Reading Rockets has packed a “virtual beach bag” of activities for teachers to help families get ready for summer and to launch students to fun, enriching summertime experiences. Educators will find materials to download and distribute as well as ideas and resources to offer to students and parents to help ensure summer learning gain rather than loss.
This checklist helps parents find out how well they are doing in creating a literacy-rich environment in their home, and what more they can do to enrich their child’s exposure to books and reading.
The goal of phonics instruction is to help children learn the alphabetic principle — the idea that letters represent the sounds of spoken language — and that there is an organized, logical, and predictable relationship between written letters and spoken sounds.
Drawing on research-based principles of vocabulary instruction and multimedia learning, this article presents 10 strategies that use free digital tools and Internet resources to engage students in vocabulary learning. The strategies are designed to support the teaching of words and word learning strategies, promote students’ strategic use of on-demand web-based vocabulary tools, and increase students’ volume of reading and incidental word learning.
Take this simple quiz to help you become more mindful in using digital technology with young children. It’s all about content that is educational and developmentally appropriate, a context that encourages conversation and learning, and the needs of each individual child.
Writing allows children to express their thoughts, creativity, and uniqueness. It is a fundamental way in which children learn to think critically, organize and communicate ideas, and make thinking visible and permanent. And learning to write well helps children to be better readers!
Many teachers will be using supplemental phonics and word-recognition materials to enhance reading instruction for their students. In this article, the authors provide guidelines for determining the accessibility of these phonics and word recognition programs.
Discover some simple hands-on activities and games that can be done at home or in the backyard to help your child develop a deeper understanding of cause and effect — and strengthen reading comprehension and scientific inquiry skills.
Electronic children’s books are becoming more widely available. Here you’ll discover practical tips for sharing e-books with your child, and how to keep the focus on reading and the story.
What’s typical development? And what can parent do to be sure their child is getting the stimulation he or she needs? Here’s a list of what to look for as a child learns and grows from infancy to preschool.
Summer is a welcome break from the pace of the school year. But it’s important to keep the learning going! Here are some ideas about how to make summer a great time for reading, writing, exploring, thinking, creating, and learning with your kids.
The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association offers these age-appropriate ways that parents can engage their young children to help develop speech and language abilities.
Phonemic awareness training is essential for students who are at risk for reading difficulties. This article describes the components of phonemic awareness and provides activities that special educators can use to provide this training to at risk students.
PBS Kids has been a leader in autism awareness, developing original programming for television, web, and mobile platforms. Learn about the children’s program and find links to games for kids and companion resources for parents and educators.
The following are sample charts you can use when assessing students informally in the classroom. Most of the assessments here should be given one-on-one.
Thinking about the sounds in words is not natural, but it can be fun. Here are some games children can play to develop phonemic awareness, as well as a method for segmenting words that prevents children from distorting the pronunciation of the phonemes.
Knowledge does much more than just help students hone their thinking skills: It actually makes learning easier. Knowledge is not only cumulative, it grows exponentially. Those with a rich base of factual knowledge find it easier to learn more — the rich get richer.
Giving kids a summer full of reading and learning. School may be out, but learning is still in. In Adventures in Summer Learning, you’ll meet parents, teachers, and researchers in Washington, D.C., Detroit, and Boston who are discovering the best ways to keep kids engaged with learning during the long summer break — and avoid the “summer slump.”
