Is Reading at home every night important?

Many people ask, is reading at home really that important?

My answer is, YES.
I found this graphic on http://www.edudemic.com/skipping-your-reading-homework/.

The graphic really emphasizes how important reading is.



Reading at home exposes students to new words, vocabulary, and background knowledge.

This website also provides some ways to make reading enjoyable:

Ways to Make Reading an Enjoyable Habit for Students

With all of the lifetime upsides that come from reading, how can teachers and parents help kids develop a habit of daily reading?

Start with a mini habit. In his book “Mini Habits,” Stephen Guise suggested starting a new habit with a small change that can easily be accomplished. His example? Doing one pushup as the start of an exercise program. Once you’ve finished one pushup, you’re likely to do at least one more. Then the next day, knowing how easily you accomplished the task before, you’re more likely to do it again. With reading, perhaps set a limit at two or three minutes, then gradually adding a minute at a time. Longer periods of reading are obviously preferred, but reading consistently, over a period of time, is an effective way to create that habit.

Add variety to reading.  For reluctant readers, or even those who need a change, use different forms of reading sources, not just books. Magazines, newspapers, graphic novels, recipes, audio books and online reading can add a new dimension of skill and enjoyment.

Model reading. Share your love of reading with your class. Tell them about some of your favorite books when you were young and let them see what books you are currently reading. Keep in mind the benefits reading offers adults, such as providing stress relief, decreasing the likelihood of developing Alzheimer’s, and boosting analytical thinking.

Make reading assignments positive. Avoid making kids read as punishment. Scholastic.comsays that to foster a love of reading, let students see that reading isn’t a chore, a competition, or a test.

Read aloud to the class. No matter what the age of your students, give them the chance to form pictures in their heads as you read to them.

Have students read to others. Have students read to a parent, a younger sibling, a pet or a stuffed animal. Ask students to report back on how the listener reacted to the story (yes, even the inanimate ones).

Build reading time in your classroom every day. Help students develop the habit by consistently setting aside a few minutes a day for your class to relax with a book.  Once they realize you think reading is important, they’re more likely to think it’s important too.

DeLoatch, P. (2015). The Long-Term Effects of Skipping Your Reading Homework. Edudemic. Retrieved from http://www.edudemic.com/skipping-your-reading-homework/

The 7 Syllable Types

It's a joy listening and watching our beginning readers figure out those “longer” words.  Many of our little ones are pretty solid decoding one-syllabe words or CVC words and are now ready to learn strategies for decoding multisyllabic words.  So, what is a syllable? And why is knowing what it is important?

Simply put, a syllable is a unit of pronunciation containing a single vowel sound. “Syllabication” is the process of analyzing the pattern of vowels and consonants in a word to determine where a word is broken into its syllables. The ability to break a word into syllables helps students decode those longer words as well as helps the student remember spelling patterns.  Understanding the 7 syllable types helps students to become better readers and writers.

There are 7 types of syllables that occur in all words of the English language.  Every word can be broken down into these syllables.  These 7 syllables include: closed, open, magic e, vowel teams, r-controlled, dipthongs and consonant- le.  

Can you read these words???

1. hom or glick

2. ru

3. pake

4. bort

5. binderly

6. tumpastic

7. vanowinder

What syllable type(s) do they fit in?

After teaching each syllable type, having these posters readily available for reference in your classroom can help your students.

Summer Reading Professional Development

This summer, many of our staff members were asked to read The Next Steps In Guided Reading by: Jan Richardson.
I invited one of Jan Richardson's consultants, Debbie Rosenow, to come and share with us the important aspects of the book.
All staff members K-8 were asked to participate in this literacy workshop. We spent two days learning about best practices in early literacy, effective lesson planning , literacy stations, and guided writing.

Look at how engaged the staff is with literacy work stations!







I look forward to seeing all these exciting things being tried in the classrooms :)

Summer Reading

Happy Summer to all the students, staff, and parents!

Stay tuned for more exciting things in the fall!!!


And remember.....


Read........................Read........................................READ


Did you know?

Children who don't read over the summer experience summer learning loss. That's right -- kids don't just feel like they've forgotten some of what they've learned -- they actually do forget it. And the effect is cumulative. Kids who lose reading skills over the summer will be two years behind their classmates by the end of 6th grade.



So........

Six Flags Read to Succeed

I am happy to announce that the Six Flags Read to Succeed program has to come an end. Students were challenged to read 6 hours (360 minutes) over the last few months. Students then filled a log and brought it back to school.

I am happy to say that 110 Randall students returned logs and will be receiving a pass to Six Flags!
WAY TO GO WILDCATS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What should I say besides sound it out?

Your student brings home a book that they spent a little time practicing at school, or maybe it's a book they've never read. They come up to that word and say I don't get it! You eagerly tell them, "sound it out!" You can encourage that, but keep in mind that not all words can be sounded out.  

Your child might pick up clues about a word from the picture, other words in the sentence, or any rhyming patterns. 

Whether your child is a beginning reader, a reluctant reader, or an eager reader, there are encouraging words that you can say to be "a coach!"

Check out this poster below, courtesy of http://it.pinellas.k12.fl.us/Teachers3/gurianb/bookmarks.html for encouraging things you can say to your student to help them figure out an unknown word!

You can also say encouraging things like, "What would make sense there?" or "You said this word______. Let's say that word slow, and run our ringer under it and see if it matches."

Most of all, remember to praise the efforts and keep the reading fun. Simply sharing the enjoyment of reading together will increase your child's confidence and reading skills and help to start you child off for a lifetime of reading enjoyment!

Six Flags Reading Program

There are many ways at Randall to get rewarded for your love of reading!
We are participating in the Six Flags Read to Succeed Program. All you have to do is log 360 minutes (or 6 hours) of recreational reading, and bring the reading log back to school and turn it in to your teacher!

The deadline to turn this in is at the end of February! So hop to it! and dig into some great books!!!!!


For more information visit:
https://www.sixflags.com/greatamerica/community


or follow them on twitter:

https://twitter.com/sixflagsreading

How old is too old to read to my child?

The answer is..........

Many often think that reading aloud to a child should stop after kindergarten. But the truth is, you should continue to read books to your children through junior high. Research has strongly shown that children who are read aloud to throughout their growing years are more likely to develop background knowledge in all kinds of topics, as well as exposure to sophisticated language (Rich, M. 2015). What a wonderful way to bond with your children. Many students in the study reported they loved this bonding time with the parents!
Children should be offered independent book reading time, with books they have selected, as well as having a grown-up read aloud to them. This should be occurring at home, as well as at school.


It is predicted that 1 in 4 American children grow up without learning how to read! So let's help fight that and continue to read with our kids and to our kids!!! Happy Reading!!!