1. Reading How to help your child become a lifelong reader

2.  Check –in  What is reading?  Mem Fox’s 10 commandments  The Transition Reading Program  PM Benchmark Testing  Sight Words  Some reading strategies explained  Home Reading some tips for success  Check out Overview

3. Two Quick Questions  How you are feeling right now?  What was the last thing you read before coming here tonight? Check In

4.  Reading is more than saying sounds and letter names on a page.  It’s about using a range of strategies to make meaning and gain an understanding of print.  We read for enjoyment, to gather information, get directions and because our teachers tell us to!  We (teachers and parents) need to foster a love of reading in our children. They have so much reading ahead of them and if we quash that enthusiasm now we will have a long hard hill to climb. What is Reading?

5.  Everything! The list is endless ~ anything that has print or pictures What should we read? Newspapers Books Comics Junk Mail Posters The Internet Signs Phone Books Directories Atlases

6. Mem Fox’s 10 Commandments 1. Spend at least ten wildly happy minutes every single day reading aloud. 2. Read at least three stories a day: it may be the same story three times. Children need to hear a thousand stories before they can begin to learn to read. 3. Read aloud with animation. Listen to your own voice and don’t be dull, or flat, or boring. 4. Read with joy and enjoyment.

7. Mem Fox’s 10 Commandments 5. Read the stories that the kids love, over and over and over again, and always read in the same ‘tune’ for each book: i.e. with the same intonations on each page, each time. 6. Let children hear lots of language by talking to them constantly about the pictures, or anything else connected to the book. 7. Look for rhyme, rhythm or repetition in books.

8. 8. Play games with the things that are on the page, such as letting kids finish rhymes, and finding the letters that start the child’s name, remembering that it’s never work, it’s always a fabulous game. 9. Never get tense around books. 10. Please read aloud every day, mums and dads, because you just love being with your child, not because it’s the right thing to do. Mem Fox’s 10 Commandments

9. Transition Reading Programs Literacy Hour- Jolly Phonics - Guided Reading - Casey the Caterpillar - A Sound Way - Magic 100 Words Buddy ReadingTwo children take turns to read independently to each other, while the teachers listen to individual children read.

10. PM Benchmark  PM Benchmark is a leveled reading program that we use to assess at what level the children are reading.  Children are given a book to read and the teacher takes notes using a running record sheet to record errors and comprehension.  A formula is then applied to find a percentage. This percentage tells us what level to use to help the child learn to read, including particular strategies to teach.  If children score 95% or above and their answers to the comprehension questions are satisfactory, then that is the level they will receive for home reading.

11.  Sight words are words that cannot be sounded out successfully to gain meaning.  Here are a few to try. See if you can sound them out the was come  Sight words will be sent home with some children with their home reader and Jolly Phonics Sound Book. Sight words

12. Magic 100 Words The Magic 100 Words is a program to teach children their sight words. Below is some information from their website Learning to Read - The Most Important Words In English there are 100 frequently occurring words that make up, on average, half of all the words used in reading and writing. The first 12 most frequently occurring words appear so often they make up on average, one quarter or one in every four words. The next 20 most commonly used words together with the first 12 words (32 words) make up, on average, one third of all words in reading and writing. The remaining 68 most frequently occurring words (100 words), make up the 100 most important words in learning to read, as they account for one half or one in every two words, on average, that we use in reading and writing. http://www.magicwords.com.au/about-magic-words

14. Some reading strategies

16. Which Home Reader are you?

17. Set aside 10 minutes, find a quiet, comfortable spot Discuss front & back cover of the book Predict what the book is going to be about Go through book, looking at pictures. Look for some known words. Start reading from the beginning. Please don’t cover the pictures. If your child balks/stops at a word, give them time to attempt a strategy independently, then suggest one or two of the previous strategies. Home Reading

18. Don’t let your child become frustrated, if they are struggling tell them the word. You may need to support them using the reading strategies. At the end of the book, have your child summarise the story to check for comprehension. Ask some questions, especially ones that require the children to use their ideas to give the answer. Re-read the text with a focus on fluency and expression.

19. Check Out Thanks for taking the time to come tonight. We hope you enjoyed yourselves and found our information helpful. Check out Question: How do you feel now?