At Risk
Activities in this section are designed to provide additional support and practice for children in first -fifth grades who are working below grade level. To begin, refer to your child’s report card. Review the areas of concern and determine the activities needed to support your child in becoming a proficient reader.
Each activity video includes an introduction, materials needed, and a demonstration of the activity. All activities are quick, easy, and fun to implement!
Phonological Awareness – Hearing Individual Sounds in Words
Children need to understand that spoken words are made up of individual sounds. In this activity, children will identify the number of sounds heard in a dictated words.
Phonological Awareness – Fun with Word Families
Children need to hear and identify word ending patterns (word families) such as /at/, /all/, /eat/, and /ill/. In this activity, children will practice associating the sounds of known ending patterns in familiar words to make new words.
Phonics – Sound Letter Change
Children need to recognize that sounds are represented by letters and the position of the letters. In this activity, children position letter(s) according to the order of sounds heard in the words dictated to them.
Phonics – Sort Words According to Short and Long Vowels
Sorting Words According to Short and Long Vowels
Children need to decode patterns using vowels. In this activity, children will sort words according to CVC (consonant, vowel, consonant) pattern and CVCe pattern.
Phonics – Compound Words
Children need to use their recognition of known shorter words to read and predict the meaning of unknown compound words. In this activity, children will identify the two words that make up each compound word.
Phonics – Vowel Pairs: ea, oa, ee, oe
Children need to recognize and know when to use common vowel pairs. In this activity, children will learn the common vowel patterns and use this knowledge to make and read unknown words.
Phonics – Prefixes
Children need to recognize and use word parts such as prefixes and suffixes to read and figure out the meaning of unknown words. In this activity, children will learn the meaning of common prefixes and suffixes and use this knowledge to make new words.
Phonics – Hearing More Complex Sound/Letter Patterns in Words
Children need to hear and identify sounds such as ch, sh, th, ph, ck, wh. In this activity, children will identify the correct letter pattern and its position in the word.
Word Recognition – Sight Word Fluency
Children need to read text accurately and quickly. Sight words are words that are irregularly spelled – not spelled as they sound. In this activity, children will recognize and read sight words with automaticity (quickly and effortlessly).
Word Recognition – Sight Word Phrase Fluency
Sight word phrases are phrases that consist of one or more sight words. Recognition of these phrases will increase your child’s reading fluency. In this activity, children will recognize and read common sight word phrases with automaticity.
Vocabulary – Practice with Nouns, Verbs, Adjectives, and Adverbs
Children need to understand and use vocabulary words needed to make sentences. In this activity, children will identify the nouns and verbs in each picture shown.
Vocabulary – Working with Synonyms and Antonyms
Children need to increase their vocabulary. In this activity, children will substitute synonyms in several sentences.
Fluency – Timed Reading Fluency Passage
Children need to read with ease, decreasing their attention on decoding skills and allowing them to focus on the meaning of what is being read. In this activity, children will practice reading books on their independent level to build fluency and accuracy of print.
Fluency – Use Context Clues to Understand the Meaning of Unknown Words
Children need to use story content, meaning, and vocabulary knowledge to self-correct word errors. In this activity, children will use prompts to assist them in self-correcting their errors.
Comprehension – Retell Story – Sequence Events
Children need to learn comprehension skills. Sequencing is an important skill of comprehension. In this activity, children will use order words to sequence activities and story events.
Comprehension – Story Structure – Cause and Effect
Children need to learn how stories are structured. The structure of each story depends on the type of information being shared. In this activity, children will practice the story structure of cause and effect.
Comprehension – Story Structure – Problem and Solution
Children need to learn how stories are structured. The structure of each story depends on the type of information being shared. In this activity, children will practice the story structure of problem/solution.
Comprehension – Answer Literal and Inference Questions
Children need to understand (comprehend) what they are reading. In this activity, children will answer literal questions (directly found in the story) and inference questions (implied information).