2008-2009 is proving to be an AWESOME year!!
You can reach me at school: Voice mail message: 772-3223 Ext. 307 or you can send me an email from this web page--see box above.
Starbinders: Encourage your child to take responsibilty for his/her actions & to be honest with you about his/her day. Ask your child how the day was. Encourage him/her to tell you if/why they had a check by their name or if their card was changed and to tell you how they made the day pleasant for others. Look in your child's Starbinder EACH DAY for any behavior comments or concerns. Please don't hestitate to call or write me a note if you have any questions or concerns. BE SURE YOU INITIAL THE COMMENT SECTION OF THE day in their planner EACH DAY, even if there is not a comment written by me...thank you.
IDEAS TO HELP YOUR CHILD STUDY SPELLING or READING VOCABULARY WORDS
--Have Magnetic letters? Your child can create the words on the refrigerator.
--Get some chalk & write the words on the driveway.
-Cut pieces of paper. Write one letter of a word on each piece of paper. Your child then unscrambles the letters to spell the word correctly.
--Write the words with bright colored markers or paint the words with water color paint.
--Put sand or salt in a box. Then as you quiz your child on the words, he/she writes them in the sand/salt. Shake the box & do the next word.
Math: Our first graders are working hard to learn their math facts through 18. We are asking parents to help their child study the math facts at home each night. Flashcards are an excellent way to help speed and accuracy. Math facts are available in their planner.
READING:
We are now in Book 2 of the Reading series. There are a lot of really fun stories in this book that I am sure the kids will enjoy. Please be sure to ask them how they like the stories and what they are about. We have started Dolch sets. Please be sure to practice each set with your child and sign it so your child can be tested on the words. The kids are doing AWESOME!!
Language:
We have now learned all 70 phonograms. Some of them are a little difficult and we are practicing them everyday in class. As you have proabably noticed, we are also doing daily phonogram and spelling word practice. I have found this really helps the students get ready for their weekly tests. There are 15 spelling words each week. Phonogram tests will be given every other Thursday and Spelling tests will be given on Fridays.
HOMEWORK REMINDER: Homework is assigned weekly. Please do one math page per night, chose a spelling activity and initial it in the planner, and one book report per week. STARBINDERS & AR books should come home each night and be at SCHOOL EACH MORNING!!
READING LOGS: Your child should be reading at least 20 minutes each day. Please be sure to sign their planners daily.
Ways to help your child be a better reader:
READ TO YOUR CHILD…We have a tendency to have our children do all the reading, but it is good for them to have an adult model, too. Select books that are above his/her reading level to build their listening vocabulary and increase background information. This helps them when they are decoding (sounding out) more difficult words on their own. You can use this READ TO time on the Daily Reading Log, also. Select books of interest to your child—both fiction & non-fiction.
Work on READING FLUENCY…this is the rate at which your child reads. Students should work towards reading as they would talk—not word by word. As they become more skilled at instantly recognizing words they will become more fluent.
Here’s how to build fluency. Select a section of a book at your child’s independent reading level (see STAR report). Time your child reading for 1 MINUTE noting the # of errors. Then count how many words read in that one minute. Words per minute (WPM) score is the number of words read minus the number of errors. Record the WPM each time you work on it so you can see growth. Over several days, work on the same passage until they reach at least 80 words per minute with 0-1 error. If he/she self corrects a word, it is not counted as an error (but it does cost them seconds in their time).
Suggested Web Sites
www.googames.com
http://www.theschoolbell.com/Links/Dolch/Dolch.html
www.starfall.com
www.funbrain.com 
