READING TIPS FOR FAMILIES
• Read with your child everyday.
• For beginning readers, point to each word as you read.
• Read favorite books over and over.
• Read stories with rhyming or repeated lines. Read the lines together.
• Stop and ask questions about the story. Try to make connections between the story and your life, between the characters, and between two stories you have read.
• Read with expression and make the story “come alive” for your child.
• A variety of materials should be read to, with, and by your child.
• Find a ‘unique’ place to read.
• Be a role model – let your child see you reading.

VISIT THE LIBRARY
Make the library a familiar place for your family. Get a library card and check out some good books. Many libraries offer free activities for children, from story hours, puppet shows, and crafts, to reading incentive programs in the summer. Check it out!

FIND A GOOD USED BOOK
• At the Good Will or St. Vincent De’Paul store, or used book store.
• At a rummage sale or flea market.
• Host a book swap party with your friends.

MAKE A POP UP CARD
Make a pop up card of a favorite book, your family, your friends, or whatever tickles your fancy! Fold a piece of typing paper in half. Starting at the fold, cut two slits the same size. Open up the paper and glue it down flat onto a piece of heavier paper, leaving the area between the cuts free. Fold the card making sure the center section pops out. Draw your picture and ‘spotlight’ something important on the pop-out section. Tell what is happening using the front and inside areas for your writing. Pop-ups are cool. Give it a whirl!!

MAKE YOUR FAMILY THE CENTER OF ATTENTION
• Make a family book. Interview people in your family and write a story about them. Draw pictures of them or askmom if you can use family photos in your book.
• Draw pictures of your family and hang them on a clothesline somewhere in your house.
• Start a family library in a place where all of you can spend time together reading.
• Write a true story about yourself or your family, or use your imagination and make one up!
• Sit around the table and talk about something interestingthat you read in a book, magazine, newspaper, or other reading material.
• Make a family tree. Draw or use photos of your relatives. Use your imagination and decide how to hang them on a bare tree branch. Stick the branch or branches into a container with plaster of paris or clay. Decorate the container with bright paper and ribbon.

HOST A BOOK CLUB PARTY
If your class is reading a book, have your friends over to discuss the book. You could even discuss a story from your reader, social studies, or science book. This would be a good place to swap books, also. Have a snack and find out what everyone knows and thinks about the material you’re reading.