Learning At Home Reading Activities

One of the best ways for struggling readers to succeed is to encourage learning at home in addition to reading intervention. Here are some fun reading activities to get your students learning at home!

Ideas to encourage learning at home for reading.

Learning at Home

You can use these reading activities at home with your own kids, use them in class with students, or pass them on to the parents in your class.

This activity is one of my favorite reading tips for parents.

Finger Story Re-telling

Reading is one of THE BEST things parents can do with their kids at home.

Read, read, read!

Annnny reading is so valuable, but there are ways to get the most out of your reading. Here’s one of those ways!

Finger Story Re-Telling:

After you read a story with your child, use your fingers to re-tell the main parts of the story. Hold up one finger for each of the following:

Somebody (who the story is about)
Wanted (what was their goal)
But (what was the problem standing in their way)
So (what did they do to solve the problem)
Finally (how did the story end–did their solution work?)

This tip is great because it is interactive, with both a visual and tactile element (the more senses involved, the better!).

It also works on:

Story comprehension
Recalling information
Sequencing events
Solving problems
Processing ideas
Understanding character motives

Here is a blog post where I go over some more reading comprehension strategies you can use!

This activity is great for reading informational text.

Sticky Note Research Projects

- FOR YOUNGER KIDS:
  
  -have students read a nonfiction text
  -when they read an interesting fact, they can stick a small sticky note pointing to the fact so they can remember it
  -they can look back at their text to remember the facts and write/draw a response

- FOR OLDER KIDS:
  
  -have them read a nonfiction text
  -give them bigger sticky notes
  -when they read an interesting fact, have them jot notes about the fact in the sticky note (*NOT copy the sentence word for word, just short phrases to remember the gist of the fact)
  -they can use those notes to write a report

Reading with your child tips can get creative!

Sensory Writing

- Practice writing letters, words, and sentences in fun medium! Engaging the senses and using tactile experiences help reading stick in the brain.
- Fill a cookie sheet with rice, sugar, or flour, OR just go outside and use dirt!
- Have students use their finger to write and spell.

Tips for parents to help with reading at home.

Chalk Sounds

- This is a great way to practice phonemic awareness and segmenting!
  1. Draw 3 different colored circles with chalk on the sidewalk. Draw one more on the end with some sort of “pop” feature (like a sun ☀️)
  2. Say a word, and have kiddos say one sound for each circle they STEP on.
  3. Then have them say the whole word as they JUMP on the last circle.
    - FOR EXAMPLE:
      -say the word “cat”
      -step on red circle and say “c”
      -step on blue circle and say “a”
      -step on green circle and say “t”
      -jump on yellow sun and say “cat!”

- You can use this activity with older kids too! Draw hopscotch squares and use longer words. They can say one sound of the word for each square they jump on.

Reading activities can get super fun with magnetic letters on the garage!

Garage Magnetic Letters

- If you have some magnetic letters, head outside and make words on your garage door!! Try making short, 3 letter words and changing the vowels out to make new words.

If you need reading strategies for parents handouts, try this free reading intervention cheat sheet!

Reading Intervention Cheat Sheet for Learning at Home

If you have readers you’re worried about, grab this free reading intervention cheat sheet! You can use it for your own reference, or send it home to your parents. It can help give your students that extra support by empowering parents with ideas to help with learning at home.

The Cheat Sheet includes:

Characteristics of students who struggle in each area of reading
Tips for how to help readers in each area
Specific activities you can do (AT HOME or in the CLASSROOM) with students to target each area
A graphic visual that explains each area of reading

I hope these activities give you some ideas you can send home with your parents to promote learning at home. This can make all the difference for those struggling readers!

Happy reading, my friends! And…

Remember, YOU are an awesome teacher, and you ARE making a difference!

P.S. You can check out ALL of these ideas IN VIDEO ACTION on my Instagram account!

Just click on the “At Home Reading Tips” bubble in my story highlights! And be sure to follow me for even more amazing reading tips in the future. 😘

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