Family Reading Time:
Completing a Phrase

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Introduction: And now, it’s Family Reading Time!

Narrator: Are you looking for a way to help your child become a stronger reader? We know from research that families can support children’s learning by having conversations during book reading.

Adult: “Is he in the box?”
Adult: “Baby llama wants a drink; mama’s at the kitchen…”
Child: Sink.

Narrator: When reading a familiar book try asking your child to complete a word or phrase.

Older sibling: “I’m beginning to feel that your mama must really be…” Who do you think?
Younger sibling: “A seal.”
Older sibling: A seal? Let’s see. “A seal.”

Narrator: This will help your child listen closely to the story and to use their language skills, which will make them stronger readers later on.

Narrator: Family Reading Time Tip: Ask your child to complete a word or phrase during book reading.

Closing: Family Reading Time has been brought to you by the Windham Area Women & Girls Fund and the Center for Early Childhood Education at Eastern Connecticut State University.

Family Reading Time was developed under the Dialogic Reading for Multilingual Families project, funded by the Windham Area Women and Girls Fund of the Community Foundation of Eastern Connecticut. The project provided training to multilingual families, including high school students, on the importance of continuing to read to children in their first language. Trainings also included information on dialogic reading strategies for fostering oral language during book reading. Interested families volunteered to be videotaped reading to their children.

See more:

• La hora de lectura en familia: Completando una frase
• Family Reading Time: Remembering the Story
• Family Reading Time: Asking Open-Ended Questions
• Family Reading Time: Asking Wh- Questions
• Family Reading Time: Making Connections to the Story