• Read the same book as your child so that you can discuss it. (Try and stay 1 chapter ahead.) It can become a bond between you.
  
  Ex: "I was worried when he started going up the stairs. What do you think will happen if...?"
  
  
• Ask "why" questions.
  
  Ex: "Why do you think..."
  
  
• Try and relate something from the story to your child's life.
  
  Ex: "That reminded me of the time we (or you)..."
  
  
• Try and determine what the author's purpose was for writing it.
  
  
• Did the characters in the story learn a lesson?
  
  
• Do not assume that your child knows common terms, such as "rig" for truck, "bank" for riverbank.
  
  

Non-fiction - An article that informs

• Read magazines, newspapers, and information from the internet.
  
  
• Discuss newspaper, magazine, or internet articles about topics of interest to your child. Let your child look up information on the internet with close supervision.
  
  
• Fit non-fiction text into real world experiences. This shows your child the benefit of being able to read well.
  
  
• Use brochures, maps, charts, graphs.
  
  
• Plan a vacation or a family outing using a map. Read the names of cities and/or states you will visit. Use brochures to plan where you will go and what you will do. (There's lots of info. on the internet about attractions)
  
  
• Make charts for household chores.
  
  
• Graph things then interpret the data.
  
  

Poems

• When reading poems, do not stop at the end of each line. Read until you reach a period or comma.
  
  
• Discuss a poem like you would a book, story, or article.