1/24/2012

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

1/14/2012

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