WELCOME TO FAST START WELCOME TO FAST START LITERACYLITERACY

Getting your students off to a FAST START in Getting your students off to a FAST START in reading through an reading through an

innovative at home program!innovative at home program!

Teri TrailTeri Trail

Reading Support TeacherReading Support Teacher

Waterloo ElementaryWaterloo Elementary

What is FAST START Literacy?

It’s a fun, fast paced reading activity that improves fluency, sight word recognition, confidence and comprehension.

FAST START works because……..

• Repeated reading of text improves reading performance.

• Reading short passages is one of the best ways to promote reading fluency.

. Children experience reading words 4 ways…. Visually - They see the words.

Auditorally - They hear the adult say the words. Orally - They say the words.

Kinesthetically - They glide their finger under the words.

FAST START has two parts - reading the poem

and working with the words.

It only takes about 10 -15

minutes a day.

The Fast Start Routine

Read the poem to your child. Sit together in a comfortable place. Hold the poem so you both can see it.

Read the poem to your child.

Read it slowly and expressively.Glide your finger under the words as you read.Do this 2 or 3 times.

Read the poem with your child.

Do this 2 or 3 times. Again, read it slowly and expressively. Glide your finger under the words orlet your child do it.

Listen to your child read the poem by himself.

Do this 2 or 3 times.

Be sure to tell your child

what a good reader

she is !!

REMEMBER:READ TO……

READ WITH……..LISTEN TO YOUR CHILD READ.

Then do an activity or two from the activity page.

What if…….?

• Your child gets stuck on a word? If your child struggles and gets the word

right, show you are pleased. However, don’t let your child struggle for more than 5 seconds.

If your child says the wrong word, just say the right word and make sure your child says the word right as well.

What if……? The poem is too

long?

If the poem is too long, you can read parts of the poem.

Your child wants to do an activity from another word play set?

That is okay. As long as the child is engaged in learning, any word play activity will do.

The poetry journal will always come home on Thursday. It will need to be returned

to school on Tuesday.

Web Sites for Children’s Poetry• The Children’s Literature Web Guide http://ucalgary.ca/~dkbrown/storsong/html• The Kids Page http://www.veeceet.com• Poetry for Kids http://poetry4kids.com• Giggle poems for Kids

http://www.gigglepoetry.com

References:• Postlewaite, T.N. & Ross, (1992). Effective Schools in

Reading: Implications for the Classroom. International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement.

• Rasinski, T. & Padak, N. (2001) From Phonics to Fluency: Effective teaching of decoding and reading fluency. Longman/Allyn & Bacon Publishers.

• Toppping, K. (1987). Paired reading: A powerful technique for parents to use. The Reading Teacher, 40 (7), 608-615.

• U.S. Department of Education. Helping Your Child Become a Better Reader. Education Publishing Center, Washington, D.C.