Reading In English – Our First Steps

Our first reading games and activities. Playing and learning to read in the second language at the same time.  We are just starting but here are some ideas we tried and liked and want to share with you.

My 1st-grade daughter has been learning to read in her native language for 6 months but she is interested in reading her favorite English books too. And so is her younger sister. So, I am exploring the ways to help her start reading in English. At first, I was searching for a common school book that is being used at English schools but instead, I have found many tips on children’s books that are great for this purpose – more on this topic in the next article Best Books For Emerging readers.

Together with reading books we have started with playing activities and these are our favorites:

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Our new English board – we pin all our materials there so girls can stop by at their convenience and start reading or writing the words when they feel interested.

Cootie catcher/ Fortune teller –  I remember this game from my childhood and we loved it. To practice English I liked the idea of an anger catcher. It is very useful in everyday situations. We also practice numbers and spelling of the colors – open and close the Cootie Catcher first for the chosen number and then for each letter in the chosen color. Here is the free printable I have used.  Lately, the girls have made their own variation with exercise such as do 3 pushups, 10  jumping jacks or make a bridge etc.

Coloring pages – The coloring pages are a great way to begin and the girls can come to it anytime after it is pinned on the board. You can find them on my Pinterest board. Many materials here are available also here at the website Teachers Pay Teachers.

Word families and rhyming –  little children like to play with the language and rhyming is perfect for it.  “Quick-and-easy” words make the first steps easy to read by sight. We had a great time making silly little poems such as “the cat in the hat” or “the bug gave me a hug”. According to English teachers, poetry is a great way to teach reading and vocabulary. The predictable and repetitive text makes the poems fun and easy to master. Alison has many great ideas that we have tried.rhyming2

If you are fan of fleshcards I liked these pictures.

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We are just beginning our journey to reading.  I will write more later with tips and ideas that will work for us.