Reading...Part II
Friday, June 18, 2010 at 07:00AM So, back to "reading." Here are some of the other resources we've used that go beyond the act of reading to things like reading comprehension and literature and grammar. Please note...this is the area that I feel we have focused on the least...the area I think we need to work on the most in the coming year.
Five in a Row. This is a dandy little program targeted at pre-K/Kinder and reading readiness. While my boys disliked the repetition that this program embraces, I did enjoy the book lists and had fun reading them with the boys. (We just didn't do any of the activities or the repeated readings.) It's been years since I've used this, though.
Summer reading programs. Our local library has a wonderful summer reading program that the boys have been participating in for as long as I can remember. It's a simple thing. Read (or be read to, for younger ones) 5 hours...bring in your form for the first prize (they have a list of choices). Read another 5 hours and come in for your second prize (same deal). Ta da. :) Having the set goal (and getting things like ice cream in exchange) worked wonders for my boys...to the point that I finally just realized that I should use this format, myself, year round. So. I'll be making up themed reading program forms for each month (complete with little "clocks" to be filled in) and offering up little prizes...stuff I probably would get the boys anyhow, but they don't have to know that, lol. Here's hoping this approach is more successful than my attempt at keeping a log/list of what books each boy had read in a month. ;)
Oh! And if your kids are anything like mine, you might find these useful. They're digital timer bookmarks. My boys love being able to time their own reading and I love not having them ask me "how long was that?" constantly. :) They can be a straight timer or can be a countdown. Fun! (Yes, I'd prefer if they'd just read for the sake of reading...which sometimes does happen...but I have very number oriented boys and having the numbers helps, lol.)
Schoolhouse Rock. Yup, an oldie but a goodie. It's amazing to me how effective and entertaining the little songs are and how well they stick in the boys' heads. I've been on the lookout for more things like this but haven't found anything to compare...yet. In any case, I showed this to the boys to help with parts of speech.
Grammar curriculums. This is the area I find myself constantly searching. I've tried First Language Lessons (which, overall, seems good but moved too slow for us), Daily Grams (that I thought would be a hit given the brevity of each lesson but that turned out to backfire as they'd rather do a full sheet about capitalization than just a single question each day), and Language Smarts (that actually probably would have worked but the paper they were printed on made actually writing in the books (which were too thick to photocopy, aside from the fact that that would be a major pain) difficult to the point that the boys were more upset by their writing than by the lessons).
This coming year I'm going to try a combination of workbooks for Noah and Asher along with the Daily Language Instruction by Hogback Press. Basically, I'm sure there are plenty of materials out there that will work. We just haven't put in the time and energy that we need to and have dismissed a number of things simply because they didn't excite us. Wish me luck. ;)
Reading comprehension. At the moment, I haven't really delved into reading comprehension beyond just reading plenty with the boys. And we talk together about stuff a lot. :) The brief stint I did cover "official" reading comprehension, I used Beyond the Code (part of the Explode the Code program) with Noah. They presented a short story and then asked questions. It was a fine approach and program, though it seemed too easy at the time (maybe I started it too late with Noah?). I'm thinking I'll go back to it and use it for Asher now, though. I think the level might be more appropriate for him and did like it.
I've also recently read Deconstructing Penguins and am excited to try to incorporate that into our program this year. It talks about book clubs and using certain books to teach things like fiction/non-fiction, plot, character development, etc. Very cool stuff.
Other stuff. And, just for kicks (and to keep Noah challenged/occupied), I throw in books like Analogy Challenges and Word Ladders...similar to how I use Code Breakers for math. :)
And, before I forget again, I meant to mention in my earlier reading post that I recently was told about this cool book called I Can Read Now! An Easy Sight Word Reader by David Fernstedt. I'm looking forward to going through this with Asher and Micah, working on sight words that don't follow the rules we're learning through All About Spelling or Explode the Code. Particularly for kids who tend to just guess at words rather than attempt to spell them out, this seems like a handy resource, and more fun than flash cards (though, actually, I don't think I've ever used flash cards with the boys so maybe they'd think that is fun?).
Also, I just remembered about a book called The Daily Five that I read about a year ago and really enjoyed. It talks about teaching reading and provides some nice tips and tricks...I particularly liked how to explain finding a book that "fits" to a child so that they're not so frustrated trying to read a book that is too difficult for him/her.
And that, my friends, is what I have to say about reading. ;) Thanks for hanging in there with me! Would love any comments with other resources or even just to tell me that you find these posts boring. ;)
Reader Comments (3)
Hey do you still have The Daily Five? Or where did you get it? That's the book I was looking for when we were at the teaching store.
I actually met “The Sisters” at a Reading convention ....I will have to look and see what extras I can share with you...We hope to do this at school but the mandates are taking over....Will look for things and let you know :)
Thanks for all this wonderful info! Very useful. I found this at the home and family blog and wanted to share: Top 10: Ways to Make Reading Fun at http://www.pragmaticmom.com/?p=7640
I also have posted a TON of Top 10: Book lists of every ilk.
Pragmatic Mom
Type A Parenting for the Modern World
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