Dear Parents/Guardians: We are very excited about starting our Home Reading program with our students!

Throughout the year, we have been emphasizing emerging literacy and we want the Home Reading program to serve as another way to help our students see themselves as readers. Although students in grades 1-3 choose books according to student reading levels, our students will choose a book based entirely on interest. We encourage parents to take 10-15 minutes each evening to read the selected Home Reading book to your child. Do you remember how excited you were when you heard your child speak their first word? You eagerly accepted whatever variations and simplifications your child used ("Ga" meant "I love my Grandma!"). Your delight encouraged your child to try many new words. Through modelling, accepting, elaborating, listening and echoing, your child learned to speak. This is the same way we want to help children learn to read. Children who see themselves as "readers" learn to read much more readily than those who tell themselves that they can't do it. We have spent time this year talking about the three ways to read a book (reading the pictures, reading the words and retelling the story). With a love for reading as our main goal for our Home Reading program, we have a few suggestions for strategies to use when reading with your child: 1. Take a picture walk: Before reading the words of the story, look at the pictures and ask questions (who, what, where, when, why, how) about the book based on the pictures. 2. Read the story aloud to your child. Reading aloud with your child is perhaps the most effective learn-to-read and love-to-read activities you can share. By reading aloud, you become a book advocate, enticing your child into an exciting new world of learning and entertainment. 3. Have your child read the story aloud to you (and anyone else!). The more they practise, the better they will become at reading! Parents often ask us about memorizing and whether this is ok- of course it is! Memorizing is a wonderful pre-reading skill to attain! The books targeted for K-1 students are often very repetitive for that very reason. 4. Encourage your child to tell others about the story they have read. Some stories are fun to role play or act out, which is also a great way to retell a story. This is one of those easy steps that can be completed during a car ride!

As your child becomes more familiar with the Home Reading program, you may find them identifying print concepts or expressing interest in learning more about the words and letters on the page. Here are some examples of ways that you can encourage decoding skills while reading: Discuss directionality (reading Left to Right) Discuss punctuation (periods, commas, exclamation marks) and their purpose Talk about spacing (between words, why some letters are together and others are separated in order to create words) Have your child point to the words you are reading as you read them Encourage identifying sounds for letters that your child has learned Assist with blending letters that they know to create simple sight words in the book (at, it, am, as, in, on)- ask your child to identify the sound that each letter in the word make and then put the sounds together Ask What sound do you hear at the beginning?", "Do you hear any other sounds?", "What letter do you think makes that sound?"

This list is not meant to be used as a test to drill kids with each time they read their book (just think about how you feel when you are constantly interrupted while reading!). We simply provide these examples in case the opportunity to talk about these print concepts arises!

Happy reading! Mrs. Burgess and Ms. Scott

*Please remind your child to respect the books while on loan. Any lost or damaged books will need to be replaced at the cost of $4.00 per book. Thank you for your support!

**Home reading books are to be exchanged on Fridays**