Motivating Your Middle School Reader ~ How to Create Positive Family Reading Habits Part I 

• Offer a variety of reading material: short stories, magazines, comics, how-to books, the Internet and audio recordings
• Keep audio books or comics in the car for trips
• Set an example for each other by reading every day.  Choose to read instead of turning on the TV.
• Take family trips to the library or bookstore.  Encourage your children to check out books at school.  Support school book fairs and other reading activities.
• Build your child's vocabulary.  For example, use a new word every day, then have him or her practice using it in a sentence or short story.
• Help your child get involved in a book club or discussion group – and try getting involved in one yourself.
• Encourage your child to read a riveting short story, an entertaining comic strip, a good book, a controversial sports review, etc.  Offer a wide variety of reading choices.

http://www.nhpirc.org/literacyandreadiness.shtml

Helping with Research

• This means guiding, advising, and talking things through.
• Ensure that the final product reflects your child’s individual effort and design.
• If you feel tempted to do the research yourself, ask “Will this help my child to learn?”
• Remember it’s not your homework!!!

What Can You Do?

• Suggest topics or focus.
• Help with locating information – library, book stores, family outing to museum/gallery, emailing someone, browsing the Web and downloading.
• Have your child discuss the topic and jot down ideas or questions before he or she starts researching.
• Discuss whether the information found is relevant to the child’s study.
• Help your child group and organize information.
• Encourage your child to use the following procedure when taking notes:
  • Short notes - jot down key words and phrases with the reference material open
  • Long notes – close the reference material and use the short note to make sentences.

Looking for Books?

Check out Scholastic's 100 Greatest Books for Kids.

Nonfiction Texts

How often do you read a nonfiction text to your child?  Most parents who read to their children choose a story.  However, recent research supports choosing an informational text, such as a book or magazine, instead.  As adults, we spend most of our days reading and writing informational text.  Students, even young students, benefit from hearing about inventions, countries, animals, planets, and the weather.

from p 856 Trehearne, Miriam, Lynne Hemming Healy, Gloria McBain, Mary MacGregor, and Shelly Pynoo. Language Arts: Grades 1-2 Teacher's Resource Book. Toronto: Nelson, 2004. Print.

For more information on what a nonfiction text is, check out this Wikipedia Entry (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-fiction).

Writing for Functional Purposes

Students more readily understand what writing is about when they write for functional purposes. Just as we write lists, invitations, recipes, letters, notes, and reports, students like to write for real reasons. Here are some ways to promote writing for real reasons:

~ Write a daily note to your child and tuck into a lunch box or school bag.
~ Ask a question so your child has a reason to write back.
~ Encourage your child to write a letter, postcard, or note to a relative or friend.
~ Have your child write or add to lists of groceries or things to do.

from p 854 Trehearne, Miriam, Lynne Hemming Healy, Gloria McBain, Mary MacGregor, and Shelly Pynoo. Language Arts: Grades 1-2 Teacher's Resource Book. Toronto: Nelson, 2004. Print.

Keep On Reading

Did you know that reading with your child remains as important in Grades 3 to 6 as it was in earlier grades? As with hockey, dancing, or playing a musical instrument, practice makes perfect. Here are some tips that you may find helpful to support your reader at home.

- Encourage your child to read at home daily. When possible, be a role model and read as well.
- Books, magazines, comics, and non-fiction books are all okay to read! The important thing to remember is that whatever your child chooses to read must be at his/her independent reading level. The goal is for your child to enjoy reading, not be frustrated!
- Read aloud with your child. Children of this age still love adults to read to them. Children need to hear what fluent reading sounds like. Listening to audio books is another great option.
- Talk with your child about reading. Share what books and authors you enjoyed reading as a child. Read and discuss a book together with your child.

adapted from Trehearne, Miriam, and Roz Doctorow. Comprehensive Literacy Resource for Grades 3-6 Teachers. Vernon Hills: ETA Cuisenaire, 2006. 602. Print.

Give Your Child "Just Right Books" as Gifts

How can I best help my child to read and write?

• Read to your child daily.
• Take time to talk with your child every day.
• Sing and recite rhymes and poems.
• Visit the library often.
• Help your child to recognize letters and words on signs, in books, on license plates, and in your community.
• Encourage your child to write daily and to share what has been written.
• Give your child "just right" books as gifts.
• Read and reread favourite books together.
• Let your child see you reading and writing.
  

from p 895 Trehearne, Miriam, Lynne Hemming Healy, Gloria McBain, Mary MacGregor, and Shelly Pynoo.Language Arts: Grades 1-2 Teacher's Resource Book. Toronto: Nelson, 2004. Print.

French Pronunciation

Here are the differences between French and English pronunciation that might be most obvious to you as you follow along with your child’s reading:

-       while there are significant differences between the sounds of the vowels in the two languages,
-       the consonants are essentially the same;

• h is always silent in French;
• an s at the end of a word to indicate the plural is silent;
• qu sounds like k (not like kw as in quick);
• th is pronounced t;
• ch is pronounced like the English sh;
• i is pronounced like the long English e (bee);
• y sounds like yes even at the end of a word;
• ou in French always sounds like group (not out);
• oy and oi sound like the wa in water;
• au and eau have the long o sound (so);
• ez has the long a sound (hay);
• accents change the sounds of vowels: e sounds much like the short English e (heck) while é has the long a sound (hay)
• stress falls on the last sounded syllable (ami sounds like am-ee)
• when a word begins with a vowel (or a silent h), it is usually joined with the last consonant of the preceding word—it will sound as though your child is reading one word instead of two.
  
  p 70 "Yes You Can Help" http://education.alberta.ca/media|
  /3091402/yesyoucanhelp.pdf

What are some resources for Parents of French Immersion students?

• National Canadian Parents for French Website (http://www.cpf.ca/) and Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/Canadian
  ParentsForFrench)
• PEI Canadian Parents for French Website (http://cpfpei.pe.ca/) and Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/pages/
  Canadian-Parents-for-French-PEI/48195873338?sk=wall)
• French Immersion Information Sessions held at your local schools

How Can I Help My Child in French Immersion if I Don’t Speak French?

• Have a positive and encouraging attitude about learning French.  Show interest in what your child is studying and talk about your child’s day.
• Strong first language skills are the foundation for learning a second or third language.  So anything you do to strengthen your child’s dominant language will help your child in school. 
  Read aloud to your child, discuss a book or tv show together, encourage your child to write (a letter to a relative, a story, a daily or travel journal, etc)
• Go to the library often with your child and borrow books, audiobooks, CDs and videos in English and French.
• Establish a good relationship with your child’s teacher.  Talk to them if you are uncertain about something or suspect your child is having trouble.
  
  

From CPF – Your French Immersion Parent Association www.cpf.bc.va/vannorth