First Grade
Mrs. Havlicek
Reading Tips and Strategies
"The ultimate goal of guided reading is to help children learn how
to use independent reading strategies successfully."
Fountas and SuPinnell, 1996
Tell the child to look at the picture. You may tell the child the word is something that can be seen in the picture, if that is the case.
Tell the child to look for chunks in the word, such as -it in sit, -at in mat, or -and and -ing in standing.
Ask the child to get his/her mouth ready to say the word by shaping the mouth for the beginning letter sound.
Ask the child if the word looks like another word she/he knows. ex. "Does bed look like red?"
Ask the child what might make sense.
Tell the child to go on and read to the end of the sentence. Often by reading the other words in context, the child can figure out the unknown word.
If the child says the wrong word while reading, ask questions like:
Does it make sense?
Does it sound right?
Does it look right?