MSI Press Blog

Today's tip for parents from two talented teachers comes from  365 Teacher Secrets for Parents  by Cindy McKinley Alder and Patti Trombly. #96 SQ3R: Survey A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.  ~Confucius   Imagine walking into a crowded room at a party. When you walk in, you may stop and take a look around the room and gather information about what and who you see. You might see some friends, a table with food, an empty chair, etc. You use that information to make a decision on what to do next. You are surveying the room. Surveying a book works in a similar way. SURVEY, the first part of SQ3R, means to have your child give a quick look through what he is about to read and gather information. Imagine he has a chapter to read in Social Studies about the Declaration of Independence. Here are some things to Survey: ●        Have him read the title and guess what it’s about. ●        Look thr...

  Today's tip for parents from two talented teachers comes from  365 Teacher Secrets for Parents  by Cindy McKinley Alder and Patti Trombly. #95 SQ3R: A Reading Comprehension Technique   There are many little ways to enlarge your child's world. Love of books is the best of all. ~ Jacqueline Kennedy     If your child has ever read something and afterward can’t answer many questions about it, you know her comprehension was insufficient. It is possible for a child to be able to read out loud fluently, even expressively, and yet not remember much (or anything) of what they read. It is important to keep in mind the true definition of reading which involves not just saying the words but also understanding the words and constructing meaning from those words. If your child is not doing that, is she really reading? Since informational text can be more difficult to understand and, therefore, to read, it is important to offer children strategies t...

Today's tip for parents from two talented teachers comes from  365 Teacher Secrets for Parents  by Cindy McKinley Alder and Patti Trombly. #94   Begin at the Beginning: KWL   The things I want to know are in books. My best friend is the man who'll get me a book I haven't read.  ~Abraham Lincoln   Perhaps the first step in understanding informational text is to start even before you read. How can you do that, you might ask? The KWL Method is one commonly used in elementary classrooms. It is usually done for one particular subject that a child is going to read about. Use a piece of paper turned sideways with two lines dividing it into three vertical sections as follows:   K= KNOW: Your child writes down (or you can write for a younger child) what he already knows about the subject. Write down everything, whether or not it actually is correct.   W= WANT to know: In this column, your child records his questions about the subject. What does he want to ...

  Today's tip for parents from two talented teachers comes from  365 Teacher Secrets for Parents  by Cindy McKinley Alder and Patti Trombly. #93 Functional Reading   Once you learn to read, you will be forever free ~ Frederick Douglass   Just as inside your home there are so many opportunities for reading, out in the world there are, too. While you don’t want to turn every outing into a reading lesson, there are many ways you can gently, naturally encourage reading while you and your child are out and about. Many young children learn to recognize store and restaurant signs and have fun reading them. Play a game, and see how many she can recognize during a drive. Point out that she is reading! At the grocery store, she may recognize cereal names and the like. Can she read some items on the menu at the restaurant? Very early readers are helped along by reading common things around the house that you have labeled with notecards: refrigerator, stove, closet, bedroom...