5 Great Books About Superheroes

Ladybug Girl and Bumblebee Boy 
by Jacky Davis (Author) and David Soman (Illustrator)
Lulu and Sam save the playground from hairy monsters and big mean robots. (Picture Book)

Marvel Heroes Amazing Powers
by Catherine Saunders
Meet all of the Marvel Heros and learn about their amazing powers. (Easy reader)

Mighty Max
by Harriet Ziefert (Author) and Elliot Kreloff (Illustrator)
Max wants to be a superhero! (Picture Book)

Spider-Man 2: Everyday Hero
by Acton Figueroa (Author), Ivan Vasquez and Jesus Redondo (Illustrators)
A day in the life of Peter Parker (also know as Spiderman!) (Easy reader)

Timothy And The Strong Pajamas
by Viviane Schwarz (Author)
After Timothy’s mother fixes his pajamas, Timothy has superpowers! (Picture Book)

Helping Your Emerging Reader

Experts recommend that you read to your child twenty minutes a day. For emerging readers, divide the 20 minutes into two 10 minute reading times:

1. Read Book Words for 10 minutes.
2. Read My Words for 10 minutes.

Book Words

Read books together 10 minutes a day.

• A picture book or easy reader takes 5 minutes to read, so two books add up to 10 minutes.
• Ask your child to read the first book. (Use the five finger test to find a book that is just right.)
• You read the second book aloud. (This will help your child learn new words.)

My Words

Read your child’s words 10 minutes a day.

Children don’t learn to read just by listening to someone else reading. Learning to read also requires what teachers call direct instruction. Use this ten minutes to work with letters, sounds, and words.

• Use environmental print, the words your child sees everyday. Your child can cut up your junk mail to find letters to make an alphabet book, or words and photos for a word book.
• Play word games. Use the magnetic letters on the refrigerator or play word games that you make, find online, or buy at the store.
• Ask your child can write, just like you do. Write the grocery list, a to-do list, or a letter.

Young children are in the first stage of writing, so at first their writing looks like squiggles. Soon the squiggles will look like letters and then, words! (Literacy takes place on a continuum.)

Learn how to write a children’s book.
Copyright © 2009 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

5 Great Books About Toys

Adventures of Cow, Too
by Lori Korchek (Author) and Marshall Taylor (Photographer)
A toy cow goes to the grocery store (with lots of mix-ups along the way!) (Picture Book)

Corduroy (40th Anniversary Edition)
by Don Freeman
A toy bear loses a button and finds a home. (Picture Book)

I Love My New Toy!
by Mo Willems
What happens when Elephant breaks Piggie’s new toy? (Easy reader)

Jack and the Box
by Art Spiegelman
In this comic, Jack the rabbit gets a Jack-in-the-box, and it does some unexpected things! (Easy reader)

The Toy Farmer
by Andrew Pelletier (Author) and Scott Nash (Illustrator)
A boy finds a toy tractor – and soon his bedroom is a real farm! (Picture book)

Helping Your Emerging Reader

Experts recommend that you read to your child twenty minutes a day. For emerging readers, divide the 20 minutes into two 10 minute reading times:

1. Read Book Words for 10 minutes.
2. Read My Words for 10 minutes.

Book Words

Read books together 10 minutes a day.

• A picture book or easy reader takes 5 minutes to read, so two books add up to 10 minutes.
• Ask your child to read the first book. (Use the five finger test to find a book that is just right.)
• You read the second book aloud. (This will help your child learn new words.)

My Words

Read your child’s words 10 minutes a day.

Children don’t learn to read just by listening to someone else reading. Learning to read also requires what teachers call direct instruction. Use this ten minutes to work with letters, sounds, and words.

• Use environmental print, the words your child sees everyday. Your child can cut up your junk mail to find letters to make an alphabet book, or words and photos for a word book.
• Play word games. Use the magnetic letters on the refrigerator or play word games that you make, find online, or buy at the store.
• Ask your child can write, just like you do. Write the grocery list, a to-do list, or a letter.

Young children are in the first stage of writing, so at first their writing looks like squiggles. Soon the squiggles will look like letters and then, words! (Literacy takes place on a continuum.)

Learn how to write a children’s book.
Copyright © 2009 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

How to Help Emerging Readers

Welcome to Day 2 of the Share a Story – Shape a Future Blog Tour for Literacy.

Today’s topic is Selecting Reading Material, and since the subtitle of this blog is “Books for Children Learning to Read” I was asked to write about How to Help Emerging Readers. (I’m a former K-1 teacher.)

Learning to read is a process

Learning to read is a process that takes years. It begins at birth, when parents first speak to their child. By age nine, most children are fluent readers.

Children learn to read in small steps, and they need adults to help them. It takes “600 hours of essential pre-literacy preparation before entering school” to help children learn to read by age nine. Children have very short attention spans, so this time is spread out over a period of years. (Reading to your child twenty minutes every day adds up!)

Don’t limit your reading to books. Our world is filled with words – and this is what many young children learn to read first. They read their names, and the words they see on packages and signs. (This is called enviromental print.)

Learning to read requires direct instruction

Children don’t learn to read just because they listen to someone else reading. Learning to read also requires what teachers call direct instruction. That includes talking about the names of the letters and the sounds they make (also known as phonics.)

Once a child understands that letters have sounds and those sounds can make words, the child begins to read short words. This is why books for beginning readers have titles like Go, Dog. Go! and Hop on Pop . Short simple words are the best place to start.

Learn to read with easy reader books

Books for children learning to read are called easy readers. While picture books are read to a child by an adult, easy readers are meant to be read by the child himself. (You’ll know you’ve found an easy reader when you see the words “read,” “reader,” or “reading” on the cover.)

Learning to read takes place on a continuum, and the books reflect that. Easy readers range from 8 page books with a single word or a simple phrase on each page to 64 page books divided into chapters.

The books are called easy readers, so use them for easy reading. Don’t ask your child to read something that is too hard for him, or ask him sound out the words on every page. When your child is reading aloud, have him read books he can read by himself. (And if sounding out a word doesn’t work, say the word for your child so he can keep reading.)

Your Child’s Four Reading Levels

As children learn to read, they have four very different reading levels.

1. Independent – A child can read on his own.

2. Instructional – A child can read with help.

3. Frustration – A child misses 5% of the words. (When you’re learning to read, knowing 95% of the words doesn’t give you an A. That missing 5% means frustration! Use the five finger test to avoid this level.)

4. Listening – A child understands what you read. (Children who cannot read yet understand the spoken word. This is why picture books have sophisticated language and easy readers do not.)

Read and Repeat

How can you help your emerging reader? Make your twenty minutes a day, a “you read to me and I’ll read to you” time. Ask your child to read to you. Have him read a book he can read by himself. (This is the independent reading level.) Your child may read the same book over and over, but that’s all part of the process. Only with repetition will the words in the book become part of your child’s long-term memory.

Then it’s your turn. Read a harder book to your child. (This is your child’s listening level.) Together you are creating a family tradition of reading. You are also making a down payment on your child’s future, twenty minutes at a time.

This week’s 5 Great Books!

This week’s 5 Great Books are all easy reader classics! (You may have read these books when you were learning to read.)

Days with Frog and Toad
by Arnold Lobel
Frog and Toad spend the day together. (Easy reader with chapters)

Fox at School
by Edward Marshall (Author) and James Marshall (Illustrator)
The school day doesn’t quite the way Fox has planned. (Easy reader with chapters)

Go, Dog. Go!
by P.D. Eastman
Dogs in cars are on the move! (Easy reader)

Hop on Pop
by Dr. Seuss
Simple rhyming words are Dr. Seuss’ magic! (Easy reader)

Nate the Great
by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat (Author) and Marc Simont (Illustrator)
Can boy detective Nate the Great solve the case? (Easy reader)

Selecting Reading Material for Other Ages

Visit today’s other Share a Story – Shape a Future stops for

1. The ABCs of Reading: Infants, Toddlers & Preschoolers with Valerie Baartz
2. Helping Middle Grade Readers with Sarah Mulhern
3. Booklists and Read Alikes with Sarah Mulhern
4. Using Non-fiction with Mary Lee Hahn

Enjoy the week-long Share a Story – Shape a Future tour! I’ll see you here next Wednesday. 

Learn how to write a children’s book.
Copyright © 2009 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

5 Great Books About Teeth

Loose Tooth
by Anastasia Suen (Author) and Allan Eitzen (Illustrator)
Peter’s tooth is loose on picture day. Will he lose it before his picture is taken? (Easy reader)

My Tooth Is About To Fall Out
by Grace Maccarone (Author) and Betsy Lewin (Illustrator)
A girl’s tooth wiggles and woggles. When will it fall out? (Easy reader)

Open Wide: Tooth School Inside
by Laurie Keller (Author)
32 teeth go to school with Dr. Flossman! What will they learn? (Tooth facts!) (Picture book)

Sesame Street Ready, Set, Brush: A Pop-Up Book
by Matt Mitler (Author) and Tom Brannon (Illustrator)
Elmo learns how to brush his teeth. (This book was produced in collaboration with the American Dental Association.) (Picture Book)

Tooth on the Loose
by Susan Middleton Elya (Author) and Jenny Mattheson (Illustrator)
A girl talks about her loose tooth in both English and Spanish. (There is a glossary and proununciation guide for the Spanish words in the front of the book.) (Picture book)

Use these books for your child’s Daily 5:

1. Read to self
2. Read to someone
3. Listen to reading
4. Work on writing
5. Word work

(The five finger test will help your child find a book he can read by himself.)

Learn how to write a children’s book.
Copyright © 2009 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

Welcome!

I’m moving here from my Easy to Read blog.

Why? 

In the Easy to Read blog I only wrote about easy readers, but I realized that when I teach reading I always use a mix of picture books and easy readers. It’s part of the Daily 5:

1. Read to self
2. Read to someone
3. Listen to reading
4. Work on writing
5. Word work

What does this look like in the classroom or at home?

• The child reads easy readers by himself. (Silent reading is #1 Read to self. Reading aloud is #2 Read to someone.)
• The adult reads picture books to the child. (#3 Listen to reading.)
• There are writing materials available for the child to use. (#4 Work on writing). (I blog about writing at Picture Book of the Day.)
• The adult points out new words and talks about the letters and sounds. (#5 Word Work).

I invite you to join me here at 5 Great Books: Books for Children Learning to Read where I’ll be posting every Wednesday.

You can subscribe by email or  subscribe with RSS.

Learn how to write a children’s book.
Copyright © 2009 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.