Reading Activities

To choose an activity that’s right for your child, look at the grade level that appears beside the title. If your child finishes all the activities at his or her actual grade level, you might want to try going to next grade level.

Building Stories (P-2)
In Laughing Order (1-8)
Reading on the Go (2-4)

Parent Resources
Learning at Home: Ways to Help Preschool Children Learn to Read
Learning at Home: Ways to Help School-Age Children Learn to Read
Reading Homework Tips for Parents (1-5)
Tips for Parents About Reading Aloud (PreK)

Other Sites With Reading Activities

The Big Read
http://www.neabigread.org
This program from the National Endowment for the Arts works with partners across the country to get whole communities involved in reading.

Children's Books Online: The Rosetta Project
http://www.childrensbooksonline.org
This site offers a large collection of antique children's books to read online or download. Many languages are available, including English, French, Spanish, Polish, Italian, Chinese, Croatian, Greek, and Farsi.

Literacy Activities for Parents and Young Children
http://www.walearning.com/Guide.html
The U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs supported creation of these free activities, which are sorted into three sets. “On the Go” materials include 14 activities to use outside the home: in the car, while walking, during bus rides, and so on. The activities encourage early language and literacy development from birth through preschool. The 20 “Birth to Three Activities” include hints for making the activities fun and developmentally appropriate. You can also download an activity checklist that helps track children’s skills. The materials address the three key skills of (1) language development, (2) sounds and rhythms, and (3) general book and print awareness. “Preschool Activities” offers 46 home and community activities that encourage early language and literacy development. The materials address the three key skills of (1) language development, (2) phonological awareness, and (3) general print awareness. All three sets of materials are available in both English and Spanish and are suitable for both children who are developing typically and for children with disabilities.

Literacy Grants
http://www.nifl.gov/cgi-bin/lincs/search/gsearch/dbsearch.cgi?action=Show%20Results
Another Parent Connections partner, the National Institute for Literacy, offers information on grants that community groups can get to help build family literacy.

The National Center for Family Literacy
http://www.famlit.org
This Parent Connections partner organization helps all family members become better readers.

Reading is Fundamental (RIF)
http://www.rif.org/
This site is for parents, educators, and kids! Reading Is Fundamental (RIF) is a national nonprofit children’s literacy organization supported by many national corporations and agencies, including the U.S. Department of Education. Along with providing motivational reinforcement for early childhood literacy through family and community supports, the RIF site offers insight into its programs where children can receive free paperback books. Educators can download tips, lesson plans, and activities. Parents can also receive tips, book lists, and activities that they can do together with their children. Parents and educators can sign up for a free e-newsletter or download and print informational brochures. Kids can play interactive reading and writing games and become a member of a book club. Many of the resources and activities are available in Spanish for bilingual families.

Reading Rockets
http://www.pbs.org/launchingreaders
The PBS Reading Rockets show helps children learn reading skills. The companion Web site suggests ways parents can help children build these skills. See the Parent Tips section for quick tips or follow the links on the home page for programs about nine different areas of reading, including Roots of Reading, Fluent Reading, and Becoming Bilingual.

Reading Tips in 11 Languages
http://www.colorincolorado.org/guides/readingtips
Colorin Colorado, a Web site connected to WETA-TV’s Reading Rockets, offers tip sheets to help parents and children read together. Five different sheets offer age-appropriate tips for preschoolers through third graders. All sheets are available in English, Spanish, and nine other languages, including Hmong, Russian, and Haitian Creole. The site offers a great variety of information to help parents and educators support English language learners, and most of the site is English/Spanish bilingual.

Seussville
http://origin-www.seussville.com
The Story Maker in the Playground section of this Web site leads visitors through several steps to create a dialogue between two Dr. Seuss characters. This feature of the site could help English language learners in practicing English. The site also includes other fun activities for children to do online or to print out and do on paper.

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This Web site is supported in whole or in part by funds from the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Innovation and Improvement, under grant #U310A060257. Its content does not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of Education, any other agency of the U.S. government, or any other source.