Primary Boys
Dr. Seuss Stories: Reading that Entertains
Remember Dr. Seuss books? Just about everyone has a favorite from childhood.
They were some of my favorite books as a kid, too. On rainy days, I wished Thing 1 and Thing 2 would bring a box carrying the Cat in the Hat into my house. Green, eggs and ham was my favorite breakfast, although not my Mom's favorite, I'm sure. And I knew an elephant-cat would be my first choice for my zoo, that is, if I ran the zoo.
So when one of my students recently pulled Dr. Seuss's “The Shape of Me and Other Things” out of the book box, I was excited to read it with him. We set off on an adventure within the book, to identify more shapes than just circles or squares, but also the silhouetted shapes of camels, bugs, noses and spider webs among other worldly and other-worldly items.
I was reminded how these entertaining books can make reading fun for boys.
Phonics: Building Blocks of Literacy
Phonics is the most widely used foundation for reading development in schools. Simply defined Phonics is a systematic approach to reading through sound and letter association.
Word recognition is essential to reading comprehension. Phonics helps readers identify sounds for each letter and sound out words. For boys who often assume unknown words when they read - instead of recognizing or trying to sound out the word - phonics can help increase their comprehension.
Phonics Sets a Foundation
Phonics is critical to children’s success in learning to read and write. When young children learn and apply relationships between letters and sounds early in their reading experience, they will develop adaptable lifelong skills for word recognition, comprehension and spelling. Yes, even spelling!
