Health & Fitness
Helping Your Child Prepare for State Tests Part 3: English Language Arts
Strategies to help your child with the Common Core shifts in ELA.
We have discussed how to help your child emotionally get ready for the imminent state tests, but maybe you are saying, “That’s great and all, but what about academics?” You’re right, you know! I’m preaching to “create an atmosphere in your home that learning is important and fun, and show that you are interested in (your child’s) education.” There are ways (low pressure, fun, engaging) for you to help your child practice what they learn at home and to enrich their ELA and Math skills.
Here are some at-home strategies to help your child with English Language Arts, or ELA.
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1. Read with your child- but read informative texts!
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College and career readiness dictates that children need to read more non-fiction, because in the “real world,” they will be expected to read magazines, articles, journals, newspapers, etc. for information rather than narratives. The shift in education this year has been for classroom teachers to implement an equal amount of reading informational texts and narrative (story) texts. At home, you can supply more non-fiction texts to read aloud or with your child. Having fun with informational text in front of your child will get them excited about learning. Port Chester Public Library has a phenomenal collection of informational texts that are appropriate reading levels for 3rd grade and up, which includes the Who Was…collection of biographies. I have found it easy to incorporate informational texts with my daughter because she can pick a topic she is interested in (mostly animals or science) and read all about them for her allotted 30 minutes. The photographs, call outs, headings, and diagrams make the information “jump out” at them and create a sense that “this is cool!” It also builds confidence as they see they can do it, and enjoy it! Find child friendly magazines, such as National Geographic Kids, or go on a website that has informational texts. We Give Books (www.wegivebooks.org ) is a free site that has many informational books available, and my daughter feels like she is playing on the computer while we are reading together. Listen to your child’s interests, as they are more likely to engage in a book that they choose. Find books that explain how things work and why, and remember to discuss the books with your child!
2. Provide more challenging texts along with ones easier to read!
Another buzzword in education today is “rigor.” Rigor means that instead of watering down the curriculum for lower achievers, we are raising the bar to what is grade level appropriate and helping the struggling students, supporting them in finding the strategies they need to succeed. Reading higher-level texts with your child will increase their vocabulary as well as their stamina. Because this will be a challenging endeavor for your child, I suggest having your child choose a book of high interest, and read with them, or even aloud to them. My daughter loves the Harry Potter movies, so it was natural for us to embark on reading the challenging, long series of books. She looked forward to it, and because there was low-pressure (I would read a few pages and we’d switch off), she loved this time together! Again, a discussion was imperative to assure that she comprehended the text as we read. To teach new vocabulary words, I would use a synonym (to peer means to look at something) or a concrete example (a picture, for instance, of a lion “basking” in the sun) to assure that my daughter truly understood what was being written about. This strategy is especially helpful for English Language Learners.
3. Talk to you child- and not only about books!
While talking to your child about the books they are reading is vital to assure comprehension and understanding, it important to talk to them about anything and everything. While reading books or articles together, discuss predictions. Ask questions that require your child to look back at the text for their answers. Make them “prove it.” Even the simplest texts can provide a deep discussion. A popular model for young children is Eric Carle’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar. While asking what happened, and discussing the book in sequence is great, we need to start introducing deeper questions. Who is telling a story? How do you know? (a narrator; he uses words such as “he” and “his” instead of “I” or “my.” How long did it take the caterpillar to go from a hatched egg to a butterfly? What is one food that gave him a stomachache? This takes the focus off their prior knowledge and puts it on the text itself. Ask “how does the author help us understand what a cocoon means?” is a high level question that requires them to go into the text and defend their answer. “Look, he drew a picture of a cocoon. And he says the caterpillar wrapped himself in it.” This also provides a strategy for using context clues to discover vocabulary that is unknown.
Discuss a TV show or movie you watched. Before watching a new episode of Austin and Ally, have your predict what will happen. Ask why they think that. After, discuss why they thought the story went the way it did. Demand facts and evidence from the show- how do you know Ally was sad? What did you think of the character Wreck it Ralph? What makes you say that? What did he do to make you feel that way?
4. Write On!
Encourage writing at home, and be sure to model where appropriate. A fun thing I encouraged, inspired by one of the Tinkerbell movies, was creating a field journal. In the movie, the little girl has a fairy field journal, where she draws pictures of fairies, and writes everything she has learned about them. My daughter adores cheetahs, so her first field journal was about the fastest cat in the world. She researched informational texts, watched YouTube videos, and felt such a sense of pride in her “book.” My daughter’s teacher also requires a minimum reading assignment each night, and requires the students to complete a nightly journal. Each night, my daughter finds 3 words that are new to her, and writes 3 sentences about what she read. At first, I modeled for her how to write for informational or narrative texts. This modeling (essentially telling her how to start) is important in teaching academic vocabulary. Even though my daughter can read and write well, she didn’t understand the “academic” way to introduce her topic. A simple sentence starter such as “The story I read today was about…” or “Today I learned about…” tends to focus her writing in a very successful way! If your child’s teacher hasn’t implemented a similar practice, create a reading journal at home.
5. Reach out for resources!
As I’ve stated in earlier blogs, teachers love to share their tips of the trade. A post on a social network, such as Facebook, will guarantee to receive multiple teacher answers. Along with this, your child’s teacher would love to help you help your child. Trust me when I say we get excited when we see parents taking an active roll in their child’s education. Shoot your child’s teacher an email, or stick a quick note in your child’s folder, asking for suggestions as to what your child needs extra work on. The Internet is also a treasure trove of information. Some of my favorite sites include:
I hope these ideas help! For more suggestions, or if you have any questions, you can email me or leave a comment. See you next time, when we tackle math.
