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Naperville, Bolingbrook & Plainfield

WSEA Tutoring - Tutoring for K-12 Students

Create a Family Reading Journal – Make Reading Fun, and More Interactive

Summer is meant to be a time when we can all be more relaxed; enjoying a family vacation, days at the pool, or simply being outdoors enjoying the sun and warmth. However, we shouldn’t take a vacation from learning altogether. We can still keep up our kids’ reading and writing skills and have fun doing it! Here are some examples of fun family activities to keep your kids reading and writing this summer, while creating some quality family bonding time as a bonus!

One way to incorporate both reading & writing is to keep a Family Reading Journal. Call it a reading adventure! As a family, choose a book that you can read together, either independently or out loud. Before you begin, pick a special notebook to create a family reading journal in which you can document all your thoughts and questions about the story. Keep the journal in a central location in your home and encourage family members to write in it at least once a day.

You can:
* Write your questions about the story.
* Record observations about the characters and events.
* Make predictions about where the story is going and how it will end.
* Note your favorite moments and lines.
* Draw pictures of your favorite characters and scenes.
* Respond to one another’s comments and observations.

When you’re done, you’ll have a wonderful memory book of your family’s reading adventures that you can treasure forever!

For independent reading take a trip to the local library and allow your child to choose his or her own book. However be sure to select books that are appropriate for your child’s individual reading level. A good way to do that is to use the five finger rule: Ask your child to read aloud a page from the book. Every time he stumbles or skips a word, have him curl up a finger. If all of a child’s fingers are curled up by the end of the page, this book is probably too difficult. If your child wants to read it anyway, turn it into a reading experience for the two of you. After all, even the best books are better when shared!

Reading responses are excellent ways to elicit thoughts about reading materials in writing.

Here are some prompts for fiction:
* How did the story make you feel?
* Which character did you like the most? the least? Why?
* Is any character like you or anyone you know? How?
* Did anything seem especially interesting, annoying, funny, puzzling, weird, sad? What?
* What was your favorite part of the story? Describe it and tell why it was your favorite.
* How would you have dealt with the situation or problem in the story? How would your outcome been different?
* If you could change the ending, how would your ending be different?
* If the author of the story were here right now, what would you like to say to him or her?
* Does this story remind you of any other story? If so, what is it, and what is the connection you see between the two?

Here are some prompts for nonfiction:
* What fact did you enjoy learning about the most?
* What information would you like to share with someone else?
* What pictures or illustrations did you find most interesting? Why?
* What did you discover that could help you in your life?
* Would the book be different if it had been written 10 years ago?
* Is this book like any other book you have read? If so, how are they alike? How are they different? Which one did you like better? Why?
*What questions would you ask the author if you ever met him/her?

These are just a few ways to share some quality reading and writing at home with your child this summer. Here at WSEA we offer a week long writing workshop in August for elementary students, called Cool Writing. We also offer Speedreading and Comprehension workshop in August for secondary students, as well as Reading Comprehension/Fluency Half Day Camp for secondary students at the end of July.

Happy Reading!




North Naperville Tutoring

(corner of Ogden and Iroquois)
1260 Iroquois Ave
Unit 306
Naperville, IL 60563

Call us at 630-922-8100