There are a ton of ways you can promote literacy at home! We define literacy as proficiency in reading, writing, speaking, listening, problem solving, and critical thinking. The focus of today’s blog post will be building vocabulary, comprehension and fluency in the reading component of literacy. There are so many fun ways to help your student at home; games, books and film and read alouds are a great way to start.
Vocabulary
Vocabulary is important in helping your student understand conversations, books, tests, movies and more! Plus, a rich vocabulary helps your student communicate their ideas. The best part about learning vocabulary is that it can be turned into a fun game. Pull some words out of a book, article, etc. or have your student bring new words to you. Then make flashcards, and play a game like vocabulary stories. To play spread out flash cards and work together to tell a story, taking turns adding new sentences to your story. The catch is that you must use a vocabulary word in each sentence. Bonus idea: word of the week, write the word of the week on the fridge and see which family member can use the word the most in the period of one week!
Comprehension
Comprehension is the ability to understand texts, television, conversations and more! You can help your student build comprehension at home by holding conversations and discussing what your child read. Ask your child probing questions and connect the events to their own life. Some questions you can ask are: “I wonder why that girl did that?” or “So, what lesson can we learn here?” Another great way to help your child make connections with the texts they are reading is relating it to similar experiences they have seen in a movie or read in a different book.
Fluency
Fluency is the ability to read accurately, expressively and at an appropriate pace. You can model fluency during read alouds to your student, in either English or Spanish. Don’t have time for a full on read aloud? Have your child listen to a recording of you reading aloud and have them follow along in the book. Bonus tip: Teton County Library is a wonderful resource for audio books and books on tape! Repeated reading is also a great way fluency can be built at home. By rereading a passage or a book multiple times, your student will become more comfortable with the text and it gives them the opportunity to practice fluent reading without having to worry about new words.
There are so many more ways that you can help your student build vocabulary, comprehension and fluency at home. Talk with a TLC staff member next time you’re here, and they can give you even more ideas for your at home literacy journey!
Vocabulary is important in helping your student understand conversations, books, tests, movies and more! Plus, a rich vocabulary helps your student communicate their ideas. The best part about learning vocabulary is that it can be turned into a fun game. Pull some words out of a book, article, etc. or have your student bring new words to you. Then make flashcards, and play a game like vocabulary stories. To play spread out flash cards and work together to tell a story, taking turns adding new sentences to your story. The catch is that you must use a vocabulary word in each sentence. Bonus idea: word of the week, write the word of the week on the fridge and see which family member can use the word the most in the period of one week!
Comprehension
Comprehension is the ability to understand texts, television, conversations and more! You can help your student build comprehension at home by holding conversations and discussing what your child read. Ask your child probing questions and connect the events to their own life. Some questions you can ask are: “I wonder why that girl did that?” or “So, what lesson can we learn here?” Another great way to help your child make connections with the texts they are reading is relating it to similar experiences they have seen in a movie or read in a different book.
Fluency
Fluency is the ability to read accurately, expressively and at an appropriate pace. You can model fluency during read alouds to your student, in either English or Spanish. Don’t have time for a full on read aloud? Have your child listen to a recording of you reading aloud and have them follow along in the book. Bonus tip: Teton County Library is a wonderful resource for audio books and books on tape! Repeated reading is also a great way fluency can be built at home. By rereading a passage or a book multiple times, your student will become more comfortable with the text and it gives them the opportunity to practice fluent reading without having to worry about new words.
There are so many more ways that you can help your student build vocabulary, comprehension and fluency at home. Talk with a TLC staff member next time you’re here, and they can give you even more ideas for your at home literacy journey!