Strategies for Success

By Michelle Kahen

Here are some fun literacy activities to share with your “reading partners.”

Your Story Ending
An important part of reading and listening to stories is learning that they have endings. Sometimes the end of a story is a surprise, and sometimes it is not. Once children become familiar with stories, they can help create their own endings to stories.

What you'll need:

 A story your child does not already know. A pencil and paper.

What to do:

 Read the story to your child. When you are close to the end of the story, stop reading. Ask your child how he or she would complete the story. Let your child say the words to you as you write the ending. Then finish reading the story. Talk about how the story's ending and your child's ending for it are different or the same.

The Match Game
Some words cannot be read by saying the sounds in the word. Words like the, said, are, don't, have, one, two, love, and you must be learned as whole words (sight words).

What you'll need:

 Ten pieces of paper or cards with one word written on each piece (start with the, said, are, etc.). Another set of 10 cards with the same words written on them.

What to do:

Mix the words together. Give your child five cards, and give yourself five cards. Put the rest of the cards in a pile, face down on the table.

Both of you pick up your cards to see if you have two words that are the same among all your cards. If so, say the word and put them down as a pair. Then pick two more cards from the pile.

If neither of you has a pair, draw a card from the pile. Take turns until all the cards have been drawn or one player has gotten rid of all of his or her cards.

The player with the most matching pairs is the winner.

In Laughing Order: The Comic Strips
When children read about events, they must keep the major actions in order. Children can develop a sense of sequence while reading comic strips.

What you'll need:

 Your child's favorite comic strip.

What to do:

 Find a comic strip that you and your child enjoy. Before reading the strip, cut it out and separate the frames. Mix them up and ask your child to put the frames in the correct order. Once they are in order, have your child read the comic strip and tell you what the strip means or is saying.

My Turn, Your Turn--Our Story
Writing stories is fun, but it really comes alive when your child creates and writes a story with you.

What you'll need:

 Paper, pencil, and a story title.

What to do:

Create or choose an exciting title for a story you would like to write with your child, such as "The Golden Eye" or "Suddenly Midnight and Silence." Write the title on a sheet of paper and invite your child to write the first sentence. You write the second line. Take turns writing sentences until the story is complete.

* U.S. Department of Education