Working Hard...

This is the end of the 3rd quarter...oh my!  I cannot believe we only have 9 weeks remaining.  The biggest area where many children need to continue to work is sight words.  I have completed all sight word assessments over the past week and will be sending those home with children at the end of the week.  I encourage you to take some time to practice these words.

We are continuing to practice reading simple words (3 letter words) and some children are working on reading words with blends (sl, fl, sm, dr, tr) and digraphs (ch, sh, wh, th).  I am impressed with how the children are doing with this skill.  In math, we are reviewing groups of ten, addition, and subtraction!

Reading...

You probably have noticed at times we send home a reading packet that we have worked on in one part of our reading groups.  This reading packet is part of our core curriculum.  The children work on blending words, reading sight words, reading sentences, and reading a short story.  Here is a quick clip of some of the children completing this task.

Mixed-Up Sentence...

One great way to practice sight words and reading is to have a mixed up sentence.  In reading groups we have been reading various stories with our sight words and practicing identifying the words in the sentence.  Today, we took one of those sentences and cut-it apart.  The children then had to mix it up and put the sentence back together (like a puzzle).  We then made a few other sentences with the words.  Since most stories are predictable, real reading has to occur because the children have to be able to read each word.  The children have to read the word to put it in the right place.  Here is a video from today of a child working on a mixed-up sentence!

Sentence Reading...

You may have noticed in the decodable stories sent home on Mondays they are repetitive.  These are known as predictable sentences.  This basically means the sentences are the same except for one or two words.  Sometimes children learn to memorize these stories; therefore, they have difficulty when the words are in a different place.  One way to increase word knowledge and understanding is by writing the sentence on a strip of paper.  Once you write the sentence give it to your child and have them read it aloud.  Once they read the sentence, your child should cut the sentence up.  Finally have your child try to put the sentence back together.  You can also make up another sentence using the words and have them recreate another sentence.  You can also try to "trick" your child by placing a word, which does not fit and have them try to figure out the word which needs to be thrown away.  Here is a clip of one reading group completing this activity in the classroom:

Reading Groups Begin...

Our reading groups began today and they went smoothly.  The way we are running reading groups is each child will be in their assigned group for 20 minutes.  The other 20 minutes will be for independent work.  This work will be review from our story and our learning skills for the day.  Your child may bring home some papers unfinished.  This is okay.  I will mark on the paper if your child was not working on it correctly or not following directions.  If your child was following directions and working, then you will not see anything marked.  I encourage you to have your child finish these sheets at home as they will help provide extra practice at home on the skills.  These would be great to work on when your child is not at school.  This would allow for the learning to continue between days.

If you have any questions feel free to email or call!  I will post more about reading groups in the next few days!

Assessments...

The first two weeks of school in Kindergarten is getting to know your child personally and academically. Children have been completing various papers in the classroom for us to get to know where they are and what we need to do to challenge them. In addition, to the items we are working on in the classroom, we have formally assessed them on the DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills) and the KRA-L (Kindergarten Readiness Assessment - Literacy). You can check out more information regarding DIBELS on the page designated for this on the left hand side. Overall, DIBELS allows us to assess children on specific skills necessary for children to become successful readers. The KRA-L is a state mandated assessment to allow us to have a baseline on what children know when they come into Kindergarten.

I will be continuing to work with children over the next week and begin pulling small groups to begin working on specific skills for each child. Check back later on for more specific information on reading/skills groups.