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!!!

What is a syllable?

There are so many words in the English language. One of the unique things about words is that they all have syllables. Some words like "cat" only have one syllable. But some words like "imagination" have five syllables.

Well.... what specifically is a syllable anyway?

• A syllable is the sound of a vowel (a, e, i, o, u) that is created when pronouncing a word.


• The letter 'y' can be counted as a vowel, only if it creates the sound of a vowel (a, e, i, o, u).
• For example: fry, try, cry, & dry

• Some words have two (or more) vowels next to each other. Other words have vowels that are silent.


• The number of times that you hear the sound of a vowel (a, e, i, o, u) is equal to the number of syllables the word has.

Check out this great YouTube video to help you!

Read for the Record

October 21st, 2014 is national Read for the Record Day!

Jumpstart’s premiere national campaign, Read for the Record, mobilizes millions of children and adults to celebrate literacy by participating in the largest shared reading experience. 

On October 21, 2014, people across the country will unite to read the children’s book Bunny Cakes, a comical story of sibling bonding and birthday shenanigans, by bestselling author and illustrator Rosemary Wells, in support of Jumpstart’s mission: to work toward the day every child in America enters kindergarten prepared to succeed. 

Find out more information here:


http://www.jstart.org/campaigns/read-for-the-record

Hope you enjoy the book!