Grade 2 • Language Arts • Reading Foundational Skills

• Look at written materials around your house and at road signs to see if you can spot familiar words and word patterns.
• When you're trying to sound out a word, pay close attention to the print. Try to look at all the letters in the word, not just the first one or two.

• Help your child make connections between what he or she might see on a sign or in the newspaper and the letter and sound work he or she is doing in school.
• Encourage your child to write and spell notes, e-mails, and letters using what he or she knows about sounds and letters.
• Talk with your child about the "irregular" words that he or she will often see in text. These are the words that don't follow the usual letter-sound rules. These words include said, are, and was. Students must learn to recognize them "at sight."
• As students are decoding words in text, encourage your child to try different ways to figure out words. Help your child by saying:
  • Read across the word by sounding out individual letters.
  • What parts of the word do you recognize?
• Resources
  • Supporting Your Child's Reading at Home Links to an external site. (Activities and Videos) 
  • Tips for Supporting Reading Skills at Home Links to an external site.

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  Starfall Links to an external site.
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  Reading Rockets-Phonics Links to an external site.
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  Education.com Phonics Activities Links to an external site.
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  Phonics Genius App Links to an external site.
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  Build a Word Express App Links to an external site.
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  Reading Buddies YouTube Channel Links to an external site.

You can practice high-frequency words with your child using the following activities:

• Read, Spell, Read
• Read: the 
• Spell: t   h  e
• Read: the
• Magnetic letters
• Building high-frequency words with magnetic letters is a simple hands-on strategy. You can build on a refrigerator, a magnetic dry-erase board, or simply lay the magnetic letters out on a table.
• Search for high frequency words in nursery rhymes and books
• After reading together, let your child find the high-frequency words you are focusing on.
• Write the words in salt or sand
• Writing the words in salt or sand is a great sensory-based strategy to practice high frequency words.  Pour some salt into a small cookie sheet, and let the kids use their finger to write the word. 
• “Air write” the words
• With your pointer or index finger, trace the letter in the air from top to bottom the way you would write the letter. Think aloud as you show children the direction to move their finger as they form the letter.
• Create the words with playdough
• Roll out playdough to form the letters in the high frequency word and then tracing the letters with their finger. 
• High-Frequency Word Tic-Tac-Toe
• This is a fun twist on a classic game. Let your child pull a high-frequency word card. Then, read it and spell it before adding an “X” or “O” to the board. 
• Flashlight Tag with high-frequency words
• Hang high-frequency words around the house. Then, turn off the lights and call out a high-frequency word. Have your child find it with a flashlight. 

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  Practicing Sight Words at Home Links to an external site.
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  Education.com Links to an external site.
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  Sight Words App Links to an external site.
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  Play Sight Words App Links to an external site.
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  Sight Words by Photo Touch App Links to an external site.

• Phrasing and Smoothness- Does your child read with smoothness and not read word-by-word? Pay attention to punctuation. 
• Pace: You child should read at a conversational rate.  This takes practice. 
• Expression and volume: You child should read with expression by looking at punctuation and proper volume.

• Read with a buddy
• Reread favorite nursery rhymes
• Reread favorite books
• Record your child reading
• Listen to audio books

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  Fluent Kids (Reading Rockets) Links to an external site.
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  Reading Partners Links to an external site.