Does Your Kindergartner Struggle with Beginning Reading Skills?
Ball Begins With B!
The Cow That Went OINK
This recommended children's book is about Juno and his grandmother, who is Korean. Juno鈥檚 grandmother sends him a letter, but Juno can鈥檛 read Korean. Juno decides to write back to his grandmother in drawings. Soon grandmother and Juno are sharing words and pictures with each other. Grandmother sends a miniature plane in an envelope to convey to Juno that she is coming for a visit.
Oral Language
Introduce the book. Talk about the author and illustrator and what they both do. Look at the front cover of the book and read the title. Ask your child who the little boy on the cover might be.
Make a prediction about the story. You might say:
鈥淲e begin a letter with the word, 鈥楧ear.鈥 In this story someone wrote Juno a letter starting, 鈥楧ear Juno.鈥 I wonder who sent a letter to Juno.鈥
Oral Language
Introduce and define words that your child may not be familiar with. Some interesting words from the story include: 鈥渟tarry,鈥 鈥渃risp,鈥 鈥渟oared,鈥 鈥渁nnounced鈥 and 鈥渃rackle.鈥 Use a dictionary or look online to find simple definitions to share with your child as you introduce the new words. For your own ease, you can write short definitions on sticky notes and place them in the book on the same page as the vocabulary words.
Letter Knowledge
As you read the story, sweep your finger from left to right and top to bottom. Touch Juno鈥檚 name and identify the letters that spell his name. As you continue to read, invite your child to look for Juno鈥檚 name in the text. Provide clues by directing your child to the line where the word may appear. To make it easier, just look for the uppercase J.聽聽
Phonological Awareness
Play 鈥淚 Spy鈥 using letter sounds and word parts. Say the beginning sound of something found in the illustration. See if your child can find something that begins with the same sound. You might say:
鈥淚 see something that begins with the sound /l/. Can you find it? It begins with /l/ and ends with /r/. Do you see it? I鈥檓 going to say it slowly: 鈥榣et 鈥 ter.鈥 Can you say it fast? Now, find it in the picture.鈥
Beginning Writing
After reading, talk about how Juno and his grandmother were able to communicate, even though they lived in different places and spoke different languages. They told each other stories through drawings, photographs and objects in their letters. Have your child draw/write a letter to someone in a different city, state or country.聽聽
Explore other recommended children's books and reading activities for 5-year-olds, or take the Reading BrightStart! Preschool Reading Screener. The screener can help you determine if your child is on the path to reading readiness, and provides a free plan for moving forward.