Home Reading Program

Sheridan Public School	1555 Lancaster Drive ♦ Oakville ♦ Ontario ♦ L6H 3H4 ♦ 905 845-3925 ♦ Absence Check: 905 845-3504 ♦ HDSB

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School Wide Home Reading Program

Dear Parents,

As members of the Sheridan learning community, we are aware of your belief that parents should play an active role in their child's learning. In fact, research shows that involved parents have a very positive impact on their child's success at school. This year, we are continuing with our school wide Home Reading Program which continues to strengthen our partnership with families in supporting improved student literacy skills. Research shows that time spent reading is the main indicator of reading success as students progress through elementary school, and children who spend more time independently engaged in text are exposed to more words, more facts, and more background knowledge than their peers who only read when asked to do so at school.

As part of this "Home Reading Program" students are expected to read a book and record it on their reading calendar log a minimum of 2 nights per week. Reading each night is ideal but we understand that it may be difficult with other family commitments. Every evening, your child will bring home their Reading Log with a "Just Right" book to read. Teachers will assist students in choosing "Just Right" books that match individual student reading levels. Practical strategies to guide you and your child while reading are included in the "Tips" section below. Many suggestions are provided to give a broad range of possible things to do at all grade levels. Read through them and choose the ones that you think would be most helpful for you and your child. The "Genres at a Glance" chart will assist you in identifying the type of book you are reading together.

Please be sure that the Reading Log Calendar is returned to school each day. After each reading session, help your child complete the appropriate section and then initial the Reading Log.

If you have any suggestions/comments/questions, please feel free to write a quick note to your child's teacher.

Thank you and happy reading!

Tips to Help Your Child With Reading
Helping Your Child With Reading and Writing: A Guide for Parents Ministry of Eduation, Ontario

Tip #1 - Make Reading Fun
Reading aloud to your child is the best way to get him or her interested in reading. Here are some things you can do to help make reading fun:
• Read all kinds of materials - stories, poems, informational books, magazines, newspaper articles, and comics.
• Read stories aloud with drama and excitement! Use different voices for different characters in a story.
• Re-read your child's favourite stories as many times as your child wants to hear them and get him or her to join in while pointing to words.
• Read stories with repetitive parts, and encourage your child to join in.
• Discuss the themes of a story, and ask questions about the characters. Ask questions that make your child think about what might happen next or what he or she might do in the same situation.

Tip #2 - Read Every Day
Try to read with your child as often as possible. It is the most important thing you can do to help him or her learn at school. It will also allow you to spend high-quality time together and to develop a strong and healthy relationship that is built on sharing of ideas. Here are some suggestions:
• Set aside a special time each day when you can give your full attention to reading with your child and choose a comfortable spot to read, where you can be close to your child.
• Choose many different books, and different genres.
• Vary the length of reading time depending on your child's age, interests, and grade.
• Read slowly but fluently, so that your child can make a mental picture of what is happening in the story and stop to discuss the story if your child has a question or if you may have a comment to make.
• Praise your child for talking about his or her ideas and asking questions
Above all, never stop reading to your child, even after your child has learned to read. By reading stories that will interest your child but are above his or her reading level, you can stretch your child's understanding and keep alive the magic of sharing books together.

Tip #3 - Talk About Books
Here are some ways to help your child learn the skills needed for comprehension, reasoning, and critical thinking:
• Look at the cover and the title of a storybook with your child, and ask your child what he or she thinks might happen in the story (predicting).
• Encourage your child to ask questions and to make comments on the pictures and the story before, during, and after reading it.
• Have your child retell the main parts of the text. Ask questions to encourage him or her to provide detail and help organize thoughts
• Encourage your child to think critically about all books. Does he or she agree or disagree with the author? Why? Is the information accurate or not?
• Think out loud about a book as you read, and encourage your child to do the same.
• Be positive and encourage your child to share his or her opinions and feelings
• Show interest in what your child is saying by being a good listener.

Tip #4 - Listen to Your Child Read
As your child learns to read, it is very important to listen to him or her read aloud. Reading to you will give your child a chance to improve his or her reading skills or fluency with repeated practice. By doing this, he or she will build confidence and gain a better understanding of what has been read. Finally, don't forget to encourage your child to read on his or her own. Here are some tips:
• Show your child that you are enjoying the book by showing interest and asking questions.
• Make sure that your child selects books that aren't too difficult. Don't worry if your child chooses books that are a little easier than the ones he or she reads at school.
• Encourage your child to "listen" to his or her own reading. Listening will help him or her to hear mistakes and try to fix them.
• When your child is just beginning to read, you may want to "share" the reading. You can take turns, or try reading together.
• After reading, talk about the story to make sure that your child understood it.

Tip #5 - Help Your Child Understand What He or She Reads
It is not only important that your child read the words in a text fluently and with appropriate expression but also understand the meaning of what he or she is reading. You can help your child read with understanding by giving him or her assistance in using various comprehension strategies, such as these:
• Making connections to things he or she already knows
• Creating mental pictures of what's happening in a story
• Asking questions while reading such as, "Why is this happening?", "What might happen next?", or "Does this make sense?". Such questions help children make connections among various parts of a story.
• Determining important points
• Reading "between the lines". Your child needs to learn to use information in the story, and from his or her own knowledge and experience, in order to make inferences - that is, to discover meaning that is not stated outright. This strategy of reading "between the lines" involves gathering clues and using them to "create" meaning.
• Synthesizing or summarizing information
• Using strategies for figuring out difficult words. There are various strategies that your child can use to figure out a word he or she doesn't know or a difficult word. If sounding out the word doesn't work, encourage your child to: - divide the word into smaller parts
- reread the words before and after the difficult word
- skip over the word for the moment and read on farther
- talk about what he or she has read so far to check understanding

Tip #6 - Bring "Critical Literacy" Into Your Home
Changes in society are occurring so rapidly that we need to take time to think about whether they will have positive or negative effects upon our way of living. Critical literacy is the practice of examining and discussing the UNDERLYING MESSAGES in print or in other media in order to better understand the world in which we live. It shows us ways of looking at written, visual, spoken, and multi-media materials to understand, question, and challenge the attitudes, values and beliefs that lie beneath the surface. Here are some ways that you can help your child develop his or her capability in critical reading:
• Talk about the purpose of a book or article and the author's reasons for writing it
• Help your child understand that materials in print or other media convey a particular viewpoint or perspective.
• Share your point of view about a story or an article.
• Discuss ways in which language is used for persuasion (i.e. language in advertising and in methods used to persuade viewers to watch a television show).
• Explore different interpretations of an event that are expressed by other readers (i.e. letters to the editor).
• Respect you child's ideas, opinions, and feelings.

Genres at a Glance

Fiction
Code	Genre	Definition
TL	Traditional Literature	Stories that are passed down from one group toanother in history. This includes folktales, legends,fables, fairy tales, tall tales, and myths from different cultures.
F	Fantasy	A story including elements that are impossible such as talking animals or magical powers. Make-believe is what this genre is all about.
SF	Science Fiction	A type of fantasy that uses science and technology (robots, time machines, etc.)
RF	Realistic Fiction	A story using made-up characters that could happen in real life.
HF	Historical Fiction	A fictional story that takes place in a particular time period in the past. Often the setting is real, but the characters are made up from the author’s imagination.
M	Mystery	A suspenseful story about a puzzling event that is not solved until the end of the story.

Nonfiction
	Code	Genre	Definition
	I	Informational	Texts that provide facts about a variety of topics (sports, animals, science, history, careers, travel, geography, space, weather, etc.)
	B	Biography	The story of a real person’s life written by another person.
	AB	Autobiography	The story of a real person’s life that is written by that person.

Other Genre
	Code	Genre	Definition
	P	Poetry	Poetry is verse written to create a response of thought and feeling from the reader. It often uses rhythm and rhyme to help convey its meaning.