Title I Reading News Mrs. O’Deens First Grade News Kindergarten News October 20, 2016 1st Quarter Mrs. O’Deens lodeens@bcsoh.org Towslee Elementary Rm 20 First Grade News Kindergarten News First graders in Title 1 have been working hard on consonant diagraphs (ch, sh, th, wh). These sounds can be tricky for many emergent readers. We have practiced finding and highlighting these diagraphs when reading. We have also practiced spelling words with these sounds in the initial and final positions on our OG (Orton Gillingham) sound dictation papers. First graders have also been working on beginning comprehension skills like identifying basic story elements like characters and setting. We have also been working on sight word recognition as well. Practice at home too! This quarter the kindergarteners have been working very hard on letter-recognition, letter-sounds and sight words. The letters we’ve focused on this quarter have been Cc, Oo, Aa, and Dd. Some things we do to help us learn our letters are go on letter hunts and highlight them, do letter mazes and write the letters in our sand trays. We listen for the letter-sounds at the beginning of words and we make word lists. We draw pictures of things that start with that letter. We have also been working on reading basic sight words. We call these “red words” and we write them in our red word book using bumpy boards to help us remember them. We also tap the letters on our arm then swipe the words. Some words we’ve learned are I, am, to, the, is, little and a few color words too. Be sure to watch for the first Red Word Book to come home soon and read it with your child! One important things to mention about red words (sight words) is they need to me memorized because most do not follow sounding-out rules so please practice at home! Two good learning websites for kindergarteners are www.starfall.com and www.ABCya.com Second Grade News Second graders have been very busy reviewing and practicing consonant diagraphs (ch, sh, th, wh) and triple letter blends (str, spr, squ, spl). We also worked on fluency skills each week, trying to increase our words read per minute as well as improve expression and intonation. We have also been working on comprehension skills while reading nonfiction text. One strategy we practiced, Cornell Notes, requires students to go back in the text to find a main idea and 3 details then use that information in their own words to write a summary of the text. I am very proud of this group they have worked hard and most have been good about bringing back their homework folders on time. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Important Reminders… Third Grade News Third graders have been working on some of the same comprehension skills as second grade, main idea idea details using Cornell Notes. We spent some time at the beginning of the quarter focusing on the suffix –ed and the three different sounds it can make. We read a book and looked for words with the –ed endings. We wrote the words in category charts and practiced reading them with partners . We practiced answering comprehension questions about the story and finding proof in the text. Recently we learned the three ways to spell the long e sound (ee, ea, e-e) and practiced reading these words in a book called Mrs. Sheep’s Garden. With this group please be sure they are reading daily at home and Work on comprehension (answer 5 W’s who, what, when, where, why). CONFERENCES: Conferences are to be held on Election Day from 11:00-7:00, November 8. If I am not at your child’s conference with their homeroom teacher and you would like to see me, please stop down to room 20. If I am not there, please sign the paper on the table and I will get back to you. I look forward to seeing you all! HOMEWORK FOLDERS: Please be sure to check your child’s book bag for their Title 1 reading folder and homework on Monday’s. Folders and homework should be returned on Friday. Please remove any papers on the right side. These homework assignments provide extra reinforcement of skills being taught in class that week and can be very beneficial to your child! Also be sure your child is reading 10-20 minutes a day!