Building Successful Readers

Years kindergarten through third grade are particularly important ones in a child’s education. Parents and teachers know that children are like sponges and they can acquire new skills and knowledge rapidly during these years. Research shows that average annual learning gains for children in grades K-2 are dramatically greater than those for subsequent years of school. Moreover, the outcomes of early elementary education, particularly whether or not a child can read proficiently by third grade, are a powerful predictor of later school and life outcomes.

A first major milestone for any child’s success in education is the ability to read by the end of third grade. This is when students make the shift from ‘learning to read’ to ‘reading to learn.’ It’s an academic hurdle that, if missed, can leave kids stuck, struggling through letter sounds as their more fluent peers gain new knowledge in subjects such as math, science, and history at what seems like lightning speed. Once this type of learning lag exists, it’s difficult for kids to catch up.

Falling behind academically is like missing a bounce on the trampoline. Your friends continue to jump, while you are left shuffling at the bottom struggling to get back on your feet.

“In second grade, we’re doing two-step word [math] problems,” explained Ms. Marlies Liebelt, second grade teacher at Joshua Cowell, in a parent Homework Help session this week. “If students cannot comprehend the material, they cannot solve the problem.”

Joshua Cowell Elementary is implementing a series of parent engagement sessions. “After hearing feedback from our parent community during trimester one conference week, our leadership team identified that there were common needs being expressed by parents,” shared Ms. Christie Newman, Joshua Cowell principal. “The series of parent sessions offered is an effort to fill those needs and expand the school to home connection and identify how as a community we can work together to meet the learning needs of each student.”

While other grade levels focus on matters from web accessibility and safety to making the transition to high school, the primary grades aim to connect parents in helping with reading fluency and comprehension at home. “We have found that even students who are strong in math calculation will struggle if they cannot identify how to solve problems using text,” Ms. Newman explained.

Ms. Suzette Whisler, first grade teacher at Joshua Cowell and co-host of the Homework Help parent session, explained when her students tackle math word problems, she has them underline words they know and circle words they want to know. It helps her as a teacher to identify where each student is stuck in the proverbial mud and aids them over their phonic or comprehension hurdles.

Ms. Liebelt and Ms. Whisler provide parents with at-home activities to extend learning and strategies to raise a fluent reader.

A few activities include:

1. Magnetic letters, for making new words, breaking it apart, and making it again.

2. Writing and illustrating stories- the story should have an opening followed by detail sentences and a closing sentence- younger students may dictate a story.

3. Write first and last name with correct letter formation- This is important! Does your child form the letters correctly? Did they use a capital letter only at the beginning? Are the letters the same size?

4. Flashcards- Make flash cards to practice spelling and/or site words. This can supplement the spelling words for the week. The flash cards can build sentences, too!

5. Read, Read, Read and discuss the stories that you read together.

Reading to a child or having a child read to another, gives them a foundation, a model and a reason to want to read. Reading aloud improves not only reading but speaking, listening, thinking and problem solving skills. A child’s vocabulary grows as a child hears new words and ideas in new stories.

As important as it is to read, it is also important to respond appropriately to a child who inevitably will make errors while practicing reading. Ms. Liebelt and Ms. Whisler provide take-home strategies to support providers on how to respond to errors in reading to produce independent readers who will monitor and correct themselves as they read. While phonics is part of reading, reading for meaning is the definitive goal. One example is to give the child a wait time of 5-10 seconds, see what he/ she attempts to do. Another is to use reasoning and ask the child, “What do you think that word could be?” or “What would make sense there?” A helpful tip is to have the child replace the challenging word with a different word that would make sense.

Getting kids to read takes more than good schools, more than great teachers, and more than loving parents; it requires everyone to play a role and work together. Ms. Newman expressed, “Our goal is to provide as many opportunities for students to learn and grow both at school and at home.”

Ms. Whisler and Ms. Liebelt