While it may seem painfully and ridiculously obvious, my first literacy tip is...READ...and do it often. Read with your children, read to your children, and let your children see you reading.
Like any other undertaking, reading skills can only improve with practice.
As a classroom teacher, I assigned my students thirty minutes of reading for pleasure each school night. They were to spend this time reading a book of their choice, not assigned homework. In addition to that, we had thirty minutes of D.E.A.R. (Drop Everything And Read) in the classroom every day, where everyone, including me, put everything else aside and read a book for pleasure. It was the highlight of every one's day!!
By the end of each school year, my students and their parents were astounded at how enormously their literacy skills had improved and how much they simply enjoyed the act of reading. Parents who were (understandably) irritated with me at the beginning of the school year for assigning thirty minutes of reading time on top of homework were thanking me by the year's end!
While it was a very simple activity, the reading my students did on a daily basis was the secret to their true enjoyment of literature.
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2 comments:
This "simple" idea can lead to profound results. My mother read to me every time I asked (which was pretty often) when I was very young. Then, one night my mother heard me talking over a book, she walked up behind me and saw that I was pointing to a word as I read. After that evening I could not get enough books.
Reading has become one of the most important parts of my life and one of the reasons I was an honor student in school. Yes, keep reading and read often as it can take you to places you would otherwise never go.
Thank you for sharing your reading experience and visiting my blog!!!
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