We would like to take this time to thank you for everything this school year. It has been a great year and we thank you for all of your thoughtfulness and support throughout.
We have been working hard this year in literacy stations and have learned so much about how letters sound, reading strategies, and fluency. We have been practicing in small groups 4-5 times a week with each child at their instructional reading level to make sure they met the end of kindergarten benchmark (Level D.) Therefore, we would like to ensure the students maintain their level as they enter first grade. (Each child will have their reading level noted in the comments section of the report card.) Please practice reading for a few minutes several (3-4) times a week. Here are the following areas that you can work on:
- Reading strategies--When your child comes to an unknown word, they need to "TRY SOMETHING!" Don't tell them! They can try one of the following strategies:
- Get your mouth ready to make the first sound in the word and then look at the picture.
- Chop the word, sound out the word, slide through the word
- Go back and reread
- Look for chunks in the word (find -at within splat)
- Think: Does that make sense? I say to the students "I heard you say...is that what it says in this story?" See if they can fix the mistake without you showing it to them.
- Skip the word and come back
- Try a different vowel sound (try short vowel sound and then long vowel sound)
3. Fluency--phrased reading, not word by word reading.
In Math, we have been working diligently on becoming fluent within 5. This means that we can be automatic with adding and subtracting numbers up to 5. Please continue to practice these flashcards over the summer if you find that this is not yet automatic for your child.
Thank you again for all of the support you have given us and your child throughout the year! We hope you have a relaxing and fun summer!
