Reading Mentor Tips

I Do. We Do. You Do.

Strategy: This gradual release strategy means you model first, then try it together, and then let your mentee try on their own. For example, read one word or sentence aloud, then invite your mentee to read it with you, and then have them read it alone. This builds confidence and skill step by step.

Concept: Learners need to see and hear what good reading looks like, then practice with support before doing it independently. For working on a sound, word, or concept, they may need to practice only once, 10 times, 20 times, or beyond. Most need to practice repeatedly for success.

Repetition Builds Mastery

Strategy: As you read together, pause to point out target sounds or patterns. Encourage rereading short sections, or take turns reading sentences aloud. The more your mentee sees and uses a pattern, the faster it sticks.

Concept: Students need many exposures, sometimes 20 to 40 or more, to master a new sound or concept. Repetition builds automaticity, which makes reading smoother and less tiring.

Finger Tapping

Strategy: Teach your mentee to tap one finger for each sound (not letter) in a word as they say it aloud. For example: “Let’s tap /c/ /a/ /t/… now blend it: cat.” Right-handed readers start at the left pinkie; left-handed start at the right thumb.

Concept: Finger tapping gives readers a physical way to connect letters with sounds. This strategy gives them a concrete place to ‘hold’ and process the sounds in a word, which builds decoding and spelling skills.

Finger Tracking

Strategy: Ask your mentee to point under each word as they read. Model it first by tracking your finger under the words.

Concept: Finger tracking reinforces left-to-right reading, helps match spoken words to print, and keeps attention focused. It also supports word recognition and builds memory for how words look and sound. For struggling readers, this strategy can boost confidence and provide just enough structure to help them stay engaged and successful.

Reading Aloud

Strategy: Make time to read aloud engaging books with interesting vocabulary and ideas, while also letting your mentee practice reading decodable texts. Use read-aloud time to pause, discuss words, and ask questions, while decodable texts give them practice applying phonics skills.

Concept: Decodables strengthen decoding and accuracy. Read-alouds build background knowledge, vocabulary, and comprehension. Both are needed.  One develops word reading, the other develops language and understanding.

Word Trio

Strategy: Pick three words that start with the same sound (e.g., leg, lap, last). Say them aloud and ask: “What sound do you hear at the beginning?” Repeat with three new words.

Concept: Identifying beginning sounds builds phonemic awareness, the foundation for learning to decode. Start with single sounds, not blends, to keep the focus clear.

Be a Word Detective

Strategy: Invite your mentee to be a “word detective.” Say: “Let’s find words that start with /m/. What letter makes that sound? Yes — m. Can you find words on this page that begin with m?” Model one, then encourage them to find more.

Concept: Searching for sounds and letters builds the habit of connecting speech to print. It’s active, playful, and helps them notice patterns in real text.

Stand Up, Sit Down

Strategy: Say two words aloud. If they end with the same sound, your mentee stands up. If not, they sit down. Model a few: “Dog, log — same ending! Stand up. Bus, cat — different sounds, sit down.”

Concept: Hearing and matching ending sounds strengthens phonemic awareness and makes decoding easier.

Sentence Segmentation

Strategy: Pause while reading and say: “Let’s count the words in this sentence.” Tap, clap, or snap once per word: “The rabbit hid in the garden.” “Now let’s try one together. The rabbit was scared.” Tap or clap together as you say each word. Finally, invite them to try a sentence on their own. Start with short, simple sentences, as longer words with multiple syllables may require extra support

Concept: Breaking sentences into words helps readers understand that print represents spoken language and that spaces separate words.

Listen and Count

Strategy: Read a sentence aloud and ask your mentee to count how many words they hear using their fingers. Model first: “They sat under the shade tree.” (6 words). Then try one together. Then have them try on their own.

Concept: This activity sharpens listening skills and builds awareness that sentences are made of separate words, not just sounds or syllables.

Reinforcing Accuracy

Strategy: When your mentee stumbles on a word, prompt: “Let’s slow down and look at all the sounds.” Help them connect each letter to a sound and read it again.

Concept: Accurate decoding leads to fluent, confident reading. Guessing from pictures or first letters doesn’t build lasting word recognition, careful decoding does.

Error Correction and the Brain

Strategy: When your mentee makes a mistake, gently stop and say: “Try that again. Does it look right and sound right?” Celebrate when they self-correct.

Concept: Correcting errors strengthens brain pathways for reading. Accurate decoding repeated over time locks words into memory (orthographic mapping).

Fluency Starts with Automaticity

Strategy: If reading sounds too slow and choppy, practice matching letters and sounds, blending, and simple word reading. It’s perfectly normal, and often helpful, to go back and reinforce the basics.

Concept: Fluency depends on automatic skills. When decoding takes too much effort, comprehension and expression suffer. Automaticity frees the brain to focus on meaning.

Kid-Friendly Definitions

Strategy: Explain new words in simple, relatable language. For example: “Enormous means really, really big; like an elephant or a giant pizza.”

Concept: Using clear language and kid friendly examples makes new words stick and builds real understanding.

Stop and Ask

Strategy: Let them know it’s okay, and important, to stop and say, “I don’t know this word,” or “What does this mean?” Praise them for noticing tricky words and take a moment to explain the meaning with a simple definition and an example from real life.

Concept: Stopping to ask builds self-monitoring, vocabulary, and stronger comprehension.

Multi-Step Vocabulary

Strategy: Teach the word’s meaning and use it in a sentence. Then have your mentee say it, draw it, act it out, or use it themselves. Revisit it in later sessions.

Concept: Active, repeated practice across contexts leads to deep word knowledge.

Connecting to Prior Knowledge

Strategy: Before reading, ask: “What do you already know about this topic/story?” Talk briefly about the topic and link it to the story before reading.

Concept: New information makes more sense when connected to what readers already know.

Make a Mental Picture

Strategy: As you are reading, pause and ask: “Can you picture what’s happening? What do you think it looks like?” Encourage them to describe it in their own words.

Concept: Skilled readers visualize as they go, which boosts comprehension and memory.

Connect Ideas While Reading

Strategy: As you read, help your mentee connect sentences and ideas: Discuss how different parts of the story connect and encourage smart guesses about unstated ideas.

Concept: True comprehension means weaving words and sentences into a whole, using background knowledge and inference.

I Do. We Do. You Do.

Strategy: This gradual release strategy means you model first, then try it together, and then let your mentee try on their own. For example, read one word or sentence aloud, then invite your mentee to read it with you, and then have them read it alone. This builds confidence and skill step by step.

Concept: Learners need to see and hear what good reading looks like, then practice with support before doing it independently. For working on a sound, word, or concept, they may need to practice only once, 10 times, 20 times, or beyond. Most need to practice repeatedly for success.

Finger Tapping

Strategy: Teach your mentee to tap one finger for each sound (not letter) in a word as they say it aloud. For example: “Let’s tap /c/ /a/ /t/… now blend it: cat.” Right-handed readers start at the left pinkie; left-handed start at the right thumb.

Concept: Finger tapping gives readers a physical way to connect letters with sounds. This strategy gives them a concrete place to ‘hold’ and process the sounds in a word, which builds decoding and spelling skills.

Error Correction and the Brain

Strategy: When your mentee makes a mistake, gently stop and say: “Try that again. Does it look right and sound right?” Celebrate when they self-correct.

Concept: Correcting errors strengthens brain pathways for reading. Accurate decoding repeated over time locks words into memory (orthographic mapping).

Echo and Count the Sounds

Strategy: Say a word from the story, have your student repeat it, then either tap out each sound on their fingers or stretch it out like a robot. Give an example: “If the word is mug, I’ll echo it — mug. Now I’ll say it like a robot: m-u-g. That’s three sounds.”

Concept: This builds phonemic awareness, the ability to hear and separate individual sounds in words, an essential skill for decoding and spelling.

I Spy and Blend

Strategy: Play “I Spy” by saying an object’s sounds separately (/h/ /a/ /t/) and letting your student blend them into a word. Switch roles so they spy for you, too.

Concept: Blending sounds into words builds phonemic awareness and supports decoding.

Sound Swap

Strategy: Say a word and have your student change one sound to make a new word (bat → hat, hug → bug). You can create a short “word chain” to keep the game going. Nonsense words are ok. A second level is swapping ending sounds. (bat → bag)

Concept: Swapping sounds strengthens sound manipulation, which supports decoding and spelling.

What’s the New Word?

Strategy: Say a simple word and ask your student to add a sound to the beginning (in + /b/ = bin). Try blends too (at + /fl/ = flat).

Concept: Adding sounds builds phonemic awareness of how words change, a skill that supports decoding and word recognition.

Drop the Sound

Strategy: Choose words from the story you just read. Say: “I’m going to say a word, and then repeat it without one of the sounds. Listen: cat. Now I’ll say it without the /k/ sound: at.” Invite your mentee to try: “Say sit. Now say sit without the /s/.” Yes, it. Try another.

Concept: This activity builds phonemic awareness by helping your mentee hear how removing a sound changes a word.

Arm Segment and Blend

Strategy: Use your arm to tap each sound (not letter) in a word. Have them stretch out one arm and tap each sound using their dominant hand, starting at the shoulder. Then, have them slide their hand down the arm to blend the word together.

Digraphs (two letters that make one sound) like /sh/ /ch/ /th/ /ph/ /wh/ /ck/ count as one sound. Try one together, then have your mentee do their own.

Concept: Segmenting and blending with movement reinforces sound-to-letter connections in a concrete way.

Explicitly Model Segmenting and Blending

Strategy: Choose a word from the text and show how to break a word into sounds (bat → /b/ /a/ /t/) and then blend it (bat). Choose another word, sound out the letters, and ask if they’d like to try one on their own.

Concept: Explicit modeling helps students understand how sounds come together to form words.

Modeling Fluency

Strategy: Read aloud with expression, phrasing, pace (pausing at commas & periods), and raising/lowering your voice for meaning. Show how fluency changes with fiction vs. nonfiction.

Concept: Modeling pace, phrasing, and expression shows students that fluency supports comprehension, not just speed.

Repeated Readings Improve Reading Rate

Strategy: Have your student read a short passage several times, after you model it first. Each reread builds speed and confidence.

Concept: Repetition helps students become more familiar with the words and sentence patterns, enabling them to transition from a slow, effortful reading pace to a smoother, quicker one.

Fluency Starts with Automaticity

Strategy: If reading sounds too slow and choppy, practice matching letters and sounds, blending, and simple word reading. It’s perfectly normal, and often helpful, to go back and reinforce the basics.

Concept: Fluency depends on automatic skills. When decoding takes too much effort, comprehension and expression suffer. Automaticity frees the brain to focus on meaning.

Stop and Ask

Strategy: Let them know it’s okay, and important, to stop and say, “I don’t know this word,” or “What does this mean?” Praise them for noticing tricky words and take a moment to explain the meaning with a simple definition and an example from real life.

Concept: Stopping to ask builds self-monitoring, vocabulary, and stronger comprehension.

Connect New Words to Prior Knowledge

Strategy: When a new word comes up, link it to what your student already knows. Discuss the topic then revisit it in conversation or in other books.

Concept: Connecting new vocabulary to real experiences makes words more meaningful and easier to remember.

Kid-Friendly Definitions

Strategy: Explain new words in simple, relatable language. For example: “Enormous means really, really big; like an elephant or a giant pizza.”

Concept: Using clear language and kid friendly examples makes new words stick and builds real understanding.

Sentence and Story Structure

Strategy: Pause while reading to notice who is in the story, what’s happening, where it takes place, and when events happen (first, next, then).

Concept: Paying attention to story parts (who, what, where, when, how) and sequence helps organize information and builds comprehension.

Make a Mental Picture

Strategy: As you are reading, pause and ask: “Can you picture what’s happening? What do you think it looks like?” Encourage them to describe it in their own words.

Concept: Skilled readers visualize as they go, which boosts comprehension and memory.

Asking Questions and Making Predictions

Strategy: Ask “why” and “how” questions or predict what might happen next. For example, “Why did the character do that?” or “How do you think it will end?”

Concept: Asking questions and making predictions encourages deeper thinking about the story and strengthens understanding including main ideas.

Connect Ideas While Reading

Strategy: As you read, help your mentee connect sentences and ideas: Discuss how different parts of the story connect and encourage smart guesses about unstated ideas.

Concept: True comprehension means weaving words and sentences into a whole, using background knowledge and inference.

I Do. We Do. You Do.

Strategy: This gradual release strategy means you model first, then try it together, and then let your mentee try on their own. For example, read one word or sentence aloud, then invite your mentee to read it with you, and then have them read it alone. This builds confidence and skill step by step.

Concept: Learners need to see and hear what good reading looks like, then practice with support before doing it independently. For working on a sound, word, or concept, they may need to practice only once, 10 times, 20 times, or beyond. Most need to practice repeatedly for success.

Clap, Tap, or Bite the Syllables

Strategy: When a student struggles with a long word, help them break it into syllables. Show them how to clap or tap or “bite” them with their hand like a jaw, the parts (el-e-phant). Then put it back together: elephant. Do one together, then have them try it on their own.

Concept: Breaking words into syllables makes them easier to read and pronounce. These multisensory strategies let students hear and feel the “beats” in a word, which supports decoding.

Academic Vocabulary

Strategy: Teach students the precise “teacher words” used in school (e.g., syllable, phrase, decode, plural) rather than only nicknames or memory aids. Give a kid-friendly definition, model it in context, and have students practice using the word. Example: “Plural means more than one. Cats is plural because it ends in s.”

Concept: Learning accurate academic vocabulary builds comprehension and communication. It gives students the language to explain what they know, apply skills across subjects, and be prepared for long-term academic success.

Error Correction and the Brain

Strategy: When your mentee makes a mistake, gently stop and say: “Try that again. Does it look right and sound right?” Celebrate when they self-correct.

Concept: Correcting errors strengthens brain pathways for reading. Accurate decoding repeated over time locks words into memory (orthographic mapping).

Drop the Sound

Strategy: Choose words from the story you just read. Say: “I’m going to say a word, and then repeat it without one of the sounds. Listen: cat. Now I’ll say it without the /k/ sound: at.” Invite your mentee to try: “Say sit. Now say sit without the /s/.” Yes, it. Try another.

Concept: This activity builds phonemic awareness by helping your mentee hear how removing a sound changes a word.

Where Did It Change?

Strategy: Say two words (tap → map). Ask: “Where did it change? Beginning, middle, or end?”

Concept: Hearing where a sound changes strengthens accuracy in reading and spelling. Sample pairings: back/tack, bake/lake, bed/fed, bin/chin, hit/sit, well/yell, pet/vet, ran/rat, bran/brag, sip/sap, pen/pin

Sound Swap

Strategy: Say a word and have your student change one sound to make a new word (bat → hat, hug → bug). You can create a short “word chain” to keep the game going. Nonsense words are ok. A second level is swapping ending sounds. (bat → bag)

Concept: Swapping sounds strengthens sound manipulation, which supports decoding and spelling.

Using Morphology to Strengthen Phonics

Strategy: Point out prefixes, suffixes base words, and endings (un-, play, -ing). Read each part, breaking them into smaller recognizable chunks, then blend the word together.

Concept: Recognizing word parts allows readers to figure out how to pronounce new words quickly.

Cover to Segment and Blend

Strategy: When your mentee is reading a word with two or more syllables, it can be helpful to cover part of the word with your finger, allowing them to focus on one part at a time, then blend the parts together.

Concept: Reading smaller chunks helps students decode longer words more easily.

Reading with Intonation, Rhythm, and Phrasing

Strategy: Model expressive reading with differing expression (intonation), rhythm, and phrasing. Read a sentence two ways, flat and with expressoin. Ask your mentee which sounds clearer and more exciting. Do the same stopping at each word and then in phrases. A fun practice is reading dialog with character voices.

Concept: Reading with expression, rhythm, and phrasing makes text clearer and more engaging.

Repeated Readings Improve Reading Rate

Strategy: Have your student read a short passage several times, after you model it first. Each reread builds speed and confidence.

Concept: Repetition helps students become more familiar with the words and sentence patterns, enabling them to transition from a slow, effortful reading pace to a smoother, quicker one.

Retelling and Discussion Strengthen Fluency

Strategy: After reading, ask the student to retell the story or discuss what happened.

Concept: Retelling and discussing a text strengthens fluency because they encourage readers to think about the meaning of what they’ve read, not just the words on the page, and to focus on whole ideas.

Multisyllabic Word Fluency

Strategy: Practice breaking longer words into syllables, prefixes, and endings. Read the parts smoothly together.

Concept: Learning to recognize and decode multisyllabic words quickly is key to building strong reading fluency. When your mentee can break words into syllables and recognize common prefixes, roots, and endings, they can read longer words smoothly and confidently without stopping to sound out every part.

Stop and Ask

Strategy: Let them know it’s okay, and important, to stop and say, “I don’t know this word,” or “What does this mean?” Praise them for noticing tricky words and take a moment to explain the meaning with a simple definition and an example from real life.

Concept: Stopping to ask builds self-monitoring, vocabulary, and stronger comprehension.

Build Vocabulary with Synonyms and Antonyms

Strategy: Explain to your mentee a synonym is a word that means the same or almost the same (like “small” and “tiny”), while an antonym is a word that means the opposite (like “small” and “big”). Try asking, “What’s another word for…?” or “What’s the opposite of…?”

Concept: This comparison helps build expressive vocabulary and improves both speaking and comprehension.

Prioritize High-Impact Words

Strategy: Discuss academic words like predict, compare, analyze, that appear often in books and lessons but not as much in daily talk. These are the best words to focus on during reading because they help your mentee understand more complex texts.

Concept: Not all words need to be taught the same way. Common, everyday words (such as “dog,” “run,” and “happy”) most children pick up naturally through conversation. Subject-specific terms (like photosynthesis or volcano) are taught when needed for a particular topic. Academic words build vocabulary that supports both reading comprehension and school success.

Make a Mental Picture

Strategy: As you are reading, pause and ask: “Can you picture what’s happening? What do you think it looks like?” Encourage them to describe it in their own words.

Concept: Skilled readers visualize as they go, which boosts comprehension and memory.

Asking Questions and Making Predictions

Strategy: Ask “why” and “how” questions or predict what might happen next. For example, “Why did the character do that?” or “How do you think it will end?”

Concept: Asking questions and making predictions encourages deeper thinking about the story and strengthens understanding including main ideas.

Inferences and Character Actions

Strategy: While reading, help your mentee make inferences by asking them to explain why characters act a certain way. Use questions like, “Why do you think the character did that?” or “What clues tell us how they’re feeling?”

Concept: Making inferences (smart guesses about things the author doesn’t directly say) about characters’ actions will help your mentee read between the lines and gain a deeper understanding of character choices and story events.

Explore Character Motives and Changes

Strategy: While reading, help your mentee think more deeply about the story by asking about character motives (why they act a certain way), encouraging them to draw conclusions about what’s happening, and discussing how and why a character changes from the beginning to the end of the story.

Concept: By considering the actions, words, and interactions of characters, readers can better anticipate what will happen next, grasp the central idea of the story, and understand the author’s intended message.