How Can I Help my Child to Become a Stronger Reader?

Five Tips from Scholastic:

1. Read aloud with your child. Find a comfortable spot where the two of you can read together every day for about 30 minutes. Take turns reading chapters from a book for pleasure, or read books that are above her reading level but are about things that interest her.

2. Encourage all reading. Comic books and magazines can provide a good reading experience. As long as they are age-appropriate, don't discourage his interest, but keep a stock of high-quality books in your home so he has other options easily available.

3. Keep a dictionary handy. Together, look up words she doesn't know and invest in a dictionary she can use on her own.

4. Use informative books. Encourage reading for information. If he has a science report, help him find books for his research rather than only going to the Web. While the Internet is an easy resource, teach him that books are often more detailed.

5. Discuss the books. Ask your child what an author's main theme is, how characters are alike or different, what she likes or dislikes about the story, and how it compares to other books she's read. Share your own thoughts.

Below are the types of reading skills practiced regularly in class:

• Identify conflicts within your reading (man vs man, man vs self, man vs. nature) Explain what type of conflict(s) you are reading about and identify which type it falls under.
• Make a text to text, text to self, or text to world connection.
• Identify different examples of figurative language from your reading: metaphor, simile, hyperbole, idiom, personification, or  examples of alliteration.
• What is the mood of your story? How does it make you, as the reader, feel while reading the story? Explain the situation. Why does it make you feel that way?
• Identify a theme within your story.  Who learned what and explain how you know that this lesson was learned.  
• Make a comparison between a character in this book and a character within another book.  Be specific.
• Explain parts of the story that are realistic or unrealistic. Be specific about what is happening in the story and what makes it realistic or unrealistic?
• Identify character traits that describe the actions of a character.  Identify evidence from the text to support your answer.
• Describe examples of irony that you see in the story.