READING STRATEGIES

Here are some reading strategies to help your child improve his/her reading skills.

Strategy

 Definition

Point to Words

• for beginner readers, point to each word

Use Picture Clues

• look at the picture on the page

Cover Up Endings

• put finger over endings (such as -ed in played, read "play", and then "played")

Read Ahead

• skip the unknown word, read to the end of the sentence to figure out unknown word

Look for a Little Word in a Longer Word

• example:  Monday, look for the word "day"

Look for Chunks

• a chunk is a vowel and the consonants that follow it, example:  ack - look for the chunk -ack in back

Look Back

• look back at what has been read to understand what is written

Look at the First and Last Letters

• when a word is unknown, look at the first and last letter of the word to see what makes sense

Chunk It

• divide word into parts

Stop and Think

• pause and think about what has been read

Read it Again

• re-read the sentence to see if it makes sense

Ask an Expert

• if none of the other strategies work, ask someone for help