Here is a basic list of reading strategies that parents or teachers can remind their child of while they are reading together at home or in the classroom.
New word strategies give readers tools that help them figure out those tricky words using the visual clues the printed page is giving them. Teachers give them fun names that help them remember what we are reminding them to do.
- Owl or Eagle Eyes
- Fish Lips
- Stretchy Snake
- Chunky Monkey
- Skippy Frog
- Flippy Dolphin
- Tryin Lion
- Helpful Hippo
- Owl or Eagle Eyes – using the picture and the beginning sound of a word figure out a word
- Fish Lips – saying the beginning sound in the word out loud
- Stretchy Snake – saying each sound in the word and stretching it out slowly
- Chunky Monkey – recognizing a group of letters, called a chunk or small words inside of big words; they can be read together instead of stretching each sound out
- Skippy Frog – skipping the tricky word, reading to the end of the sentence and thinking about what would make sense
- Flippy Dolphin – switching out a vowel sound for the different sound it makes
- Tryin Lion – don’t give up, try different words and see if they make sense
- Helpful Hippo – Asking for help but ONLY when all the other strategies have been tried
Copy & use these bookmarks from Growing Firsties as reminders to help you out!
Comprehension Strategies support a child’s deeper understanding and meaning of what is being read.
- Make Predictions
- Infer
- Retell
- Making Connections
- Visualize
- Ask Questions
- Give Opinions
- Make Predictions – taking clues from the text and making a smart guess about what will happen
- Infer – using clues from the text and adding them to background knowledge to form new learning
- Retell – ability to remember and retell out loud the events of the story
- Making Connections – thinking about how the text is the same and different as personal life events or other books that have been read
- Visualize – making a picture in your mind about what is happening in the text
- Ask Questions – ability to wonder about things in the story throughout the reading
- Give Opinion – ability to think about own opinions about questions and ideas raised the the text
So that’s the basic list of reading strategies. Look for a more thorough explanation of these strategies and how to use them coming soon, here.
