September 2012
Solon Robinson Elementary School
Mrs. Merrill, Principal
■ Up and Down the
Scratchy Mountains
Best friends
Lucy and Wynston
couldn’t be more different. Lucy gets her clothes
dirty and doesn’t follow the
rules. Wynston is a prince
who does everything his
father expects of him. When it’s time
for Wynston to find a princess, he
decides to bend the rules. A fairy tale
by Laurel Snyder.
■ Dog Sense
In Sneed Collard III’s
coming-of-age novel,
13-year-old Guy Martinez
makes a bet to stop a bully.
If Guy and his dog win
a Frisbee competition,
the bully will leave everyone alone.
But if they lose, Guy has to give up
what he loves most — his Border collie, Streak.
■ Who Was Albert Einstein?
This illustrated biography by Jess
Brallier explores the life of Albert
Einstein. Einstein was a shy child
who struggled in school but grew up
to be one of the world’s most famous
scientists. (Also available in Spanish.)
■ Signed By: Zelda
Lucy wants to be a graphologist — a
person who analyzes handwriting. Her
skills are tested when her neighbor’s
grandmother disappears and leaves a
handwritten note. Lucy takes on the
case with the help of
her neighbor and a
talking bird. A
funny mystery
by Kate
Feiffer.
© 2012 Resources for Educators, a division of CCH Incorporated
Strategies for a new year
As your youngster reads more complex stories and textbooks this year, he
will need new reading strategies. Help
him start the year off right with
these ideas for understanding
and remembering new material.
Fill a “thinking cap”
When your child needs to
tackle a challenging chapter,
have him get a baseball cap.
Each time he finds a new fact
or vocabulary word, he can
write it on a slip of paper and
put it in the hat. After he finishes reading, he should reread everything in his
thinking cap and look up definitions
of words he doesn’t know. Writing and
reviewing the information will help him
learn it.
Draw a comic strip
Suggest that your youngster make a
comic strip about what he’s studying
(stick figures are okay!). Say he’s reading
about the water cycle in his science book.
He could draw one panel with a character boiling a pot of water and explaining
evaporation, and another panel with
someone walking in the rain and talking
about precipitation. This is a fun way for
him to visualize and remember material.
Take a “commercial break”
Your child can pretend there’s a commercial break at the end of each chapter in
his novel. His job is to write a “teaser”—
a question to encourage the audience to
stay tuned. For example, if he’s reading
Bunnicula (Deborah and James Howe), he
might write a teaser like “Will Bunnicula
get caught in the vegetable garden?” Then,
have him predict the answer to his own
question. Asking questions and checking
his predictions lets him monitor how well
he understands a story.
Interest + involvement = success
Showing interest in what your child is doing in school can lead to big gains in
her reading and writing skills. Here are simple ways to play a part in her learning:
● When she’s preparing for a presentation, offer to be her audience. You might
also videotape it so she can watch herself.
● Browse through her textbooks to get an idea of what
your youngster is learning. Comment on things you think
are interesting, and ask her to explain them to you.
● If she gets excited about a topic, visit the library
together to learn more about it. She can ask the
librarian to recommend a book or documentary
about subjects she’s studying.
Reading Connection INTERMEDIATE EDITION
September 2012 • Page 2
Writing techniques
Titles. Encourage your
child to consider different titles for her story.
One way to create an
eye-catching title is to
refer to a major event in
the story. Instead of “My
Summer Vacation,” her
title could be “Trapped in
the Treehouse.”
When your youngster has
a creative-writing assignment,
encourage her to see it as an
opportunity to try new ideas.
The following suggestions can
make her stories stronger and help
her enjoy writing.
Foreshadowing. Authors sometimes
drop hints about what will happen later
in a book. If a big thunderstorm is important
in your child’s story, she might mention her
character’s fear of storms early in her tale.
Parent Recommended
2
Parent reading
My son Derrick has never been an
avid reader, so I was surprised when
he said, “Mom, you’ve got to read this
book!” All the Broken Pieces by Ann E.
Burg wasn’t something I would have
picked, but Derrick insisted I try
it — so I did.
When I was
finished, Derrick
wanted to talk
to me about the
story. We had a
nice discussion,
and afterward,
I recommended
a book to him.
Now, we take turns suggesting books
for one another to read. We try to pick
from a variety of genres, such as science
fiction, biographies, and realistic fiction.
This method has helped both of us enjoy
books we might not have read otherwise.
We’re currently reading my choice, Wonder by R. J. Palacio, and we’re looking
forward to discussing it.
O U R
P U R P O S E
To provide busy parents with practical ways
to promote their children’s reading, writing,
and language skills.
Resources for Educators,
a division of CCH Incorporated
128 N. Royal Avenue • Front Royal, VA 22630
540-636-4280 • [email protected]
www.rfeonline.com
ISSN 1540-5583
© 2012 Resources for Educators, a division of CCH Incorporated
Flashback. Rather than starting her tale at the beginning,
your youngster might begin at
the end. Perhaps the main character is finishing her first year
at a new school. Your child could write about the character
spending time with friends she has made, and then go back
and describe her struggle to fit in throughout the year.
Follow my rule
Your child can practice
sentence-writing skills with
this quick game.
The object is to write sentences following
a particular “rule.” Let your youngster pick the first rule (“Every word must have
the same number of letters”). Quickly write a sentence that fits (“Will they join your
team?”), and put down your pencil. Then, read your sentences aloud. The person
who finished first — and followed the rule correctly — gets to pick the next rule.
Here are some more rules to try:
● Every word has to start with the same letter. (“Tim takes two tests tomorrow.”)
● All the words need to share the same vowel. (“Bob got on top of Bo’s roof.”)
● The sentence must contain two words that are anagrams — words with the same
letters in a different order. (“It’s easier to listen if you are silent.”)
Idea: Challenge your family to come up with creative rules. (“The sentence contains two adjectives and at least one word with three syllables.”)
What’s your opinion?
A family debate can teach your
youngster valuable communication skills
like staying on topic and including
important details. Try these steps for
hosting a debate at your house.
1. Agree on a subject. An easy way
to start is with a “Which
is better?” question.
For example,
“Which is better:
renting a movie
or watching it
in a theater?” or
“Which is better on
pizza: meat or vegetables?”
2. Choose a moderator. This person
reminds everyone to stick to the question, take turns, and avoid interrupting.
3. Start talking. Your child can begin
by sharing her opinion and giving an
explanation for it (“The theater is better
because of the big
screen”). When
she is finished,
the next person
gives her arguments (“Renting a movie is
better because
it’s cheaper”).
October 2012
Solon Robinson Elementary School
Mrs. Merrill, Principal
■ You Can’t Have My
Planet, But Take My
Brother, Please
Giles doesn’t get perfect grades like his
brother or play the
violin like his sister.
But when he finds out that aliens plan
to take over the earth, he jumps at the
chance to stand out. He fights back
with help from an alien lawyer and
a mad scientist in James Mihaley’s
funny science fiction tale.
■ An American Plague
In the summer of
1793, a strange illness spread across
America. Author Jim
Murphy uses newspaper articles and other historical documents to tell the true story of the yellow
fever epidemic in Philadelphia. Readers
will learn about the politics, medical
practices, and customs of the time.
■ Word After Word After Word
Miss Cash’s fourth-graders aren’t interested in writing—until a real poet
spends six weeks in their classroom.
In this story by Patricia MacLachlan,
the students discover that writing
poetry strengthens their friendships,
helps them cope with problems, and
even changes how they see the world.
■ Inkheart
What if, when you read a book out loud,
the characters came to life? Meggie and
her father have the magical power to
“read” people out of books. And when
an evil character kidnaps her father,
Meggie must get the author
to rewrite the story’s
ending. The first book
in Cornelia Funke’s
Inkheart trilogy. (Also
available in Spanish.)
© 2012 Resources for Educators, a division of CCH Incorporated
Everyday spelling
Your child needs good spelling
skills throughout her life — for
school papers, job applications,
work, and more. Here are fun
ideas for fitting spelling practice
into your everyday activities.
Mini-bees
Hold spontaneous spelling
bees throughout the day. You
might give your youngster a word
from a recipe you’re making (marzipan) or read one from the newspaper during breakfast (controversy).
Say the word clearly, and then use it
in a sentence. If she spells the word
correctly, she finds a word for someone
else to spell. If not, give her another
word to try.
Word travels
English words come from many languages. Suggest that your child look up
the origins of words your family uses
frequently. For instance, she might
learn that we got android from Greek
or lacrosse from Canadian French. Idea:
Let her print out a world map and write
the words on the countries they come
from. Does she notice similarities among
words of the same origin?
Error list
How many misspelled words can your
family find while you’re out and about?
Your youngster might spot strawbery on
a restaurant menu or coupoun on a store
sign. Put her in charge of keeping a list of
the errors you see. She can include the correct spelling of each word (strawberry, coupon). Tip: Encourage your child to add to
the list any words she misspells on homework assignments or vocabulary tests.
Sharing stories
You can make your youngster feel like a real
author— and motivate him to do his best— by
listening as he shares his creative writing. He
can use these steps to give a “book talk”:
1. Have your child choose a story he wrote
for school to read aloud to your family. He
might start by explaining how he came up
with his idea. (“My story is about a wolf that
finds himself in the city. I got interested in wolves after watching a
movie about them.”)
2. Let him hold a question-and-answer session with his audience. Family members can ask questions (“How did you choose the wolf’s name?”) or give their
reactions to his story.
October 2012 • Page 2
Reading Connection INTERMEDIATE EDITION
A reader’s
notebook
Collect quotations. Characters in novels might say
funny or insightful things.
Encourage your youngster to jot his favorite
quotes in his journal. He
can include the book title
and character’s name and
then use markers or crayons to illustrate the page.
Keeping a reading journal is a good
way for your youngster to think about
what he reads from different angles.
These strategies can give him a place
to start.
Express thoughts. What does your
child like, dislike, and wonder
about the book he’s reading? If he
reads Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing
(Judy Blume), he might write that he likes the part
where Fudge acts like a dog, dislikes that Fudge eats Peter’s
turtle, and wonders how Fudge got his name.
Find the
mystery word
Making and playing this
word game will stretch your child’s
vocabulary.
Have each
person choose
a six-letter
mystery word,
such as meteor.
Then, the
player should
think of another word that begins with
each letter in the mystery word (melt,
elevate, turban, envelope, octopus, recite).
On a piece of paper, she can draw
lines (hangman-style) for the letters
in each word and write a definition. So
for melt, a player would write “_ _ _ _ :
to turn to liquid,” and for elevate,
“_ _ _ _ _ _ _ : to raise up.” Note:
Keep a dictionary handy to help with
definitions.
Trade papers, and use the definitions
to fill in the blanks. Then, write the
first letters of the answers to find the
mystery word. The first to finish wins
that round.
O U R
P U R P O S E
To provide busy parents with practical ways
to promote their children’s reading, writing,
and language skills.
Resources for Educators,
a division of CCH Incorporated
128 N. Royal Avenue • Front Royal, VA 22630
540-636-4280 • [email protected]
www.rfeonline.com
ISSN 1540-5583
© 2012 Resources for Educators, a division of CCH Incorporated
Add “missing” pages. Have
him ask himself, “If I wrote this
book, what would I add?” He could
write a prologue that tells how two characters in a novel met.
Or he may be inspired to find more information on a nonfiction topic and write about it.
Parent Tackling reading assignments
2
Parent
My daughter Olivia likes to read, but only
when she chooses the book. She has always struggled to
finish assigned reading that she thinks is “boring.”
I remembered having the same problem at her age.
What helped was reading a few pages each day rather
than leaving the whole assignment until the last minute.
So I suggested that Olivia divide the number of assigned
pages by the number of days. She writes each day’s page
numbers on her calendar and crosses them off as she finishes. She has also gotten into the habit of reading at the
same time each day.
she
Finally, I encouraged Olivia to learn as much as possible about a book before
has
she
once
ly
opens it. She enjoys online reviews, and reading goes more smooth
way,
an idea of what a story is about and what other people think of it. Along the
them.
into
got
she has even discovered a few books that she liked once she
Online fact-checking
My son believes everything
he reads online. How can I help him figure
out what’s really true?
Recognizing inaccurate
information online can be
a challenge for anyone.
Encourage your son to ask
himself a few questions.
How old is the information?
Remind him to look for the
date an article was posted.
(It’s often at the bottom of
the main page.) If it is more
than a few years old, or if
he can’t find a date, it might
be outdated.
Who published it? Anyone can post
online. Reliable information tends to
come from sources like professional
journalists and experts, and it often
appears on websites that end in .gov
or .edu. Your child can Google the
writer’s or the organization’s name
to find out more. If no author is
listed, suggest that he
look elsewhere.
What do other
sites say? If three or
more reputable sites
contain the same
fact, it’s likely to
be true.
November 2012
Solon Robinson Elementary School
Mrs. Merrill, Principal
■ The Bad Beginning
When Violet,
Klaus, and
Sunny Baudelaire
become orphans,
they are taken in by
Count Olaf, a distant
relative. The three children must protect each other —and their inheritance —from their cruel new guardian.
The first book in Lemony Snicket’s
collection, A Series of Unfortunate
Events. (Also available in Spanish.)
■ Top Secret
Paul B. Janeczko’s nonfiction guide explains how
people have used codes
and other secret communication throughout history.
Readers will learn about
spies and discover how to
make and break different kinds of
codes, create invisible ink, experiment
with cipher systems, and more.
■ Remarkable
In the unusual town of Remarkable,
everyone is interesting or talented—
except for 10-year-old Jane Doe. When
the mischievous (and less-than-perfect)
Grimlet twins come to Remarkable,
Jane’s ordinary life is suddenly full of
adventure. A funny mystery by Lizzie
K. Foley.
■ The Phantom Tollbooth
What happens when Milo discovers a
tollbooth in his bedroom? Your youngster can find out in this classic novel
by Norton Juster. Read about Milo’s
travels through Dictionopolis, where
he tries to rescue Princesses Rhyme
and Reason from the
Mountains of
Ignorance.
© 2012 Resources for Educators, a division of CCH Incorporated
Read-aloud time
When your child was younger, he
probably loved snuggling up with
you to hear a good story. As he gets
older, he can still benefit from
(and enjoy!) listening to you
read. Here are some readaloud tips to try at home.
Discuss the story
Try pausing periodically to
ask for your youngster’s opinion
about a character’s decision or
to share a memory that the book
triggered. These conversations can
improve his understanding of the story
and boost his reading comprehension.
Mix it up
Take turns choosing reading materials. When it’s your turn, consider using
read-aloud time to expose your child to
more challenging material than he reads
on his own. You might also introduce
him to an author or a series that you
enjoyed when you were his age. Knowing that you liked a book can get him
interested in hearing it.
Encourage participation
You and your youngster might alternate
reading chapters, or you could each pick a
character and read that person’s dialogue.
Encourage him to really get into his part
so that he can practice reading smoothly
and with good expression.
Create a routine
Try to set aside time once or twice a
week to read aloud (say, after dinner on
Thursdays or before bed on Sundays). If
you have more than one child, you could
read to them together so they can discuss
the story and learn from each other. At
other times, you might read to each one
individually—they’ll appreciate the special one-on-one time with you, and you’ll
be able to select books more targeted to
their ages and tastes.
Unraveling words
Your youngster is reading and comes to a word she doesn’t
know. What does she do? These three strategies can help
her figure out what the word means:
● Reread the sentence, and try to substitute
a different word that would make sense. The
context might make the unfamiliar word clear.
● Study the word for clues. Does she recognize any part of the word, such as a
prefix (beginning), suffix (ending), or root (base word)?
● Write down the word. Then, look up its meaning in a dictionary and its synonyms in a thesaurus. Seeing synonyms for the word can help her remember its
definition in the future.
Reading Connection INTERMEDIATE EDITION
November 2012 • Page 2
Ways to overcome
writer’s block
Add something new.
Remind her that a first
draft is a playground for
ideas. She might add
another character to the
story or give one of her
existing characters a
new problem to solve.
The changes she makes
may help the story come
“unstuck.”
“I can’t write. I’m stuck!” Sound
familiar? If your child’s story stalls
out, help her get things moving
again with these suggestions.
Keep writing. Have her set a timer for
10 minutes and write nonstop about anything that pops into her mind. When she
reads her “free writing,” a possibility for her
story may jump out at her.
Skip ahead. Encourage
her to fast-forward and
write another part of the story. Sometimes taking a detour
will trigger an idea about the section that has her stumped.
Take a break. Suggest that she set the story aside for a little
while to go for a walk or read a book. Once she stops thinking
so hard, the perfect solution may appear.
What’s in a
contraction?
Contractions such as it’s, she’ll, and
wouldn’t add variety to our language and
help make writing flow smoothly. These
activities will show your youngster how
language sounds without contractions
and help him learn to spell them.
Talk and listen
Announce that no contractions are
allowed at dinner, and have a conversation without using any. Your child will
need to choose his words carefully —
and listen closely to others to make sure
they don’t use a contraction. Who can
go the longest?
Read and write
Ask your
youngster to read
a short newspaper
article out loud,
replacing each contraction with the two
words that form it. For example, if he
sees “you’re,” he would say “you are.”
Then, have him write each contraction
on one side of an index card and the
two words that form it on the other side.
This will help him remember the correct
spelling.
O U R
P U R P O S E
To provide busy parents with practical ways
to promote their children’s reading, writing,
and language skills.
Resources for Educators,
a division of CCH Incorporated
128 N. Royal Avenue • Front Royal, VA 22630
540-636-4280 • [email protected]
www.rfeonline.com
ISSN 1540-5583
© 2012 Resources for Educators, a division of CCH Incorporated
Parent More magazines = more learning
2
Parent
My son Bryan has always enjoyed
reading magazines, but subscriptions are expensive. I mentioned this to the school librarian,
and she suggested that we start a magazine
swap with a few relatives and friends.
Now, several of us save issues and pass
them on when we see each other. For example, we get Boys’ Life, and Bryan’s cousin
Gabe subscribes to Muse. After trading a few
issues, the boys decided to add a scavenger
hunt to the swap. When they trade issues, they include a list of words or facts for
the other one to find.
Through the swap, Bryan has also begun reading magazines for older readers,
including Smithsonian and Popular Science. This has given us new topics to discuss,
like modern art and space tourism. I’m glad Bryan is getting to read so many magazines — without costing us anything!
Musical poetry
Every time your youngster hears a
song on the radio or in music class, she
is listening to poetry. That’s because
songs are poems set to music. Here are
two ways she can learn from song lyrics:
● Encourage
her to listen carefully
to songs for examples of
figurative language, or
words and phrases
that aren’t meant
to be taken literally. For example, “walking on
sunshine” means “happy.” This will help
her recognize figurative language when
she sees it in books.
● Your
youngster can explore the rhythm
of poetry by writing her own
poem set to music. She might
use a familiar tune and change
the lyrics. For instance, “This
Land Is Your Land” might
become “This Dog Is My
Dog,” or “Singin’ in the
Rain” could be “Dancin’
in the Snow.”
December 2012
Solon Robinson Elementary School
Mrs. Merrill, Principal
■ Diary of a
Wimpy Kid
Middle
schooler Greg Heffley
is small for his age. In
this illustrated diary, he
describes his struggles,
including dealing with
bullies, enduring a PE wrestling unit,
and playing a tree in The Wizard of Oz.
The first book in Jeff Kinney’s popular
series. (Also available in Spanish.)
■ Hattie Big Sky
In Kirby Larson’s historical fiction
novel, 16-year-old Hattie goes west
alone to claim land she inherited from
her uncle. Once there, she must struggle to keep the land and to understand
the prejudice among her neighbors
during World War I.
■ Chronal Engine
What if you could travel back in time
to the days of the dinosaurs? When
Emma is kidnapped by a
time traveler,
her brothers,
Max and Kyle, must hop in their grandfather’s time machine and bring her
back from the Cretaceous period. Science fiction by Greg Leitich Smith.
■ The Old Farmer’s Almanac
for Kids, Volume 4
Your child can learn about predicting
weather, growing vegetables, and even
training chickens in this colorful almanac. She’ll also find a dozen craft projects and read interesting facts on topics
like astronomy, holidays, and the seasons. From the
editors of The
Old Farmer’s
Almanac.
Vocabulary boosters
A good vocabulary goes hand in
hand with strong reading and writing skills. Help your child learn
more words with ideas like these.
Alphabet soup
Your youngster can discover
words in your house with this
activity. First, each person
writes the alphabet on a piece
of paper. Then, walk around
the house, and look for a
word that starts with each letter. She might find potassium on
a cereal box and hypoallergenic on
a soap bottle. When everyone has a
word for every letter, take turns making
up sentences that use as many of your
words as possible. Cross out each word
as you say it — how many sentences
does it take to use them all? Tip: Have
your child look up unfamiliar words in
a dictionary.
Scrambled words
Here’s a game that will help your youngster learn words in her textbooks. Secretly
choose a word from one of her glossaries,
and select the magnetic letters or Scrabble
tiles needed to spell it. Then, mix up the
letters, ask your child to unscramble them,
and read the definition to her. After she
figures out your word, let her pick one to
scramble for you.
Start a collection
Let your youngster collect words
when you go places. In a paint store,
she might jot down color words (vermilion, chartreuse). At the grocery store, she
could write the names of pasta shapes
(rotini, farfalle). Idea: Encourage her to
use her words when she writes stories
and poems — her work will be full of
interesting word choices!
Use a writing checklist
Small errors in writing assignments add up — and
take away from your youngster’s final grade. Share this
writing checklist that can help him catch mistakes:
❏ Read the paper out loud. (He might “hear” mistakes
he didn’t see.)
❏ Check spelling — start at the end of the paper and read backward slowly.
❏ Make sure every sentence ends with a period, question mark, or exclamation
point. Tip: Remind him not to overuse exclamation points—they’ll lose their punch.
❏ Look for capitalized words. Does every sentence and proper noun start with a
capital letter?
❏ Read one sentence at a time. Is each sentence complete? Does it make sense?
© 2012 Resources for Educators, a division of CCH Incorporated
December 2012 • Page 2
Reading Connection INTERMEDIATE EDITION
Research products. Let your
youngster take part in selecting gifts for friends and family. Give him a list of items to
research, and have him read
product descriptions and
reviews online. When he’s
finished, he can recommend
the best deals based on what
he learned.
A season for
reading
Give your youngster real-life reasons to keep reading during winter
break. Try these suggestions.
Find events. Local newspapers and
websites list plenty of things to do
this time of year. Your child might
read about a community orchestra concert or a First Night celebration. Have him
write his favorites on a calendar, and try to
attend a few. Idea: After an event, ask him to look for
an article about it in the newspaper and read it aloud to you.
Do you
remember?
This game can help your child
become a better listener and improve
her concentration and memory. Here’s
how to play.
1. Each player
gets a favorite
book.
2. The first
person chooses
one paragraph
from her book and reads it
aloud while everyone listens carefully.
3. After she reads, she gets to ask each
listener a different question about the
paragraph. She should think of questions that would be hard to answer if
players weren’t paying attention. Examples: “Do you remember what color the
door is?” “How many times did Jack
knock?” Players score a point if they
answer correctly.
4. The next person reads a paragraph
from her book and asks questions.
5. After everyone has had two turns to
read, the player with the most points
wins.
O U R
P U R P O S E
To provide busy parents with practical ways
to promote their children’s reading, writing,
and language skills.
Resources for Educators,
a division of CCH Incorporated
128 N. Royal Avenue • Front Royal, VA 22630
540-636-4280 • [email protected]
www.rfeonline.com
ISSN 1540-5583
© 2012 Resources for Educators, a division of CCH Incorporated
Share reading. Visiting with
relatives gives your child the perfect opportunity to practice his reading skills. Ask him to look for a few
seasonal books he can read to younger
family members. Or suggest that he check out a book of winter activities (crafts, games) from the library and try some
with his cousins or siblings.
Parent Our family newsletter
2
Parent
In our house, we put together a family
newsletter to send out at the end of each year. It’s our
way of sharing news with friends and relatives who live
far away. I’ve always done most of the work, but last
year, I invited my daughter Shelby to help.
Together, we brainstormed news we could share about
each member of our family. Shelby remembered that her
dad caught a huge fish that summer and that her little
brother started playing soccer. We each picked a few events
to write about. Shelby typed our articles on the computer, added some family
photos, and printed out copies of the finished newsletter for us to mail.
The best part was reading the comments we received from friends and family.
she’s
They loved it! Having an audience has really motivated Shelby to write—
already working on this year’s newsletter.
Organizing information
My son is a good reader, but
sometimes he struggles to understand textbooks. How can I help him?
Reading a textbook is different than
reading a story—and this difference can
take some getting used to. Suggest that
your son create graphic organizers to
collect information while he reads.
A ladder organizer works like a list.
To make one, he should write
the topic he’s reading about
on the top rung. Then, he
can add a detail on each
rung underneath. For a
chapter about plant
cells, a ladder might
include rungs with definitions of vacuole, chromosomes, and mitochondria.
If your child needs a more detailed
organizer (say he’s reading a history
chapter with a lot of names and dates),
suggest that he try a “5W” chart. Have
him write “Who,” “What,” “Where,”
“When,” and “Why” down the left side
of a sheet of paper. Then,
he can make a column
for each historical figure
or event and fill in the
answers as he reads.
Idea: He might ask
his teacher for other
graphic organizers to try.