra 15 minutes to finish a
chapter; promise to take your child to see a movie after he or she has
finished the book on which it was based; relieve your child of a regular
chore to free up time for reading.
19. Limit your children's television viewing in an effort to
make time for other activities, such as reading. But never use TV as a
reward for reading, or a punishment for not reading.
20. Not all reading takes place between the covers of a book.
What about menus, road signs, food labels, and sheet music? Take
advantage of countless spur-of-the-moment opportunities for reading
during the course of your family's busy day.
http://www.rif.org/us/literacy-resources/articles/children-who-can-read-but-dont.htm
Why Read 20 Minutes a Day?
When a student reads every night from infancy, the gains are real and measurable. There is a misconception that reading is something everyone just learns and can do. Another misconception is that you don't have to worry about your child reading below grade level as they have plenty of time to catch up. The truth is, if students are reading below grade level by the 4rd grade, they will continue to fall behind without a specific course of action. Look at the facts:
Student A reads 5 days a week for 20 minutes.
Student B reads 4 minutes a night or not at all.
Student A reads 100 minutes a week.
Student B reads 20 minutes a week.
Student A reads 400 minutes a month.
Student B reads 80 minutes a month.
Student A reads 3600 minutes a year.
Student B reads 720 minutes a year
Student A will be exposed to more background knowledge and vocabulary that B will not. Student A will most likely never say they "hate reading".
Make the time early in their lives to read and you won't be spending time and money later on trying to get them to read.
http://www.tooter4kids.com/classroom/why_read_for_20_minutes_every_da.htm
Teach a Child To Read
This site is a wealth of information about the early stages of reading, how students learn to read and what preschool and parents of emergent readers can do with their kids to promote early literacy.
http://www.succeedtoread.com/index.html
Decoding Unknown Words
These are strategies for decoding unknown words.
http://www.msrossbec.com/readingstratg.pdf
