The Reading Railroad 008

In this issue:
I. Developing Initial Sound Fluency
II. Study Links TV Watching With Kids’ Reading Troubles
III. The Reading - Writing Connection
IV. Fun Free Interactive Sites for Reading & Science
V. Book of the Month for Kids
VI. Book of the Month for Parents
    How to Get Your Child to Love Reading: For Ravenous and     Reluctant Readers Alike
VII. Working from Home
VIII. Past issues of the Reading Railroad

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I. Developing Initial Sound Fluency
   An Important Pre-Reading Skill
There are many wonderful pre-reading activities that children and parents can do together. An important and often overlooked skill is developing initial sound fluency.

Initial sound fluency is the ability for children to hear and properly identify the initial sound or beginning sound of words. Example: in the word "bat", the initial sound is the sound that the letter b makes.

Word of caution: Do not isolate the sound by asking your child to say, "bbbb" for the letter b. Taking words apart and isolating a sound is the act of learning how to spell a word. Reading is putting sounds together.

Training our ears to hear different sounds in words helps a child develop phonemic awareness and become confident in the ability to attack and sound out words that children don't instantly recognize.

Here are some of my favorite games that I like to play to develop initial sound fluency. In the beginning work with one to two consonants at a time. When these are mastered, work on an additional two to three sounds while reviewing the sounds that were mastered.

• Playing this game in the car accomplishes three outcomes - developing listening skills, learning to follow oral directions, and keeping your child(ren) occupied!

  "I am thinking of a word that is a color and it begins with the same sound as the word bike. What is it?" (blue)

  If you child can't seem to figure out the word, give him / her a couple of hints: "Let's try again. It's the color of water, the color of the sky."

  Give positive reinforcement as soon as your child gives the correct answer.
  "Yes, that's great! Bike and Blue begin with the same sound."

  IF this game is frustrating and your child cannot seem to grasp it, it just means that s/he is not ready to learn this pre-reading skill. Try again in a couple of weeks or a month. Every child has their own natural readiness time to learn.

  A similar game: "I am thinking of a word that rhymes with cat, begins with the letter b, and it is something you hit a ball with. What is it?" Because this is a new game, help your child when s/he gets stuck. What is most important is to have fun.

• Magazine Collages - Every household is bound to have an old magazine and a pair of scissors.

  Ask you child, "What is your favorite letter of the day?"

  Have your child cut the letter out of the magazine and paste it on a large piece of paper. Then have him / her find a picture of a person, place or thing that begins with that letter. Have your child cut the picture out of the magazine and glue picture next to the letter. S/he can find other pictures that will match the beginning sound of the day.

  Another version is for you to cut out the picture of the initial sound that you are working on that day. Paste that picture at the top of a piece of paper. Then have your child find pictures of items that begin with the same sound and paste them on the paper. Help your child if s/he gets stuck.

• Sorting Games - You can play this game with any available household containers. Concentrate on working with a couple of consonants. Put a picture in the bottom or side of several containers that has the initial sound of the consonant that you're working with. Find and cut out several pictures per consonant. Place these pictures in a different container or bag. Have your child pull out a picture and place it in the correct container that also has the same inital sound picture on it.

• Mix and match - Working with a 5 - 7 beginning consonant sounds, make two cards of the same picture. Lay all the cards out in front of your child, face down. Play the matching game by turning over the cards and having your child identify the letter that corresponds to the initial sound and see if they can remember where the matching card is.

  After your child has mastered a few beginning letter sounds you can do a more advanced version of this game. Have two different pictures that begin with the same beginning sounds and have your child match those cards.

• Traditional Card Games - Any childhoold games like Go Fish, Rummy or Hearts can be played by making your own set of cards with matching pictures on them.

  "Do you have any cards that start with the same sound as the word toy?"

  You can also modify any old board game to play similar games with. Make up your own rules. Be creative. Have fun.

Children love to play games with adults. They love repetition and never seem to get bored. Although preparation will take you some time, your child will reap the rewards.

II. Study Links TV Watching With Kids’ Reading Troubles (Deseret News)
Children who live in homes where the television is on most of the time may have more trouble learning to read than other kids, a study says. Click here for more.

III. The Reading-Writing Connection
Help your child start a journal.

This is the time I year I start to shop for gifts for my grandchildren. At Office Depot I came across The Crayola Writing Journal. At the top of each page is a very large space for a child to draw a picture. Underneath are lines to write what the picture is all about.

Have your child draw a picture. Then ask your child to tell you a story about the picture. If your child is not writing yet, with your child's permission (after all this is his / her masterpiece) write the story below the picture. Then read the story back to your child.

IV. Fun Free Interactive Sites that encourages Reading & Science

• exZOOberance - Celebrating the Animal Kingdom

• A simple-to-make origami butterfly

• The Literacy Center.
  Teaches your child shapes, letters, colors, words and more...

• The Idea Box
  Gives you links to a game a day.

V. Book of the Month for Kids

This is the perfect season to give those wonderful, spiritual books that impart the values of love, giving, friendship and acceptance.
Here are a few of my favorites...

VI. Book of the Month for Parents
How to Get Your Child to Love Reading: For Ravenous and Reluctant Readers Alike

Esme Raji Codell spoke at our local library in November. Her book has indispensable ideas for getting children to love the written word.

VII. Working From Home

Site-Build - I always wanted to build a web site to contribute to the greatness of children and did not know the first thing about doing so. Then I was referred to Site-Build. It is a program that gives the average person a means to fulfill their dreams. You do not need to know the html codes nor do you need to be experienced on the internet. It is a complete package for the novice. Look at this Quick Tour Slide Show...

An internet buddy from New Zealand had sent me this and I was intrigued:

Site Build It!
Why build JUST a Web site... when you COULD build a Web BUSINESS?

Whaa-la... my www.super-science-fair-projects.com site was born!

Site Build It! SweepStakes
There are not gimmicks.

VIII. Past issues of the Reading Railroad
Back Issues of the Reading Railroad

Madeline Binder

To go to How to Build A Train Table from The Reading Railroad 008