Week of February 7th

Whew!!! What a week we have had!  With the weather and Chinese New Year celebration, our five-day week of reading got shortened to TWO!  I will be carrying over a lot of the same reading goals as last week and furthering them as the new week progresses.  Hopefully the ground hog was right and there will be no snow days in our future :)

Week Review:  In reading groups this week, we will compliment our stories with writing. We will be writing sentences or filling out complimentary Graphic Organizers.  Level E will be writing sentences that include at least one word with a long vowel sound that follows the rule of having a silent "e".  (hide, came, home)  Level F will also write a sentence that follows that vowel pattern, but they will also be writing a sentence that answers a question about the story.  Level G will be writing a two part sentence that is joined by an "and, or, but".  Level H will continue with their work on main idea and supporting details.  They will be displaying their knowledge of main idea through the sentences that they write.  Levels I and above will be discussing predictions and writing a descriptive prediction using our book covers, Table of Contents and perusing through our stories. 

Book/Author Suggestion:   Jump Rope 4 Heart will conclude on Friday, February 11th.  A wonderful program encouraging children to make a difference and exercise doing it!  Here is a silly story to get your child in the mood to jump :)
Jimmy's Boa and the Bungee Jump Slam Dunk* by Trinka Hakes Noble; pictures by Steven Kellogg.  This is a humorous story that will keep your first grader laughing and help them practice sequencing, too!

* indicates if it can be found in the Sappington Library. 

Parent Tip: It is important to find a book that is 'just right' for your child to read.  Knowing their reading level from school can help, but only if you have the level of the book that they are reading.  I have a couple of sites that help with this search.  You can find them at my website.  There is also a "Five Finger Rule" that can be done with any book.  Visit the Reading Rockets website for more information.