MommaReads

I am going to take a break from Halloween books for today because I came across this really cool website that helps kids practice their spelling words. You (or they) type in their spelling list and then the website makes games for them to play on-line using their spelling words. It also makes worksheets that you can print out using the list you typed in. I thought it was pretty cool. It seems there are some options that you have to pay for, but I never ran into a spot where it asked me to pay for anything while I was playing around with it. I just thought this might be a fun and different way to practice spelling words at home or for teachers to practice with their students at school. Go to www.spellingcity.com to check it out.

A girl gets an invitation to a Halloween party and she is trying to use things she has around the house to make a costume. She comes up with a couple of different outfits, but neither one of them seems just right. Finally, thanks to her grandma, she ends up with a costume. I love this story because not only is it a rebus story (a rebus uses pictures to represent some of the words in a story) so it’s a great story for beginning readers, but it also a cumulative tale (which means parts of the story repeat throughout the story) which is also great for beginning readers and it rhymes.

This is one of my all-time favorite reading websites for kids because not only is it high quality and interactive, it also covers everything from those kids who are just beginning to know their letters and letter sounds all the way to those kids who are beginning readers. I also like that once the children get to the beginning readers section, there are both fiction and non-fiction texts, Chinese fables, Greek myths, folk tales and plays. It also has a function where children can click on an icon if they come across a word they don’t know and it will say the word for them.

Okay, this isn’t a book, but it DOES have to do with reading, so…

I LOVE these things. They are great for beginning readers who are learning to read three-letter words with short vowel sounds. There are two links below. One link is for a way to buy one and the other is a worksheet children can use to practice writing the words they make. Enjoy!

from Let’s Explore

Okay, I know these aren’t technically books, but they are a great way for early readers to get some fun practice. These are similar to the Mad Libs you may be used to, but they are a little more user friendly for our younger friends. These have four lists of words: verbs, adjectives, nouns and misc. Each category has a symbol by it so children can easily tell which type of word goes in each blank. The super awesome part is that most of the words are words the early readers will know or they are words that they can probably figure out with a little help. For example, I bought one today and there are color words in the misc. column. Some words found in the nouns column include: ham, map, pizza, boat and tree. The adjectives column has words like: sad, sick, nice, wild and ugly. The verbs column has words like: sing, clap, burp, fart (yes, fart), cry, skip and run. There are definitely some harder words, but that’s why the parents are there. This is such a great way to build reading confidence in a fun and non-traditional way.

Cuddle up with your little one and enjoy this book together. Beautiful (and a little silly) illustrations designed for searching and counting.

This is another favorite easy reader series in our house. The stories are short, sweet and have words that kids who are just learning how to read can figure out. Biscuit is a cute dog who sometimes gets into trouble, but is always endearing. These books are a darling introduction to early reading and are recommended for grades preschool-first grade.

Here is another one of our favorite books to read together. In this book, one reader reads the words on the left in one color, the other reader reads the words on the right in another color and then there are words in the middle in another color that the two readers read simultaneously. These books are so much fun to read and the kids especially seem to love the parts where the two readers read together. All of the stories in this book are short and some of them are easier than others. It is recommended for ages 4-8.

These are my newest favorite books for kids who are just beginning to read. We just discovered them at the library a few weeks ago and we love them! These books come in both fiction and non-fiction and they are leveled. What I love about them is that they are meant to be read with a parent. The parent reads the left-hand side of the page which has more difficult text and vocabulary and then the child reads the right-hand side of the page which is easier, but adds to the story and is not just “fluff”. I also like that the words that are going to come up on the child’s page are bold-faced on the parent’s page. I am so glad we found these.

There are a lot of different book series out there designed to help early readers learn how to read. This series is my ALL TIME favorite. There are so many things I love about it. I love that there is a little bit that the parents read before the book begins so that the children know what the book is going to be about and what words they are going to be looking for before they even begin reading. I love how the pictures are designed to help the child figure out the words to the story. I love how the books actually use words that beginning readers can figure out but aren’t boring and monotonous. Lastly, I love that the stories are short; early readers can get tired of reading in a hurry. Let’s face it, reading can be a lot of work when you are just learning how to put all of the pieces together. These books get them through a story that they can feel successful about reading in a short amount of time. LOVE THEM!!!