Welcome To Mrs. Van De Mark's Page

Welcome! I am Rebekah Van De Mark, the Reading Teacher at Lake Garda. I am thrilled to be able to work with so many great kids in the area of reading. Take some time to look at this web page to find out how you can help your child achieve greater reading success.

Remember that you set the reading tone in your home! If your kids see you reading and understand that you value reading, they will too! You are your child's first teacher!

Read, Read, Read to your child and with your child.
Turn off the TV and encourage your child to spend more time reading. Talk about what you're reading with your child. What makes a better reader? Reading!
There are definite reading strategies that good readers use when reading fiction and non-fiction. Try some of these with your child as you read at home together. Encourage your child to use some of these strategies as they complete reading homework. They help readers make sense of what they are reading.

Here are some strategies to try! Many of them can be used with either fiction or non-fiction, so check out both lists to get some good ideas. See if they help you make more sense of what you read. Enjoy!

Strategies that Good Readers Use For Fiction

Before diving into the book, try...

Going on a picture walk! Look through at the pictures - what do they tell you about what is happening in the story?
Reading the chapter titles. Do they give you clues to important story events
Think about what you already know. How do your experiences or background knowledge help you predict what might happen?
Read the back of the book or the inside flap! You'll usually find a story summary there.
Think - have you read other books by this author? What do you know about their style of writing?

While reading the book...

Think about what the characters do and say. Can you make any connections to them or the events in the story?
Check that you understand what you read. Can you retell the story to someone using character names and specific, important events?
Reread if something doesn't make sense.
After each chapter, jot down what has happened.
Good readers constantly make pictures in their mind that show what is happening in the story-it should be like having a movie in your head!

After you've finished the book...

Summarize - what happened, to who, when, where, why and how? How was the problem in the story solved?
React to the story - what did you like, not like? How did the book make you feel? Why? Fill out a graphic organizer to help you remember what you've read.
Think- what was the main idea? What was the book's theme?

Strategies that Good Readers Use for Non-Fiction

Before reading,

Think about what you already know about the topic. What information do you expect to read

What vocabulary would you expect to see in an article about ________? Get your mind read

Look through at the article headings. Turn them into questions to set a purpose for reading. Look through for any graphics, pictures, tables and/or graphs. They will help you understand what you're reading.

While reading,

Fill out a graphic organizer as you go to keep track of what you're reading.
Use context clues to figure out new, difficult words.
Use the headings to gear yourself up for what you'll be reading about next.
Go back and reread parts that are unclear to you.
Make connections-text to self, text to text, text to world.
Make inferences- what does the author really mean?

After reading,

Use the graphic organizer to review main ideas.
Tell someone what you've learned-share your knowledge!
Summarize the main ideas. Back up what you're saying by finding evidence of it in the article.
Use the headings to question yourself.
Decide how you can use what you've read to help you.

By no means is this list of strategies complete. What strategies do you use as a good reader? Please email me your ideas! I'd love to add them to my page!

Email ideas to: vandemarkr@region10ct.org

The websites listed below provide more great ideas, strategies, activities and links to help the readers in your home. Check them out!

www.starfall.com

www.literacy.uconn.edu/k2sites.htm

www.literacy.uconn.edu/34sites.htm

www.literacy.uconn.edu/56sites.htm