List of Reading Strategies

Tools in our Reading “Toolbox”

1.  Get your mouth ready.

Sometimes by reading the sentence and then saying the initial sound of a tricky word, the word just “pops” out!  This means your child is thinking about what makes sense!

2.  Did you check the picture?

Sometimes when you get to a tricky word, all you need to do is check the picture.  Do you see something in the picture that would make sense for that word to be? 

3. Does that make sense?  or  What would make sense for

that word to be?

A good reader thinks about the story as he/she reads, and understands what is happening.  When a tricky word appears, sometimes it can be figured out simply by thinking about what would make sense. After making a guess, the reader should make sure it looks right.

4.  Does that look right?

A good reader looks not only at the beginning of the word, but all the way through the word.  Look at the beginning, middle, and end, and make sure to make the correct sounds for each letter/chunks of letters.

5.  Does what you read sound right?

       When saying a word out loud, a good reader should recognize the word he or she read.  If it doesn’t sound like an actual word (and it doesn’t make sense), then a good reader tries again

6.  Reread the sentence. (We call this getting a running start!)

            Sometimes just rereading the sentence helps you get that tricky word or fix a word that you didn’t read quite right.

7.  Skip the word and come back.

            When you get to a word you don’t know, you can skip it and read to the end of the sentence.Think about what would make sense for that word to be.  Then, go back and start thesentence again (get a running start).  Make sure when you get to the tricky word you get it started.  A lot of times, it pops right out!

8. What sounds can you try for the vowel(s) in that word?

We know that when we get to a vowel in a word, we can try either the short vowel sound or the long vowel sound- and we try it OUT LOUD so that we can hear if it sounds right.  Another rule that can help us is: When two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking and it says its own name.

When a silent (but bossy) e is at the end of a word, try the long vowel first.  E makes the other vowel say its own name!