What is reading?

Reading is understanding what the printed words mean.

For children to become strong, independent readers, they must use a variety of strategies to figure out unknown words. By doing this, good readers are able to understand what is written on a page.

What are the strategies good readers use?

• Good readers use the knowledge they have in their head to help them make sense of reading

For example, good readers would figure out that the underlined word in the sentence, "Mary likes to ride her horse on Saturday," is horse, not house. A good reader knows that a person would ride a horse, not a house.

• Good readers also use the way sentences are put together to figure out what sounds right.

For example, good readers would know that the underlined word in the sentence above would not be horrible, because "Mary likes to ride her horrible on Saturday," wouldn't be a word that would fit in that sentence.

• Good readers use what they know about the sounds of letters and groups of letters to help them figure out words.

For example, good readers would look at horse and be able to see that the sounds of the letters would be h-or-s.

By using all three strategies, good readers are able to read and understand written language.

How can parents help?

Parents can help their children learn to use the following process to figure out unknown words. This process encourages the use of all three strategies

When children are stuck on a word they don't know, have them:

• Look at the picture and think about the story.
• Go back and read from the beginning of the sentence. When they get to the unknown word, have them say the beginning sound and slide to the end of the word.
• Read on to the end of the sentence.
• Go back and try saying the word.

Ask:

"Does it make sense?"
"Does it sound right?"
"Do the letters match the sounds?"

If the answers are yes, go on reading. If not, go back and try the process again.

What else?

Try not to interrupt your child if the error he or she makes does not change the meaning of the text. For example, if your child substitutes home for house in the sentence, "Let's go to her house," the meaning is unchanged. Those interruptions only promote the idea that reading is saying words correctly rather than getting the meaning.

When your child uses good strategies, compliment him or her for thinking and for making sense of what is being read. After all, that is what reading is all about.