13 Powerful Strategies for Young Readers
1. Reread
Students must often revisit text to clarify understanding. When a student neglects to reread, comprehension can suffer. Using passages (either printable or digital), like the one seen below, can help students practice this skill. Model rereading with your students. Our youngest readers may not know that it’s OK to reread!
2. Activate Prior Knowledge
Before reading, the student should look at the title and ask himself what he already knows about the topic. Prior knowledge can significantly improve understanding. Ask your lucky little learners what they already know about a topic. Using KWL charts (what I know, what I want to know, and what I learned) to collect knowledge before, during, and after reading is a great way to activate background knowledge. This skill can also be demonstrated during whole group read alouds too.
3. Use Context Clues
Context clues help the reader to differentiate between similar words in a passage. Using the words around the unknown word, your students are able to determine what makes sense. Try using Digital Reading Passages to help your primary readers decipher word meaning using context clues and other vocabulary strategies.
4. Infer Meaning
Making an inference requires higher order thinking skills. Inferencing is a necessary part of reading throughout school and is also an important skill in life in general. Tell your students that inferencing is like making a guess based on facts and evidence.
5. Think Aloud
The think aloud strategy is usually modeled by the teacher, so that students can see the meta-cognitive process. Your students can imitate this think-aloud process in order to be more transparent with their meta-cognition. This means they are actually thinking (and speaking) about their own thinking and reading processes.
6. Summarize the Story
The point of reading is, after all, comprehension, so it’s so important for your lucky little learners to be able to effectively retell what he or she has read. Knowing the main idea and details is essential in retelling. This can be practiced using the Digital Reading Passages. Students will read the passage on the screen and then have two choices to pick the summary of the paragraph.
7. Locate Key Words
Finding key words is helpful when summarizing a passage. When answering questions about a selection, locating key words helps the reader use important information quickly. This is a concept that needs to be taught and modeled. The teacher will need to demonstrate and explain how to scan a passage to locate key words.
8. Make Predictions
Regardless of the media we’re consuming (video, audio, print), we are constantly making predictions. This is the same for even our young readers and viewers. This building block of meta-cognition is essential in achieving deep understanding of text. Have your students make predictions as they read passages from our Digital Reading Passages.
9. Use Word Attack Strategies
Strong decoding skills enable fluent reading and strong comprehension. Chunking, rereading, and connecting letters to sounds are effective strategies for decoding words. The sentence scrambles bundle is one of my favorite ways to help students with sight words, decoding, and fluency!
10. Visualize
Good readers picture what they’re reading. Sometimes called a ‘mind movie’, this strategy of visualizing can help the reader in connecting to and comprehending text. I love helping my lucky little learners visualize by drawing pictures of what they are reading (or what I read aloud).
11. Use Graphic Organizers
Helping the reader arrange information is a powerful component of comprehension. Graphic organizers can be used for determining cause and effect, character traits, problem and solution, and more. The nice thing about a graphic organizer is that they are easy for students to draw because they are typically basic shapes like squares and circles with a heading on top. Graphic organizers are great for putting into reading notebooks.
12. Ask Questions
Like inferencing, we are always asking questions – when reading, watching, or listening. Developing good questions is a foundational piece of meta-cognition in readers. Encourage your littlest readers to write down questions on sticky notes or in their reading notebooks. These questions can be revisited at the guided reading table or during independent reading time when the teachers is available.
13. Monitor and Repair Understanding While Reading
The essence of meta-cognition is realizing when you’ve lost meaning as a reader. This critical step in the reading process is what ultimately separates competent readers from word-callers. This is so important to practice in reading centers (small groups) or as a whole class. Your learners need help monitoring their own understanding before they do it on their own!
Parent Strategies for Improving Their Child’s Math
General mathematics improvement strategies
- Provide activities that enrich and relate mathematics to daily life:
- Talk about how many bowls to put out for dinner
- Fold napkins in different shapes
- Have your child count similar items as you put away groceries
- Have your child help measure ingredients for recipes
- Give your child change to count out to pay for small purchases at the store; have older children calculate the change
- Ask your child to compare prices of items by asking things like, “Which can of beans costs more?”
- Allow your child to weigh the fresh produce; have older children calculate the price by multiplying the price per pound by the number of pounds
- Read the days and dates on a calendar, talk about the number of days in the month, the number of days remaining until a special event, etc.
- Draw a scale map of your home and determine the best escape route in case of an emergency
- When traveling, write numbers on a grid and have your child color in the box as they see the numbers on signs or license plates
- Check your child’s assignment list daily
- Monitor daily work and be aware of the content being studied
- Use computer software or online games or apps to practice math skills at home
- Provide some math activities at home:
- Each person rolls the dice and adds, subtracts, or multiplies the numbers
- Dice and Money. Each person rolls a die and gets the number of pennies as dots shown. When someone gets five pennies they trade it in for a nickel, dime, and so forth, until they’re trading for a dollar
- For two people, give each person 13 cards from a deck of cards, have each person flip a card, then have your child decide whose card has the higher value to determine who wins the set of cards. In a tie, place three additional cards face-down, then turn the last card up; the higher card on that turn wins all the cards. Play until one person has all the cards in the deck
- Newspapers and Magazines. Find numbers in print and cut them out, then glue them in the correct order onto a larger sheet of paper
- Keep empty containers, write different prices on them, then play Store by using a calculator to add up the prices for different purchases
Computation
- Count orally by twos, fives, or tens
- Complete connect-the-dot pictures
- Have your child make a number book which contains a page for each numeral from one to ten. On each page, have your child glue clippings from newspapers and magazines illustrating that number concept (two dogs, three ducks, or four horses). As your child progresses with number recognition, they can add to the book and add numerical figures used in various ways
- Count and pair objects found around the house and determine whether there’s an odd or even number of items
- Review math facts at home, in the car, waiting in line, or during other downtime
- Provide your child with verbal math problems. “Take the number five; add six; multiply by three; subtract three; divide by five. What’s your answer?” Speak slowly at first until your child gets better at solving these mental problems
- Help your child identify percentages in signs, newspapers, and magazines
- Encourage your child to read nutrition labels. Have them calculate the percent of a specific nutrient in each item
Geometry
- Fold a sheet of paper in half and have your child draw a shape along the fold; cut out the shape and unfold the paper to create a symmetrical shape
- Look around the house for different geometric shapes, such as triangles, squares, circles, and rectangles
- Use common household items, such as toothpicks, marshmallows, empty toilet paper rolls, twist ties, sticks, and paper, to construct shapes
- Help your child recognize and identify real-world examples of right angles (e.g., the corner of a book) and parallel lines (e.g., railroad tracks)
- While driving together, direct your child to look for objects with the same size and shape
Measurement
- Teach your child how to set the kitchen timer when you’re cooking
- Draw an analog clock face with the hour and minute hands showing eight o’clock. Ask your child to write the time shown
- Arrange various objects (e.g., books, boxes, and cans) by various size and measurement (e.g., length, weight, and volume) attributes. Talk with your child about how they are arranged using comparison words like “taller,” “shorter,” “narrower,” “wider,” “heaviest,” “lightest,” “more,” “less,” “about,” and “same”
- Use a standard measuring tool to measure objects located in your home
- Gather a tape measure, yardstick, ruler, cup, gallon container, and scale. Discuss the various things you can measure with each
- Review equivalent names for measurements. For example, “How many cups are in a pint?”
- Encourage your child to incorporate terms such as “whole,” “halves,” “thirds,” and “fourths” into their everyday life
Statistics, probability, graphing
- Open a pack of Skittles or M&M’s and make a bar graph showing the number of each color found inside the pack
- Look through a science textbook or website and find three examples of different types of graphs
- Find the coordinates of places on a map
- Watch the weather report for a week, write down the temperatures for each day, and then graph the temperatures
- Track the scores of games played by your favorite team, then graph them over a period of several weeks
- Have your child make a list of things that could never happen, things that might happen, and things that are sure to happen
Problem solving
- Encourage your child to figure out answers to real-life situations: “We have one can of tuna and we need five. How many more do we need to buy?”
- Ask questions that involve equal sharing. For example, “Seven children share 49 baseball cards. How many cards does each child get?”
- Help your child look up the population and land area of the state and city in which you live and compare these facts with those of other states and cities
- Visit the website for the U.S. Census Bureau and have your child write down three interesting pieces of information that they learned
Algebraic concepts
- Encourage your child to count and recognize patterns in the environment by discussing what they see:
- What is the number on the house across the street?
- How many objects are left on the table if I take one away?
- How many exits are there from the school building?
- How many swings are on the playground?
- Have your child look for patterns on buildings, rugs, floors, and clothing
- Ask your child how many different ways they can show a specific number, say, 18 (they might say 16 + 2, 19 – 1, 10 + 7 + 1, that sort of thing)
The Effects of Social Media on Children
How to encourage healthy social media habits for your whole family
Here are steps you can take to help promote positive social media use for your child:
Establish a Family Media Plan for rules about social media use. Make sure that you are also following rules and role modeling healthy use for the family.
Have conversations with your child about their media use, including how they are using these platforms. What do they like about them? Have they seen anything concerning? Make this an ongoing conversation.
If you as a parent use social media, be sure to role model positive actions. For example, you can put away your phone at important family times such as during dinner, or during family time.
Be cautious about children under 13 years old using social media. Most platforms set 13 as the minimum age to sign up.
Read the entire article to see how you can promote a healthy relationships with social media.
How To Help A Child Struggling With Anxiety
Everyone is born with the ability to experience anxiety. The American Psychological Association defines anxiety as an emotion characterized by feelings of tension, worried thoughts and physical changes, such as increased blood pressure and heart rate.
Anxiety is normal and will occur at various times throughout life. It is important to experience anxiety, as it helps recognize and respond to threats of danger and motivate the completion of tasks. For example, having anxiety while driving in a snowstorm is helpful because it leads to altered driving behaviors to safely arrive at the destination. Also, having anxiety before an important test is helpful because it motivates you to study. However, some people's experiences of anxiety can become excessive, ongoing and overwhelming, and lead to significant difficulty functioning in daily life. These are signs of an anxiety disorder.
Signs and symptoms of anxiety
Children and teenagers may have similar worries to adults, but also they may have excessive worries about performance at school or sporting events, fitting in, social experiences, safety, being on time, their future, natural disasters or other catastrophic events. Some signs of significant anxiety include fatigue; changes in sleep habits, such as sleeping too much or too little; irritability; anger; difficulties with concentration; lack of confidence; reassurance seeking; avoidance; and decreased grades.
The most common physical symptoms present in children and teenagers who experience significant anxiety include stomachaches and headaches. They also can experience increased heart rate, rapid breathing, restlessness or jitteriness, trembling or feeling "twitchy," dizziness, diarrhea, nausea and chest tightness or pain.
For many children, anxiety can develop as a paired association, which means the anxious symptoms become associated with something that does not typically elicit anxiety, such as a situation, event or object. For example, imagine a child being at school and experiencing a panic attack for the first time, which is the sudden onset of intense anxiety or fear that often includes a strong body response, such as increased heart rate, rapid breathing, feelings of going crazy or losing control. On this day, the child was stressed about a large presentation, but because of this panic attack, the child's brain may start to associate school with intense anxiety, especially if the child experience's another panic attack at school. Therefore, whenever the child goes to school or even thinks about going to school, the brain can perceive it as a threatening situation, which can trigger ongoing anxiety or frequent panic attacks.
Do's and don'ts to ease anxiety
Many tools can help your children work through anxiety. These are strategies licensed mental health clinicians use with people in therapy, and research has found these strategies to be beneficial in treating and managing anxiety.
If you feel confident you can use these tools with your child — excellent. However, if you do not feel confident or want more support, consider talking with your child's primary care physician who may connect you with a mental health clinician for assistance. If needed, physicians or clinicians can use additional tools not listed here.
Do:
1. Identify triggers.
A helpful first step is for you and your children to become aware of and recognize what causes them to feel intense anxiety. Once those triggers are identified, you can implement many of the tips below.
2. Validate and empathize.
Children's thoughts, emotions and experiences are real to them. No matter how you think or feel about their experiences, it is important for your children to feel heard, validated and understood. Empathize with your children, imagine what it is like to be in their shoes, and recognize and affirm that their thoughts, feelings and experiences are valid and important.
3. Challenge unhelpful thinking.
Ask your children to talk you through the thoughts they are experiencing that are unhelpful and causing them distress, such as "I am going to fail my test and then fail my class." Once you know what thoughts your children are telling themselves, you can work with them to identify more realistic, helpful thoughts. Ask questions to get them thinking about their situation differently and decrease their buy-in into their unhelpful thoughts, such as "Have you ever failed a test or class before" or "What have you done in the past to pass a test? Have you done those things now?"
These questions allow children to think through all the evidence and come to conclusions independently. Self-realization is much more powerful than parents, teachers or peers telling children they will not fail. Once your child's unhelpful thoughts have been challenged, encourage them to develop a more realistic, helpful thought, such as "Although I feel like I may fail, I have prepared for this test and will perform my best" or "Even if I fail this test, that does not mean I will fail the class." Exaggerated ideas, such as "I will for sure pass and will do amazing," are unnecessary and typically not helpful, as most children do not buy in to these unrealistic notions.
4. Practice deep breathing.
Deep belly breathing is a tool to help calm down, refocus and think clearer. It increases oxygen levels in the bloodstream and decreases heart rate, breathing rate, muscle tension and stress level. Instruct your children to place their hands on their belly and chest. Tell them the goal is to take deep breaths with their bellies, which will lead to the hand on their belly moving up and down as air enters and leaves their bodies. When the hands on their chests are moving more, that means they are breathing with their chest. Encourage them to use their bellies to breath. Instruct them to take deep breaths slowly in through the nose, hold and then out slowly through their mouth. Repeat this several times. A fun way to guide this exercise includes pretending to smell a flower, and then blow bubbles or blow out birthday candles.
5. Break down tasks.
Break down tasks into smaller steps so the overall process feels less daunting. For younger children, have random rewards throughout the process to positively reinforce their behavior. For older children, provide positive praise and encourage them to reward themselves.
6. Role-play.
If your children are worried about specific situations, role-play those feared situations to help them prepare. Examples could include ordering at a restaurant, buying a movie ticket, asking a teacher for help or inviting friends over.
7. Build overall confidence.
Have your children perform tasks around the house to contribute to the family and build confidence. Offer your children opportunities to face challenges. It is important to praise their efforts and focus less on results. If they get stuck, ask your children about skills they used to overcome similar obstacles in the past.
Don't:
8. Label emotions as bad.
Stay away from labeling their thoughts, emotions and experiences as good or bad. For example, do not say "It is bad to think you will fail." When children hear that, their thoughts are bad, they often then internalize this and think "I am bad."
9. Minimize anxiety.
Do not minimize your children's experiences and tell them to "Just do it" or "Suck it up." Their feelings of anxiety are real, and they are suffering. Although it is healthy to face things that cause anxiety, meeting children with empathy, compassion and kindness is more helpful and effective when facing feared things.
Remember, you are not alone. You and your children do not have to navigate this alone. Your child's primary care physician wants to help all children thrive.
World Language
Third Grade Performance "Salute to Service"
Parents enjoyed an awesome performance by our third grade students. ”Salute to Service” was a heartfelt tribute to the many men and women who have or are currently serving our country in a variety of capacities. Thank you to Ms. D’Alonzo for all of your hard work directing this production. It was a memorable experience for everyone!
A big thank you to the Hammonton Education Association for funding the t-shirts and decorations for this week's program through a generous grant. We love it when our school community comes together with such amazing results!
Warren E. Sooy Jr. Elementary School
Website: https://www.hammontonschools.org/
Location: 601 North Fourth Street
Phone: 609-567-7070
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/weselementary
The Hammonton Home and School Association
Text @hammhsa to 81010 to join the Remind app to receive notifications.
Email: hammontonhsa@gmail.com
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Twitter: @Hammonton_HSA_Twitter