For parents of soon-to-be kindergartners and first graders, helping their children be prepared for the start of school can be exciting and daunting (and not just for students).
What can parents do over the summer to help their children maintain the growth they made this past year in preschool or kindergarten and be ready to tackle new topics and skills in the fall?
Below is one way parents can read and explore books over the summer. This model can be adapted for both fiction and nonfiction texts and follows how many teachers practice guided reading, which children may experience the first time in the upcoming school year.
I’m going to model how parents can practice reading using the text, David’s Drawings.
We do not need to, nor should we, ask every question for every book during every reading time. We may have only four minutes of our child’s attention one day and maybe twenty on another. The goal is not to drill our youngest learners in Common Core standards by the start of school.
Rather, the ultimate goal here is to show our beginning and soon-to-be readers how reading can be a joyful, positive experience. This mindset will set them up for the best start to their school journey.
Getting Ready to Read
1. Questions to ask and talk through with our rising kinders or first graders about the book:
- Who is the author? / Show me where the author is on the cover. What does an author do?
- Who is the illustrator? / Show me where the illustrator is on the cover. What does an illustrator do?
- Where is the front cover? The back cover? The title page of the book?
- As we read, which direction do we read the words?
2. Practice making predictions:
- Together, look at the front cover. Using the title and picture on the cover, ask: what might happen in the story? What makes you think that?
- Take a picture walk through the book. Ask: What do you think this story will be about? What do you notice when you look through this book?
3. Build background schema and draw on your child’s past experiences:
- What do you know about drawing, or making a picture?
- What types of things do you like to draw?
- Where do artists get their ideas for drawings and paintings?
- Who might help you draw a picture?
Reading the Book
- As you begin to read, make sure the book is between both of you so your child can clearly see the text (and illustrations) and be in the position of the reader (rather than a regular listener at a group story time).
- Make sure to point your finger to each word as it is read aloud. In doing so, your child can follow the text as well as the storyline and learn that we derive meaning from print—we in fact are not just making up a story to match the pictures we are seeing!
Video examples of parents reading with primary grade students:
- Drop Everything and Read: Family Style from TeachingChannel
- How to Read Out Loud with Your Preschooler from Scholastic Parents
After Reading
Discuss the meaning of the text. Here are some questions to check comprehension during and after the reading. (CCSS Key Ideas and Details)
- Who is the main character? Or, who is David?
- Where does the story take place? When does the story take place?
- Where does David get his idea for his picture?
- What details do his classmates add to David’s tree?
- How does David feel when the other children draw on his picture? Share a time you felt the same way.
- Why do you think David decides to make another drawing when he arrives home?
- What does this story remind you of?
- Could this really happen?
- Do you think David is polite? Why or why not?
- If you were to add one more page to the story, what do you think would happen next?
- Why do you think the author, Cathryn Falwell, picks the title, David’s Drawings? Do you think this is a good title for the book? Why do you think so?
- What do you think might happen the next time David starts a drawing in class?
- Why do you think David isn’t shy anymore at the end of the story?
- What was an interesting part for you in the story? Or, what part of the story made you smile? Why?
Video examples demonstrating book comprehension:
- Showing Understanding and Demonstrating What They Learn from Milestones, a collection of videos aimed at parents from Great Schools
- 40-year veteran kindergarten educator models how to read with your child and talk about the book from Southwest Michigan’s Second Wave
- Kindergarten Read Aloud with David’s Drawings by Kristi Bailey
Explore foundational skills and language:
- Please show me a word that starts with the uppercase letter D. Show me a word that starts with the lowercase letter p.
- Put your finger on a word that starts with b. Put your finger on a word that ends with e.
- Can you think of another word you know that rhymes with day?
- Can you show me a sentence that has a question mark at the end? A period? An exclamation point?
- Can you show me a word that ends in –ed? –s?
- Find a word that starts with the same letter as your name.
- Find a word that ends with the same letter as your name.
- Find a word that has a letter that is in your name.
- Can you show me the (high frequency) words: the, of, and, a, to, you, on, I, me, my? Many primary grade classrooms build reading fluency with sight word practice. For a review for rising first graders or a peak for rising kinders, here are kindergarten high frequency word lists:
- Pre-primer, primer, and first grade from Dolch Word Lists
- First Hundred list from Fry’s Words
- Kindergarten and First Grade vocabulary lists from Flocabulary
Post-Reading Activities
Done with sitting still? Time to move but keep the connections going!
1. Write or draw an answer to this question: Would you be friends with David?
2. Find a tree near school, at a park, or near your home. Sketch it using a pencil and then later decorate it.
3. Re-read the story or have another adult read the story—re-reading stories is great for helping children practice fluency, make predictions, retell events, and build confidence in eventually reading parts on their own.
For more further ideas on early literacy:
- How to Compare and Contrast in Kindergarten
- What Does Close Reading Look Like in Kindergarten?
- Integrating Reading, Writing, Speaking & Listening in Grades K-1
- Building Classroom Community in Kindergarten
Jill Eisenberg, our Senior Literacy Expert, began her career teaching English as a Foreign Language to second through sixth graders in Yilan, Taiwan as a Fulbright Fellow. She went on to become a literacy teacher for third grade in San Jose, CA as a Teach for America corps member. In her weekly column at The Open Book, she offers teaching and literacy tips for educators.
