Parent Resources

Parent Resources

1. Read every day! The more a student reads the better reader and writer they will become. Students can read independently, read aloud to someone, or listen to someone else read aloud. An excellent resource for parents to help with the understanding the importance of reading aloud and selecting appropriate books for students is: The Read-Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease. He also has an informative website for parents: http://www.trelease-on-reading.com/
2. Predictable books for emerging readers: "Predictable books make use of rhyme, repetition of words, phrases, sentences and refrains, and such patterns as cumulative structure, repeated scenes, familiar cultural sequences, interlocking structure and turn-around plots. These stories invite children to make predictions or guesses about words, phrases, sentences, events and characters that could come next in the story." --Mary Jett Simpson, Reading Resource Book
   A great list of predictable books can be found online at: http://www.monroe.lib.in.us/childrens/predict.html
3. Write every day! The more a student writes the better writer they will become. Students can keep a notebook to draw/write in daily. As students get older, they can use the notebook to write you letters. When you read and respond to their letters, you can ask them questions that require them to think more deeply about their topics and provide more details in their response. An excellent resource for parents interested in how we write and learn to write is: Radical Reflections by Mem Fox. She also has an informative website for parents: http://www.memfox.com/radical-reflections.html
4. If Your Child Learns in Two Languages: A parents guide for improving educational opportunities for children acquiring English as a second language: http://www.ncela.gwu.edu/files/uploads/9/IfYourChildLearnsInTwoLangs_English.pdf
5. Play board games in English OR your native language: Balderdash, Scrabble, Outburst, Boggle, or Mad Gab with the students. They will learn new words when they hear the words you come up with. It will also challenge them to apply new words they have learned over time.