Ideas and resources to help parents support reading
This collection includes handouts and web resources to share with parents in support of reading at home. There are also great tools to use in classroom projects students can create as part of a reading activity. Be sure to read "In the Classroom" portions of reviews for loads of ideas. Invite parents to see the projects online so your students can revisit them and reinforce learning at home. Reading is everywhere!
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Mem Fox: Teaching, Learning, Living - Mem Fox
Grades
K to 7
4 Favorites
0 Comments
This author page features plenty of ideas about how to help kids enjoy reading and includes many stories. Hear Mem Fox reading her own stories (click Hear Mem Read ...more
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This author page features plenty of ideas about how to help kids enjoy reading and includes many stories. Hear Mem Fox reading her own stories (click Hear Mem Read Aloud). She gives advice on how to read to children and gives great examples. This author page has many good suggestions for promoting literacy and love of reading. There is also a section of advice on writing your own picture book for children.
In the Classroom
Create shortcut to Mem reading aloud on your classroom computer for a center activity for primary grades, and place a copy of Mem's book there for students to follow along. Print out Mem's suggestions for reading aloud to give to parents at conferences or share this site on your teacher home page for parent and students to access from home. For older students, this site is an excellent resource for planning cross-grade reading activities for Read Across America or other special times, including having middle school students write picture books for young students, then share them at an in-person visit or on a podcast recording using Buzzsprout, reviewed here. Use PowerPoint Online, Microsoft PowerPoint Online, reviewed here since slides are an easy way to "create" and share large format picture books electronically.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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Kids Book Club Book - Judy Gelman and Vicki Levy Krupp
Grades
2 to 12
2 Favorites
0 Comments
This site, a companion to a print book, focuses on ideas and activities for book clubs, including short summaries of books, recipes, and activities paired up with featured books. ...more
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This site, a companion to a print book, focuses on ideas and activities for book clubs, including short summaries of books, recipes, and activities paired up with featured books. Books included are of many levels and genres, all of high interest for children. Children's authors write some of the book reviews; book club members are welcome to list their book club, book descriptions, and activities on the site as well. Links include an author section with a comprehensive list of authors who will speak to your book clubs by phone and authors and illustrators willing to visit your school.
In the Classroom
Find food ideas and activities to promote reading on this site! Mention this site to your school librarian for use with school book clubs. FCS teachers may want to coordinate some of the recipes with books featured in language arts class. Parents would appreciate the link on your teacher web page or newsletter so they can encourage reading at home. Your school parent organization can find great ideas, as well. Make this link part of your family literacy treasury.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Helping Children Get Ready to Read - Kent District Library
Grades
K to 2
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This library-prepared website is all about helping parents develop early literacy skills. Options include video demonstrations of how to read books to kids and many developmental activities...more
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This library-prepared website is all about helping parents develop early literacy skills. Options include video demonstrations of how to read books to kids and many developmental activities including things to do around the house, pre-reading activities, early reading skills information available in TWENTY-SEVEN languages, and many printable reading activities. Check out the Make and Take section: hands-on activities that help children develop the habit of using books. Activities include Activities for Print Motivation, Print Awareness, Phonological Awareness, Vocabulary, Narrative Skills, Letter Knowledge etc. These well-explained activities are fun and original. Many parts of the site are available in Spanish as well as English. Videos on this site require RealPlayer and Windows Media Player. Get them from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page..
In the Classroom
Share the printables and information about the website with parents at open house or conferences and include the link on your teacher web page. Spanish-speaking families will enjoy hearing about this site as well.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Citebite Bookmarklet - Abstract Factory
Grades
K to 12
7 Favorites
0 Comments
Imagine being able to give students (or parents) an exact link to a specific quote within a web page. Why would you want to? Perhaps you want to send students ...more
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Imagine being able to give students (or parents) an exact link to a specific quote within a web page. Why would you want to? Perhaps you want to send students to a certain paragraph for an activity: for reading comprehension, for reading a specific portion of text, or even for highlighting a literary device within a text or poem. Students will no longer waste time, announcing, "I can't find it!" or return to school saying they couldn't do the homework! Use for FireFox, Safari, and Internet Explorer browsers.
tag(s): internet safety (112), literacy (110), quotations (20), safety (69)
In the Classroom
Tool can be used in less than 30 seconds. Open TWO windows in Internet Explorer or any web browser. One should be open to citebite; the other to the web page you wish to reference. On that web page, locate and "highlight" the exact passage of text you want to "send" people to see. Copy/paste the passage into the quotation box at Citebite (copy, then change windows). Return to the target web page and copy/paste its actual URL into Citebite. Click "Make Citebite." Copy/paste the new url, indicated after "Your citebite link is:" Note: if the original quote is within a FLASH presentation, it will not copy/paste or generate a Citebite. See this example of a Citebite link to a tip about TeachersFirst Edge tools.Have your middle and high school students do a web page "credibility critique" on their potential sources by using Citebite before they start a research project. They can highlight passages as proof of credibility -- or lack thereof -- and give you the Citebite links. They will love this easy way to reference a specific portion of a page. You will love the ease of finding it. If you give them a Word document table as a web site evaluation rubric, they can paste the Citebites there, with their comments in the neighboring cell!
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Online Magazine Resources for Kids - Owl Kids
Grades
1 to 6
1 Favorites
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This 3-in-one online magazine for elementary to middle school kids has attractive graphics, sound, games, news, e-cards, etc. and serves as a companion to paper magazines at three levels:...more
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This 3-in-one online magazine for elementary to middle school kids has attractive graphics, sound, games, news, e-cards, etc. and serves as a companion to paper magazines at three levels: Chirp, Chickadee and Owl. The Owl magazine for upper elementary to middle school is includes an online calendar with moveable stickers, word searches, jokes, a mystery in graphic novel style, and features including international, gender, and environmental awareness. All three magazines promote reading and get children into the habit of "looking" at a magazine for fun, news, and information.
tag(s): puzzles (143)
In the Classroom
This site would be a good one for students to learn the literacy skills of surveying a site to see how it is organized (just as they should do with a textbook).Whether or not you have these magazines in "hard copy" in your classroom, you can generate excitement about reading by sharing the activities on these accompanying websites. Then include the link on your teacher web page for students to explore from home or during free time. The Parents and Teachers Resources section is still under development. Children can submit their own artwork to be displayed at these sites! (Make sure you have parent permission).
This resource requires PDF reader software like Adobe Acrobat.
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Tips for Parents of Third Graders - Reading Rockets
Grades
3 to 3
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Read the tips on this web page or download a single sheet of suggestions to make reading together fun and funny for parents and kids together, while encouraging the skills ...more
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Read the tips on this web page or download a single sheet of suggestions to make reading together fun and funny for parents and kids together, while encouraging the skills to make a lifelong reader. Teachers can download the tips for third grade in NINE languages in addition to English to print out and send home with your ESL/ELL students. Their parents will appreciate the opportunity to participate in their learning, and everyone wins. Printables require Acrobat Reader.
tag(s): literacy (110)
In the Classroom
As students approach their first high-stakes testing, every little bit helps. Give these tips out at conferences, in backpacks, or as a link on your teacher web page.
This resource requires PDF reader software like Adobe Acrobat.
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Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Class unit - The Roald Dahl Story Company Limited / Quentin Blake 2018.
Grades
3 to 7
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We've found a golden ticket! The Roald Dahl Story Company offers a colorful PDF that will enhance any classroom's reading of this cherished chocolate tale by Roald Dahl. We love ...more
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We've found a golden ticket! The Roald Dahl Story Company offers a colorful PDF that will enhance any classroom's reading of this cherished chocolate tale by Roald Dahl. We love the simple but well done literacy activities accompanied by illustrated by cartoon characters. Be sure to project them as you explain the lesson. Story questions, themes, and excerpts are organized by chapter. There is a list of materials and lesson plans for sale at the end, but this review is only for this free lesson plan.
In the Classroom
This site works really well with an interactive whiteboard or projector. Students can view the cartoon figures on the board and then review what to do on the handouts on the interactive board. The printables can be used by an entire class or for individual students. During times of remote or distance learning, put a link to this site on your class web page for parents and students to use at home, with directions for what you want them to do, of course. Then ask students to create a video response about what they learned using Flip, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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