We keep busy writing every day. The program we use is called Write Tools and one of the skills we learn is Summary Writing.  After reading a book, we decide what the "Big Picture" of our book is and then back it up with the details and write or draw them as "jot dots."

We also write "picture-painting" sentences. The idea is to create an explanatory sentence about a drawing or picture using words that paint a picture in our minds.

Another skill we want to learn is editing. First graders sing "My Sentence Needs a Check," as outlined in the Write Tools program. Here it is performed for you by Alex, J'onna, Martial and Cole.

Fall Conferences

October 25 and 30 from 4 to 7 p.m. are Corse conference days. Am looking forward to meeting parents so we can share information about your child's reading. Parents, your support and encouragement is key  to helping your child become proficient in reading.

If your student comes home talking about the math game with an avatar where they learn addition and subtraction or multiplication click on this link called BigBrainz and you can find out how to download it at home. It's free. Contact me for the password.

Mensa for Kids has some games your math enthusiast might like to try like Minus Mission, Alien Addition, Demolition Division or Meteor Multiplication. Click on Mensa for the link. Try the "Games and Activities" icon.

Catch the new Link to Reading called PBS Kid's Island. Click on Stories and Reading Activities. Readers can "listen and read" along with the highlighted text.  This is a good way to build fluency.

Bruce Lansky the "king of giggle poetry" is coming to our school on November 5. Elementary schools are also hosting an author night that same evening. Watch for the flyer from school. If you'd like to take a look at his website click on his name.

We started our Book Bag Reading recently. Almost all students have signed up. Several are reading enthusiastically to get the weekly prize. Each reader's goal is to read at least three books every week. Congratulations to Alanah and Samera for attaining that goal the first week.

DON'T LET YOUR RELUCTANT READERS FALL FURTHER BEHIND...Here are some strategies that may hook them into reading:

    

Start with your child's passions. When kids own the choice of what they will read, motivation increases.

Make reading a social experience. Your child may not enjoy reading alone but will enjoy reading with a parent, siblings, friends.

Read aloud to your child. Doing so throughout the elementary grades improves listening skills, builds comprehension, lengthens attention span and grows the imagination.

Use new technology. Children who don't find books interesting may find it cool reading the same texts on smart phones, computers and electronic readers.

Be a role model. Let your kids see you reading and discussing what you've read.

Camouflage reading. Incorporate it into other pastimes like reading menus at restaurants, the directions to board games, or looking at websites.

Make sure the books your child reads are  a"good fit." Many don't want to read because the books are too difficult and frustrating. Good fit books are those which students can read fluently with 95% accuracy. Too many difficult words leads to discouragement.

3 Ways to read...

The Daily 5 structure tells emergent readers there are three ways to read a book: read the pictures (pictures often carry much of the story's meaning,) read the words (to understand what is happening in the book,) and retell a familiar story (pictures and familiar words help retell the story.)

Three ways to read a book gives new readers a couple alternatives to knowing all the words and reinforces the idea that reading is understanding the story, not just saying words.

excerpted from the Daily 5 by Gail Boushey & Joan Moser "the sisters"

April is poetry month. Check out these authors.

Jack Prelutsky is a prolific writer of humorous and crazy poems that appeal to kids. His website is a fun place to visit.  It is so cool, it won an award. Another popular kid's poetry author is Shel Silverstein. When you visit his website you'll see his outlandish pencil drawings and get a preview of his latest book. My third featured author is Kenn Nesbitt. At his "poetry playground" website you'll get tips on how to write your own poems. You can also connect to a rhyming dictionary, his newsletter and a poetry contest.

Browse around on these sites by clicking on the author's name. Then try your hand at writing a poem or two.

Don't forget about parent-teacher conferences Thursday, March 22 and Tuesday, March 27. You are the key to your child's success in school.

Click on Our Videos to see second and third graders read to self, listen to reading, partner read and take AR quizzes.

We Write

Nonfiction writing is an important skill for students to master. First, second and third graders have been learning and practicing sentence writing and are now moving on to paragraph writing.  Instruction comes from The Write Tools manual by Alice Greiner.

Writing instruction began when students created a single sentence about a picture or a drawing. We brainstormed words we might use in each of the three parts of a sentence, then wrote the sentence. After writing, students conference with me about their work so they can see their strengths and weaknesses.

Students are also encouraged to use the CUPS acronym - does my sentence contain proper Capitalization, Usage, Punctuation, Spelling?  First graders sing "My Sentence Needs a Check." (Ask your first grade student to sing it to you.)

Currently, students are learning to put their ideas into a single topic paragraph. It's important to plan for a paragraph by first making a web of ideas, then narrowing those many ideas into a T chart of three or four Big Ideas and then adding Tell Me More information. (Ask your second or third grader to name the three parts of a paragraph.)

So far students have written about favorite recess games, colors they like to use, yummy fruit, snacks, and school supplies. Writing is hard work. Just ask them! But it is a necessary skill that also helps students become more proficient readers.

Accelerated Readers Album of Stars

First grade readers must master 42 Jolly Phonics sounds to be proficient. Watch our videos showing the digraphs we practice. You might recognize someone. Click on the Our Videos link.

Play the "uh-oh" game...
If your child continually misreads some words in context that he normally can read correctly from a practice list,  play this game.

On a piece of paper write" Uh-Oh" on the left side and "I got it" on the right. After he reads each sentence give him a tally mark for each mistake under the "Uh-Oh" side and a tally mark for each perfect sentence under the "I got it" side.  He'll pay closer attention to the words to get more "I got its" and soon stop making those errors.

Source: Preventing Misguided Reading by Jan M Burkins & Melody M. Croft

Don't tell them the word...

Want your reader to be more independent? Don't tell her the word. Give her a reading prompt like this:

#1 - "Say all the letters in the word" (This forces her to notice all the letters. Make sure she spells the word.) If she gets it say, "Sometimes you can figure out a word by looking at all the letters."
#2 - "Keep your finger under the word, finish the sentence, then go back and try it again." (This might give her some context clues.) If she gets it say, "Sometimes you can figure out a word by thinking about the rest of the sentence."
#3 - Direct her to the picture for some clues. Make sure the word she tries starts with the correct sounds. If she gets it say, "Sometimes what goes on in the picture helps you figure out the word."
#4 - "That word (spell it) rhymes with ______ (spell it)." If she gets it say, "Often you already know a word that ends the same as a new word."
#5 - "What is _____ doing in the story that starts with ___?" (Say the beginning sounds of the word.) If she gets it say, "If you think about the sentence and the beginning sounds, you can figure out the word."
#6 - If all else fails, you're still not going to tell her the word. Give her two choices of what it could say making sure one choice is so obvious, she can't get it wrong. (Does it say "The puppy licks her nose." or "The puppy loses her nose?") Say "Wonderful! Let's read some more."

source: Phonics They Use by Patricia M. Cunningham

Accelerated Reading

As students engage in the next reading battle to see who can earn more points, K-2 vs. 3-5, you as parents, can follow your student's progress in the Accelerated Reader (AR) program at home. Follow the instructions on this link to become part of the fun. You will need to know your child's username and password: http://ar.burlington.k12.ia.us/RenaissanceServer/HomeConnect/Login.aspx