Drop the Bad Habits, Pick Up a Good Habit

Our whole group reading instruction has been focusing on breaking bad habits that readers have.  When we are starting out in reading (and even when we are experienced readers!), we can often fall into some bad habits when we come to a tricky word.  Some of us freeze (stop at the tricky word and just freeze), ask for the word (What's this word?  Tell me, tell me!), mumble (Hmm, maybe if I say this word quiet and quick no one will know I don't know it), or say a random word (maybe the word begins with the same letter, maybe it's a guess, but the word doesn't match what is on the page).  Now that we know these bad habits, we can stop and try using a good habit to help us successfully figure out the tricky word.  We can check the picture.  Often in picture books and/or guided reading books, the picture may provide clues as to what the unknown word could be.  We can look at all the parts of the word.  What do we know about this word when we break it into parts.  These parts may be small familiar words, word families, and/or blends of letters that make a sound of their own.  Finally, we can check that the word we said matches the word on the text.  We can slow down and say the word slowly while sliding our finger under the new word to see if what we're saying matches the word in from of us.  When reading at home, help your child catch their bad habit and fix it with a good habit!