Welcome back!!!
It was a nice break, but I do miss the students and their stories :) I hope they are ready to get back into the swing of things also!
Week Review: In reading groups this week, we will focus on building words. Level D will be searching for words with a consonant blend at the beginning of the words, then changing the endings. (snow, snore, snap, snail, etc.) Level E will be searching their books for consonant blends in any part of the word; beginning, middle, or end). Level F will be practicing vowel spelling patterns found in their book. (snow: ow makes the long "o" sound, or the "ow" sound. Then we will think of words that are an example of each). Level G will be building words in a pattern or sequence as found in Patricia Cunningham's book Making Words, 1st Grade. Level H will focus on comprehension strategies, beginning with "Making Connections" as they read. How does the story connect to them, another book, or the world. Levels I and above will be working on finding Very Important Points as they read. They will place a post-it strip next to a place in their story that they feel is important.
Book/Author Suggestion: A Weekend with Wendell* by Kevin Henkes. It is easy to fall in love with Kevin Henkes' books. They are sweet and often true-to-life. This selection isn't any different. In fact, over the break, your child may have had to experience what Sophie does in the story; a bossy, difficult guest. Wendell stays with Sophie and her family for a weekend while Wendell's parents go out of town. Wendell is very bossy while they pretend play and shines a flashlight in Sophie's eyes while she tries to sleep. When he covers her head in shaving cream, Sophie makes a suggestion that changes the dynamics of their relationship forever. It is a wonderful story that teaches patience, problem solving and understanding. A favorite!
* indicates if it can be found in the Sappington Library.
Parent Tip: One semester has ended and our second one begins. At the end of the semester, your child was on grade level if they were reading at a level "E". By the end of 2nd semester, they should be reading at a level "I". This requires a lot of hard work from our first graders. We are all familiar with the routines and the expectations, so we can focus on reading well.
No matter your child's level, fluency is a great skill to practice with them. According to The Reading Rockets website, "fluency is being able to read text quickly and accurately. Fluency is important because it provides a bridge between word recognition and comprehension. Because fluent readers do not have to concentrate on decoding the words, they can focus their attention on what the text means. They can make connections among the ideas in the text and their background knowledge. In other words, fluent readers recognize words and comprehend at the same time. Less fluent readers, however, must focus their attention on figuring out the words, leaving them little attention for understanding the text." Having your child on their appropriate reading levels is one way to help their fluency, but it is also important for them to hear YOU read aloud; hearing someone read in phrases rather than word-by-word. Pick up one of my book suggestions from previous blog entries, or choose a book from home, but make time to read aloud to your children. They need that good example of fluency.
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