Summer’s best read book

By TONI WILCOX, Project Read

It sits on the counter at every bait shop in the state. You see it sticking out of back pockets and tackle boxes. Children who look at summer as three months of freedom from books take it out in a booth at McDonalds and study it. If it weren’t free it would be Minnesota’s perennially best selling summer book. Published by the Department of Natural Resources, it is Minnesota Fishing, the annual guide to the state’s angling regulations. It is also a great literacy tool. Here are some ways you can use the 2008 guide.

Print Motivation
Use the guide in front of your child. If you think it’s important, he will too.
When using the guide explain to your child why it is so important. It not only tells you the law, it explains how to avoid spreading invasive species and gives health guidelines for eating fish.
It has pictures. Help your child use the “Illustrated fish of Minnesota” section to identify the fish he or she catches.

Letter Knowledge
“B” is for Bowstring Lake. Look for your favorite fishing lake in the alphabetical list of Experimental/Special Regulations.
Show your child how lakes and rivers are listed in “ABC” order so Bowstring Lake comes before Deer Lake, and Mississippi River before Rainy River.

Vocabulary
Explain the difference between a lake and a river.
Read the guide as written, but help your child find synonyms for more difficult words. Example: aquatic species — animals and plants that live in water.

Narrative Skills
Encourage your children to tell their fish stories in sequence with a beginning, middle and end. Ask detail questions, like “What happened next?” or “What kind of bait did you use?”
Remember the first time you said “I caught it myself.”? Your child will feel just as good. With your help he’ll get the same feeling when he says “I read it myself!”