Set up the perfect Family reading table

Let’s set up the perfect reading table with resources and tools for family engagement! As we dive into the science of reading within our districts, schools, and classrooms, it’s important that we bring families along on our journey. We can accomplish great things when we help parents understand the best ways to help their child read and spell. Providing reading tools and simple scripts and activity descriptions give families the confidence to know how to help. It also gives students the motivation and engagement to practice and read at home!

I loved setting up this resource table for our families during my school’s fall parent-teacher conference night. Parents were able to stop by and take home a variety of reading tools for spelling, fluency, and comprehension to use with their children at home. In this post, I share the tools I distributed and set out during parent-teacher conference night. I also share FREE parent fliers that you can use with the resources within this blog post.

setting up your family reading table

You can have someone assigned to the family reading tools table or simply set things out in a “grab-and-go” fashion. I placed our family reading table in the main hallway, in front of my literacy coaching office. I had conferences to attend throughout the night, so while I passed out tools to families when I could, it was available as a “pick-up” station on their way in and out of the building. I encouraged teachers to mention the reading table to families at the end of their parent-teacher conferences, too. You could also set this table up during a family literacy night!

Below is a photograph of what the three resources looked liked on the reading table. Let’s dive into each reading tool and its’ purpose for families and students!

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reading tool #1: sound mats

The first resource I set out on our family reading table was sound mats from my Orthographic Mapping Mats resource. This is a year-long resource that includes many thematic mats, but I chose two of the mats for specific reasons. The first one was a three-sound mat with piggy banks. I set out pennies and showed parents how the student can slide up a penny for each sound in the word. I also showed how they can encode, or spell, the word after they segment the sounds on a whiteboard or on paper.

The second mat I chose was a four sound fish tank mat. (Each picture or theme comes in differentiated mats and templates of two to six sounds!) I thought this mat would be cute to use with goldfish crackers- which many students have on hand at home! (Plus who doesn’t love a little snack while they spell?) The parents loved this one and had fun asking their children to “put the fish in the fish tanks” as they segmented the sounds in words. In addition to taking home the sound mats, they also took home a free parent flier that explained how to use the mats for spelling practice.

Reading tool #2: flashlight fluency

Using mini finger flashlights for tracking and rereading practice is a routine that is used in my Fluency Friends Rereading Routines resource. I created a simple rereading routine for parents and typed it up as a free flier or handout for them to take home. I provided a bucket of finger flashlights for the parents and students to take with them. This one was a hit! The flier explains to parents what fluency is and how to use a passage, decodable book, or paragraph for fluency practice at home. The simple routine includes reading aloud to the child, choral reading, and repeated reading. (Find the flashlights here.)

Reading tool #3: retelling sliders

One of my all-time favorite reading tools is my Retelling Slider, so I knew it had to make its way onto our family reading table. These little manipulatives are a great way to help students stay on track as they retell the main details and events in a story. Kids love them, and parents find them engaging, too! Students slide the bead down the pipe cleaner as they retell. This eliminates parents and teachers needing to repeat, “Tell me more!” over and over again. The slider can be used with any book or passage, but each Reading Sliders pack also comes with coordinating printable passages and even a digital slider to use on your screen!

I didn’t have time to pre-assemble the sliders, so I placed all of the materials for one slider into zip locked bags: one printed slider card that was pre-hole punched, a neon pipe cleaner, and a pom pom bead. (You can also use regular pony beads.) I also created a flier that explains how to use the slider to families. This flier is included in the free download within this blog post. (Keep reading!)

Get the free family fliers

The resources and reading tools I set out on our family reading table were originally designed for classroom instruction, so I created a free family-friendly flier for parents to take home with each tool I set out. (Please note that they are not editable. They are designed to be used with the resources shared above.) As a thank you for signing up, I’ll send you all three family fliers for FREE! Just Sign-up for my email list by clicking HERE or click on the image below:

get the resources

The reading tools I set out on our family reading table came from the three resources listed below. You can click on each resource to check them out in my Miss DeCarbo store.

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