At Home:
How to Help Your Student on
the Journey to Reading
Intervention is helpful, but your student will not make sufficient progress without
significantly increasing
the amount of reading that he or she does at school and at home.
Recommended at least 20 minutes per day
- Intervention alone is not sufficient for students to reach grade level expectations.
- Developing readers lack what researchers call a "practice effect",
- improvement that comes from reading, reading, and more reading.
- Nagy & Anderson, 1987) showed
- good readers consumed millions of words per year in text,
- poor readers averaged only a fraction of that amount.
- Limited practice leads to limited improvement.
- Developing readers lack what researchers call a "practice effect",
Reading Activities Caregivers Can Do at Home
At Home Phonics
Alphabet Sort Word Study (Letter Names and Sounds)
Picture Sort Word Study
Onset + Vowel Word Study
- Onset + Vowel Sort Memory with Student Video
- Onset + Vowel Sort Memory Instructional Guide PDF
- UURC Phonics Readers are available for purchase offering targeted practice in applying early phonics skills through carefully crafted emergent texts.
High Frequency Words and Core Vowel Pattern Word Study
At Home Fluency
Home Word Charts(Practicing Grade-Level Words)
Home Reading Charts(Practicing Grade-Level Passages)
Repeated Reading
- Repeated Readings G1-2 Instruction Guide [in progress]
- Repeated Readings G3+ Instructional Guide PDF
- Repeated Readings G3+ with Student Video
- RR Instructions and Tracking Charts
At Home Software
Reading Horizons (Free Subscription)
- Contact Sheree Nalwalker at the UURC (801-265-3951) to obtain a free subscription to Reading Horizons software.
- This motivating phonics program helps developing readers increase word recognition and fluency and apply effective, efficient strategies in controlled text. For more information on these excellent at-home resources, go to http://athome.readinghorizons.com/.
- We thank the folks at Reading Horizon for making this opportunity possible!
- Availability is limited and assigned on a first-come/first served basis.
- (You will need to provide your student's first and last name, grade in school, instructional reading level, and a caregiver/guardian contact email address.)
We know these aren't easy assignments because many developing readers would rather clean a litter box than read at home. And after arguments and sometimes tears, most caregivers would rather ask their students to clean the litter box than to read. To make the situation as palatable as possible, our fluency suggestions are brief and motivating.
As for reading from text, home reading material should meet three conditions:
- Cell phones should be put away and the TV turned off.
- Your student should find the topic interesting.
- The text should be is on his/her instructional or independent level. A good rule of thumb here is that more than 1 error per every 10 words means the text is too hard.
Take turns reading every other page. Stop occasionally and talk about what's happening. When oral reading time is up, tell your student to read silently for another 15 minutes, and give a guiding question that you'll want answered (e.g., Why is Ron so mad at Harry?). Finally, fill out your student's UURC home reading chart. When it's complete bring it back to the clinic.
Resist the urge to "leave the reading to school and the clinic." Remember that your student is in a "race against time" to get enough practice to be able to cope with the increasing demands of more difficult text in later grades.
You Are Your Students' First Teacher! You have the power to help your students lay the foundation for successful reading. Although it may seem like an overwhelming responsibility, there is no need for apprehension. Ushering students into the "world of reading" can and should be done joyfully in a stress-free environment. Your students will take their "cues" about reading from you! The following link provides excellent suggestions: https://www.nytimes.com/guides/books/how-to-raise-a-reader