Tip #111 from 365 Teacher Secrets for Parents - Choosing a Book for Its Difficulty Level
Today's tip for parents from two talented teachers comes from 365 Teacher Secrets for Parents by Cindy McKinley Alder and Patti Trombly.
#111 / Too Tough
One's mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions.
~Oliver Wendell Holmes
We’ve all picked up something to read at one time in our lives and have thought, “Whoa! What? This it too tough for me to read!” Possibly even as an adult, you have put something down because it was just too tough to understand. Of course, this happens to children much more often, especially very young readers. Idea #71 shared with you the “Rule of Thumb.” The idea was that your child should begin to read any random page of a new book she is thinking of choosing. Every time she comes to a word that she does not know, she should put down a finger, beginning with her pinky. If she reaches her thumb (the 5th tough word) by the end of the page, chances are that it is just too tough of a book. Could she still read it? Probably, yes, but this may be a good indication that comprehension will be too tough.
Informational text is often full of new vocabulary-type words. A good writer will know that these are new words for kids and make a grand effort to define them in a way kids will not find interruptive. However, not all books are the same. If your child has to continually stop reading to look up definitions, her concentration will be broken and comprehension will suffer. The Rule of Thumb may help her to see, on her own, that that book just isn’t a good choice.
What do you do, though, if your child comes home with an informational book that she has to read for some reason or is just really, really interested in? Here are a few choices:
● Preview the book with her, jotting down all words that stand out as tough. Look them up or otherwise define them together now before she even begins reading. That way, when she runs across them in her reading she may recall what they mean and not even break her reading stride. If not, she has a quick reference guide right next to her that she can glance at without stopping for too long.
● Buddy-read the book together. You can take turns reading sentences, or paragraphs, or pages, whichever seems to best suit your child. Discuss what you are reading along the way. Do some Mind Monitoring! (Idea #67 and #101.)
● You could even try echo-reading for very tough text or with very young kids. You would simply read a sentence first, and then your child echoes it back to you. Pointing to each word as you go (and asking your child to do the same) is important so she can begin to recognize those tougher words.
Having her choose and read a book that is way too difficult for her ends up being frustrating and can have a negative impact on her enjoyment of reading. When she is young, you want to do all you can to help her love reading, so encouraging her to put back a too-tough book is the right way to go. If she insists, or her teacher does, you can work together to get through it!
Cindy McKinley Alder Patti Trombly
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