8 Tips to Help Students Build Better Reading Skills

Apply what you read by summarizing.

1. Set aside time to read each day. One of the most effective ways to build your skills is to practice.
2. Set reading goals.
3. Preview the texts you read.
4. Determine the purpose.
5. Apply key reading strategies.
6. Take notes while you read.
7. Apply what you read by summarizing.

1. Annotate and highlight text. Teach your students to highlight and underline valuable information as they read.
2. Personalize the content.
3. Practice problem solving skills.
4. Incorporate more senses.
5. Understand common themes.
6. Set reading goals.
7. Read in portions.
8. Let students guide their reading.

Here are 10 simple steps to teach your child to read at home:

1. Use songs and nursery rhymes to build phonemic awareness.
2. Make simple word cards at home.
3. Engage your child in a print-rich environment.
4. Play word games at home or in the car.
5. Understand the core skills involved in teaching kids to read.
6. Play with letter magnets.

Here’s the good news: Most educators have gotten the message that K-5 students need to learn the foundational reading skills outlined in the common core and other college and career-ready standards: print concepts, phonological awareness, phonics and word recognition, and fluency.

Strategies for Close Reading

1. Be a Close Reader Yourself. As you teach close reading, it’s important that you know the text backwards and forwards.
2. Teach “Stretch Texts”
3. Teach Students to Look for the Evidence.
4. Always Set a Purpose for Reading.
5. Differentiate Your Instruction.
6. Focus on Making Connections.
7. Model it First.
8. Let Them Make Mistakes.

The 10 Best Online Reading Programs

• Headsprout Kids Reading Program.
• Hooked on Phonics for Early Learners.
• Mr.
• Kız Phonics.
• Book Adventure.
• StudyDog Reading.
• CNK Digital.
• ABCMouse Early Learning Academy.

Hooked on Phonics is cheaper per month, whereas ABCMouse is more expensive. Hooked on Phonics focuses just on phonics and reading, whereas ABCMouse teaches phonics and reading plus math, the wider world, and art. Hooked on Phonics has a simpler interface, whereas ABCMouse’s interface is more cluttered.

10 Teacher Tricks to Improve Your Child’s Reading Level

1. Decode mystery words: Read part of a book out loud to your child, omitting one “mystery word” that is frequently used (like “because” or “always”).
2. Personalize story time: Have your child narrate a brief personal story to you while you write it down.

Homer App versus ABCMouse Homer is specifically focused on reading skills, while ABCMouse is a more general curriculum with math and science too. I’d say ABCMouse is a little flashier and has more broad options, while I think Homer is better for really focusing on reading skills.

Our App + Practice Packs program is a monthly program that includes two components: the award-winning Hooked on Phonics App ($6.99/month) and monthly Practice Packs mailed to your door, containing a new workbook, 2-3 storybooks and stickers to coincide with each lesson in the app and round out your child’s learn-to- …

Top Alternatives to ABCmouse

• Canvas.
• Khan Academy.
• GoReact.
• McGraw-Hill Connect.
• Nearpod.
• ThinkUp! Standards Mastery System.
• Pear Deck.
• ALEKS.

Starfall does an excellent job of offering clear and intriguing early literacy lessons. Kids will get positive messages about reading through names of sections on site (such as It’s Fun to Read and I’m Reading). There’s an online store, which sells supplementary materials, but site doesn’t have any ads.