Need to Read 11

Sunday, December 25, 2005


Parents can help with reading understanding
Asking children to explain what they read is invaluable.

Many of us have heard the axiom: Young children "learn to read" while older children "read to learn." Once students reach middle school, they are expected to read, extract meaning and to make inferences using a wide variety of print and electronic sources, including textbooks, journals, CD-ROMs, the Internet and "online databases." Unfortunately middle school students often lack the reading and technology skills necessary to "read to learn."

You should help your children find Web sites or databases that are age-reading-level appropriate. Many children give up because the sites they find are too difficult for them to read.

You also should have your children read out loud to you. This will help you to assess their reading ability. You can ask them to define specific words in the reading and help them to use a dictionary to define new words.

Assist them with assignments by asking them to read titles, graphs, charts and captions to you. You also should ask them to explain the relevance of that information to the written text.

Point out important information in the text and ask your children questions about what you heard them read to check for understanding. Do not assume that your children will comprehend what they read just because they can pronounce the words.

Finally, have reading material around the house, and teach your children that reading is important by modeling reading for them. The use of these strategies should help to show a marked improvement in your children's ability to read to learn.

This series

Jill Eagen, library media specialist at Broadway Middle School in Elmira, writes today about ensuring children understand what they read. This series of monthly columns, begun in September 2004, is written by members of the Family Reading Partnership of Chemung Valley.

What can parents do to help? First, don't assume that because your preteen uses the Internet often that they can use the Internet or "online databases" to read for information. Young people spend much of their online time chatting with friends and playing games, yet they spend little time reading and researching.

Online

Hear Jill Eagen read her column and learn more about the Star-Gazette's Need to Read program by going online. Go to www.stargazette.com and click on the Need to Read logo on the home page. Under Literacy Columns find the link to her column and click on it.

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Sunday, November 20, 2005

Nonfiction best answer to 'why?'
Find books geared to the kinds of questions they ask.

Around the age of 3, children look at the world around them and start to wonder about all the things they see and experience. The word "why" becomes a big part of their vocabulary. Their curiosity can be satisfied by the many books available in the children's nonfiction section of your favorite bookstore or library.

Over the past few years, more nonfiction books have been published for children in preschool and early grades. These books introduce children to vocabulary that is specific to the topic. They also include pictures and illustrations on every page to support the child's understanding of the words they see or hear. (A book on caterpillars targeted for this age group will include such words as egg, hatch, molt, chrysalis and butterfly).

Educators know that vocabulary knowledge is an important element for successful reading. Young children need to develop an extensive listening and speaking vocabulary even before they enter school.

More importantly, children will come to value reading not only for enjoyment but for finding out about the world. They see reading as a way of learning.

So the next time your preschoolers ask a question about caterpillars, stars, fire engines, horses, dump trucks, apples etc. make a mental note or write down the topic and select a nonfiction book to satisfy their curiosity.

Explaining why

Here are some suggested nonfiction children's book series and their publishers:

* The Eyewitness Readers Series by DK Publishing.

* Pebble and Pebble Plus Books by Capstone Press.

* Pull Ahead Books by Lerner Publications Co.

* The Magic School Bus Books by Scholastic Inc.
Online

Hear Ellen Hicks read her column and learn more about the Star-Gazette's Need to Read program by clicking on the Need to Read logo on the Star-Gazette's home page. Under Literacy Columns find the link to her column and click on it.

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Sunday, October 16, 2005

Health has language all its own
Patients, providers must make sure they understand each other.

Think back to the last time you were at a health provider's office or pharmacy, and consider how that experience shaped the outcome of your health concern. How well or how quickly your health condition improves may depend on your health literacy.

Although health literacy has been defined in many ways, the definition that is most to the point comes from Helen Osborne, expert on health literacy. She defines it as "a shared responsibility in which patients and providers each must communicate in ways that the other can understand." Her definition conveys the mutuality of communication.

No one can deny that health care is fraught with complicated language, including Latin, medical jargon and acronyms. Also, we accept that the personal and cultural understanding of health issues will shape how patients communicate with providers. Providers and patients need to seek clarity of meaning when communicating about a person's health issues.

First, patients need to be able to read and understand printed instructions for them be useful. Once basic literacy is established, the complicated medical language must be understood. And if the information is not clearly understood, clarification must be sought. This is part of health literacy.

The other part to health literacy is for health professionals to take a critical look at all printed materials and verbal communications for clarity and ease of understanding. If health information or instructions are not delivered in an understandable manner, it does not provide the quality of care that patients and health professionals strive to achieve.

A challenge to health professionals is to "watch your language," and be sure you are using terms that lay persons can understand. And for the consumers of health care, your job is to improve your health literacy but to ask for clarification if you do not understand written or verbal information given to you. Your health may depend on that.

This series

Joyce Hyatt is a registered nurse and grant facilitator with the Chemung Valley Rural Health Network. This series of monthly columns, begun in September 2004, is written by members of the Family Reading Partnership of Chemung Valley. The next column will be published Nov. 20.

Online

Hear Joyce Hyatt read her column and learn more about the Star-Gazette's Need to Read program by going online. Go to www.stargazette.com and click on the Need to Read logo on the home page. Under Literacy Columns find the link to her column and click on it.

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Sunday, September 18, 2005

Start your children on the right page
Reading habits begin at home with parents setting the tone.

Head Start, a preschool program founded in 1965, has held from its inception the belief that parents are their child's first and best teacher.

Additionally, there is perhaps no greater academic predictor of a child's school success than a strong foundation in literacy. Fortunately for us as parents, helping to build this foundation is within our reach and requires no special materials or training. There are also many good local resources for obtaining books free or at a reduced cost.

Here's how to keep your children interested in reading:

* Books, books, more books: Surround your child with a variety of books, from soft books available for infants, to board books for toddlers, to books that preschoolers can "read" themselves. The more exposure your children have to books the more comfortable they will become with them and the more indispensable books will become for the rest of their lives. Create a special space for books and reading in your home and include a variety of age-appropriate reading materials.

* Read, read, read again: While you may tire of reading the same book over and over again, he or she never tires of listening. Your child is learning important lessons about the connection between written and spoken language, the rhythm and cadences of reading, and the distinctive sounds made by individual letters and their combination in the form of words, not to mention the security of snuggling and sharing a good book.

* Talk, talk, talk some more: Another important aspect of language development and literacy is having the words to use and knowing how and when to use them. Using colorful, descriptive language with your child from their early years and exposing them to increasingly complex vocabulary builds their listening and speaking language banks for later use. Play word games with your child, correcting pronunciation for them without drawing attention to their "mistakes."

This series

Erin Doyle, the education services manager at the Economic Opportunity Program of Chemung County, writes today about establishing reading as a habit with children. This is the 12th in a series of monthly columns written by members of the Family Reading Partnership of Chemung Valley. The next column will be Sunday, Oct. 16.

Online

Hear Erin Doyle read her column and learn more about the Star-Gazette's Need to Read program by going online. Go to www.stargazette.com and click on "News Extras" on the left of your screen. Then click on "The Need to Read" link. Under Literacy Columns find the link to Doyle's column and click on it.

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Sunday, August 21, 2005


Grow your own reading room
Setting up right environment can cultivate importance of books.

Most families do not have a room in their home designated as the library. However, you can still make your home a place where reading is fun and a priority. You create the comfortable place to read and the right materials and your family will be on the way to reading at home.
The age of your child plays a role in setting up the reading environment. For example:
* Infants: Talking and singing to infants will help them with language development. Provide small, easy-to-handle board books for older infants.

* Toddlers/preschoolers: This group loves books. Make age- appropriate books available on a table or shelf that they can reach. Remember to model and reinforce the way to care for books.

* Young school-age children: Take advantage of school reading assignments. Have your child read to you or even take turns reading, as long as you are not the one doing all the reading because the child needs to practice his or her reading skills.

* Teens: Some teens love to read, while others could take it or leave it. Providing books or magazines that focus on their interests of cars, sports, science, clothing, hair styles, fishing, etc., will increase the chances of them sitting down to read.

Some ways to get books or magazines into your home include:

* Borrow books from your local library.

* Purchase new books.

* Buy used books at yard sales or library book sales.

* Start a share-a-book program at work or in the neighborhood.

* Through the Family Reading Partnership program.

* Ask a doctor's office if it would donate old magazines for kids to read.

* Help your children write their own stories.

You can even make your own book on tape with you or your child reading the story into a tape recorder. This also would be a great gift idea for a relative. Who wouldn't love that?

As a parent, you can set the stage to make reading at home part of your family's daily life.

The Need to Read series

Ruth Krusen, executive director of the Chemung County Child Care Council Inc., writes today about how parents can create healthy reading environments for their children. This is the 12th in a series of monthly columns written by members of the Family Reading Partnership of Chemung Valley. The next column will be Sunday, Sept. 18.

Online

Hear Ruth Krusen read her column and learn more about the Star-Gazette's Need to Read program by going online. Go to www.stargazette.com and click on "News Extra" on the left of your screen. Then click on "The Need to Read" link. Under Literacy Columns find the link to Krusen's column and click on it.

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Sunday, July 17, 2005

Talk books, share them too with older children
" As kids get older, adults can build bonds through reading.

Preteens and young adolescents require just as much attention as preschool youngsters when it comes to reading and writing skills. In New York state, less than 50 percentof the eighth graders tested this year met proficiency standards. Clearly, the gap between that performance and Information Age literacy needs is unacceptably wide.

As in the workplace, growing older in school means nonfiction becomes more important. Students are expected to reason abstractly about subjects outside of their experience, consider multiple perspectives and weigh evidence. However, more sophisticated requirements don't mean that parents and caregivers can't continue to play an important role.

Encourage your young persons to read by giving them choices and helping them to find stories about people from similar backgrounds or topics in which they have a special interest. Providing a quiet space and stocking your home with newspapers, magazines and books are also helpful, along with a good dictionary. Yes, children at this age are busy, so help them make a schedule that includes time for television, video games, practice for sports or music and daily reading.

Keep talking with older children about what they read. Reading for understanding is about making connections and building vocabulary. Discussions that help them think about situations in new ways or add to their background knowledge can help develop both skills.

Hearing good sentence structure helps them to self-correct and to put information together more easily when they are reading by themselves. Inviting your middle schooler to read to a younger child benefits both of them. In the car, books on tape are a great way to improve skills and understanding as they follow along in the text and talk with you about it later.

Modeling is also important. Let kids catch you reading for pleasure and take them with you to the library or the bookstore. Many preteens still like to be read to, and sharing favorite passages can be a terrific conversation starter. Bringing home the movie version of a book your child is reading and discussing the differences is another way to help students to take text to another level.

Your relationship with your child is a very important part of every stage of their development. Talking about books is a wonderful way to open their minds and to share the values they'll need to cope with the complex world they'll inherit.

Don Keddell is president of the board of directors of the Chemung County Child Care Council, Inc. He is a member of the Family Reading Partnership of Chemung Valley.

Online

Here are some Web sites with helpful book suggestions:

" Reading is Fundamental: www.rif.org

" International Reading Association: www.reading.org

" Literacy Matters Ltd.: www.literacymatters.com

" Books for Parents of Dyslexic Children: www.dyslexia-parent.com

" Multicultural Children's Literature: www.multiculturalchildrenslit.com or

www.lib.msu.edu/corby/ education/multicultural.html

This series

Don Keddell, a retired school administrator, writes today about how parents can encourage their preteen children and adolescents to sustain their interest in reading books. This is the 11th in a series of monthly columns written by members of the Family Reading Partnership of Chemung Valley. The next column will be Sunday, Nov. 21.

Online

Hear Don Keddell read his column and learn more about the Star-Gazette's Need to Read program by going online. Go to www.stargazette.com and click on "News to Use." Under the "Help Yourself" heading, find "The Need to Read" heading and click on it.