Week of December 13th - December 17th

The RTI team and I will be benchmarking Kindergarten students in the areas of Reading and Math. 1st and 2nd grade students will be benchmarked when we return from break. I will also be assisting 2nd grade students during "Holidays Around the World."

Please continue to encourage your child to read over break. I hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday!

Week of December 6th - December 10th

Kindergarten

I will continue to pull some students one on one to work with the K-Pals intervention. It is a series of learning games that promote letter recognition, rhyming, and beginning sounds.

1st Grade

Students took the Unit 4 Wilson Fundations test on Friday. Graded tests are being sent home on Monday, please review. We will begin Unit 5 on Monday. This unit will focus on two new glued sounds. In addition to -all, students will learn -am and -an. The trick words for this week are -from, -or and -have. The test will be given on Friday.

2nd Grade

Students are participating in reading writing workshop this week. The writing focus will be persuasive writing. Students will listen to a story that models persuasive writing then they will be expected to write a letter persuading their parents to buy them a special gift. They will need to provide three reasons why they deserve the special gift.

November 22 & November 23

I hope everyone has an enjoyable Thanksgiving!

I am officially back from maternity leave. I returned last Wednesday and enjoyed working again with your children. Students will remain in their classrooms during this two-day week to work on their reading and writing skills. Mrs. Pellin and I will be working on organizing the new reading groups that will begin November 29th.

August- November

Welcome Back!!

I am currently on maternity leave. I gave birth to twins on July 26, 2010- Jovanna Matilda & Gavin Michael. I feel very fortunate to have this time with them. I will return to work on Wednesday, November 17, 2010. I look forward to working with your children.

Week of May 24th- May 28th

Thank you for allowing me to teach your wonderful kids this year! I am very proud of their progress! RtI groups have finished for this year. I am working on wrapping up the year and preparing for next year. I will be on maternity leave at the beginning of the year and expect to return mid-November. Hope everyone has a great summer! Please continue to read and encourage your children to read anything and everything as often as possible! :)

Week of May 10th - May 14th

Kindergarten
Students will continue to work on separating sounds into words. They will work with rhyming words and they will blend sounds to form words. They will be working with three-sound short vowel words (CVC words) such as, map, sad and rat.

1st Grade
Students will begin Unit 13 this week. They will learn about two new suffix endings -ed and
-ing. The trick words for this week are -never, -another, and -day. The vocabulary words are
-blasted and -landing.

2nd Grade
Students have begun conducting research on their polar animals. They will begin this week using the information they gathered to write a nonfiction piece. Students will provide feedback to each other and will progress through the writing steps. They will be responsible for editing and revising their writing.

Week of May 3rd - May 7th

This week I will be administering the Aimsweb Spring benchmark test to all students in grades K-2. Reading groups will resume next week.

Week of April 26 - April 30th

Open House is Thursday, April 29th! Looking forward to seeing all of you!

Kindergarten

Students will begin Unit 3 this week. They will work with rhyming words and will blend sounds to form words. They will blend and read three-sound short vowel words (CVC words).

1st Grade

Students will complete Unit 12 this week. They will continue reading and spelling words with suffix-es and -s. The trick words are both, being, & under. An assessment will be administered later in the week.

2nd Grade

Students will continue to explore nonfiction writing this week. They will hear, read, and discuss nonfiction. They will write questions and will choose a topic about the polar lands and write about it.

Week of April 19th - April 23rd

Kindergarten
Students will continue to work on letter formation of uppercase letters. They will separate words into syllables and will continue to identify sounds in words. They will be expected to name and/or write the letters they hear in words.

1st Grade
Students will begin Unit 12 this week. This unit will focus on the suffix ending -es. We will also review plural words. The trick words for this unit are: -see, -work, -between, -both, -being, and -under. The vocabulary words are: -inches, -dishes, -foxes, and -glasses.

2nd Grade
Students will not switch for reading groups this week due to OLSAT testing. Reading groups will resume next week.

April 12th - April 16th

Kindergarten

Students will continue to work on letter formation of uppercase letters. They are expected to identify the correct sound and letter heard at the beginning of words. Also, they will sound out three letter words and are becoming aware of syllables.

1st Grade

Students will continue to work on spelling and writing words by syllables instead of individual sounds. They will also learn the spelling of -ic. The vocabulary words for this week are -expect, -until, -velvet, -public, and -frantic. The trick words are -years, -say, -little, -good, -very, and

-own.

Tier 3 Spelling Words: This weeks words will focus on short -i: in, it, him, big, sit, did, dish, and milk.

2nd Grade

Students will continue to explore features of nonfiction. They will read nonfiction that describes how to do something. They will observe an experiment and write about it in pairs. They will also listen to a book that explores the Arctic and Antarctic. They will write questions and information about the polar lands. Then they will use their information to write a nonfiction piece about the polar lands.

Week of April 5th - April 9th

Kindergarten
Students will begin Unit 2 this week. They will learn how to form capital letters A-Z. The focus will change from word awareness to syllable awareness. Students will learn that words have separate syllables.

1st Grade
Students will begin Unit 11 this week. This unit will change focus from sounds to syllables. Students will learn how to read and spell two syllable words. The trick words for this week are -people, -Mr., & -Mrs. The vocabulary words are -sunset and -upset.

2nd Grade
Students will continue to explore nonfiction writing. They will write interview questions, interview and write about a partner and will create a "How to Be a Friend" Book.

Week of March 29th - March 3rd

Happy Spring Break!!!

Enjoy the signs of Spring and reading great books with your children!! :)

Week of March 22nd - March 26th

Kindergarten

The letters for this week are -y & -x. The letter-keyword-sound is as follows: y-yellow-/y/ and x-fox-/x/. Students will continue to practice letter sound associations as well as letter formation. The will also work on blending individual sounds into three letter words and will become aware of words in sentences. They will identify capitals at the beginning and proper punctuation at the end. Students will also work on comprehending a story by retelling the events of Echo the Owl and Baby Echo.

1st Grade

Students will continue to blend and spell words with five sounds. The vocabulary words for this week are -stump, -stand, & -crunch. The trick words are -how, -your, & -down. They will also continue to work on fluently reading a shared story as well as creating a new shared story with their peers. They will be responsible for including characters, setting, and creating events in proper order using first, next and last.

2nd Grade

Students will begin Unit 4- a 5-week unit focusing on exploring and writing nonfiction. This week students will hear, read, and discuss nonfiction about a gorilla named Koko. They will ask and write questions. They will be introduced to research skills as they will be guided to take notes about what they have learned.

Week of March 8th - March 12th

Kindergarten
The letters for this week are -v & -w. Students will continue to associate letters to their correct sounds, they will learn proper letter formation, and will identify words in sentences. Students will also have an opportunity to retell a story after watching it be acted out.

1st Grade
Students will continue to learn about closed syllables. The trick words for this week are -would, -after, & -also. The vocabulary words for the week are - punch, -ill, & -stiff. Unit 9 assessment will be given on Thursday.

2nd Grade
Students will reflect on what they learned about fiction writing. They will write about the special features of fiction, they will detail the steps of developing and publishing stories as well as describe something they included that they are most proud of.

Week of March 2nd- March 5th

Kindergarten
The letters for this week are -p & -j. Students will continue to be engaged in activities to reinforce letter knowledge, sound awareness, and word awareness.

1st Grade
Students completed Unit 8 and did well on their assessments. Students will begin Unit 9 this week. This Unit focuses on closed syllables. They will learn that closed syllables have only one vowel, the vowel is closed in by one or more consonants and the vowel sound is short. The trick words for this week are -our, -over, & -come. The vocabulary words for this week are -melt, -brush and act.

2nd Grade
Students did a great job performing a reader's theater play for their peers. They also worked hard on creating fictional pieces for publishing. This week they will publish their writing into books.

On Friday, March 5th, I will be visiting Winfield school district to observe various reading and math interventions.

Week of February 22nd - February 26th

Kindergarten
The letters for this week are -l, -h, -k. Students will "sky-write" following verbalizations to write the letters in the air. Students will trace and say the letter-keyword- sound: l-lamp-/l/, h-hat-/h/, & k-kite-/k/. Students will match letters with their sounds using magnetic letter boards. Students will echo read sentences- I will read first then they will repeat the sentence. They will continue to practice word awareness by pointing to each word while reading it and putting scrambled sentences back into the correct order- paying attention to capitals and periods. Students will also practice retelling a story while I write sentences to match the corresponding pictures. We will then read the story together.

1st Grade
The trick words for this week are -any, -my, & -now. The words of the week are -nests, -flags, & -quilts. Students will continue to practice reading and spelling basewords that end with suffix -s. They will also engage in activities to help gain a better understanding of sentence structure, punctuation and grammar usage. They will take the Unit 8 test on Friday.

2nd Grade
Within the next two weeks students will informally explore the writing process, including publishing. They will select one of their previously written fiction stories to publish as a book, add details and descriptive words, check for correctness, and recopy and illustrate the selection. They will continue to explore books to get a sense of how published writing sounds and looks. They will confer with partners throughout the process. This work of exploring a particular genre, writing drafts in that genre, and selecting a piece to develop, proofread, and publish will prepare them for a more formal introduction to the writing process in grade 3.

Week of February 16th - February 19th

Kindergarten

Students will practice identifying and writing the vowels -e and -u. They will practice the letter-keyword-sound of each letter: e-egg-/e/, u-up-/u/. They will also develop word awareness. They will watch proper sentence writing, including the use of capital letters and punctuation. They will echo read the sentences- I will read it first then they will repeat the sentence. They will also be asked to point to each word to become aware that sentences contain words. They will also continue to work on understanding stories. They will practice retelling a story after I read and act it out. They will be expected to answer questions such as, who was in the story? Where did it begin? What was the problem? What did the character do about it? How did the story end?

1st Grade

The trick words for this week are -say, -do and -first. The vocabulary words for this week are -bunch, -ranch, and -shrug. Students will continue to practice spelling and reading words with consonant blends, such as -bl, -st, -fl, -br. They will also continue to review the reading of a baseword and a suffix. The will specifically practice how to spell words that end with the suffix -s.

2nd Grade

Students will read about famous people and will learn how to identify the important events that happened to them. They will create timelines demonstrating dates of when the person was born, four important events and the date the person died. Students will also practice fluency during Reader's Theater. Students will continue reading a play of Puss-and-Boots. They will make masks and will perform the play for another small group of 2nd graders later this week.

Week of February 8th- February 12th

I will be attending a 3-day workshop during the beginning of this week. I will be assisting teachers administer the IOWA basic skills test during the remainder of the week and I will resume teaching my small groups next week.

Happy Valentine's Day

Week of February 1st - February 5th

Kindergarten

The letters for this week are o, g, d, and s. Students will practice keyword sounds: o-octopus-/o/, g-game-/g/, d-dog-/d/, & s-snake-/s/. They will use magnetic letters to match letters to their sounds. They will use dry-erase boards to practice writing this weeks letters as well as the letters learned thus far. Students will also continue to learn the elements of a sentence: capitals at the beginning, periods at the end, and space between each word. Students will practice one-to-one matching by using their fingers to point under each word in a sentence. On Friday, students will listen to a story and watch the story be performed to help them visualize and recall what happened in the story.

1st Grade

Students will begin Unit 8. They will learn the difference between a blend and a digraph. A digraph has two letters that make one sound such as -sh and a blend has two letters that make their own sounds such as -s & -l /sl/. The trick words for this week are some, could, and want. Students will also read a story and will identify blends, digraphs, and trick words within the story.

2nd Grade

Students will continue to explore fiction stories and work on developing creative ideas for their own fiction stories. They will work together to contribute to a shared story and will write their own endings to stories. They will also practice spelling words by syllables instead of individual sounds. For example, forest can be sounded out by spelling /for/ then /est/. This is a more efficient way for students who learned basic phonics to approximate the spelling of longer words.

Week of January 25th - January 29th

Kindergarten

Students will focus on letters -c, -a, -i, & r. They will learn proper letter formation and letter identification. Students will follow verbal directions while "Sky Writing." An example of "Sky Writing" for the letter -c is as follows: "point to the plane line, start to fly backwards, and go down to the grass line." Students will practice sounds while associating letters to keywords: c-cat-/c/, a-apple-/a/, i-itch-/i/, r-rat-/r/. They will also practice retelling important events in stories during storytime on Friday.

1st Grade

Students will review glued sounds that end with -ng and will learn new glued sounds that end with -nk, such as -ank, -ink, -onk, -unk. This week's vocabulary words are junk, pink, and thank.

The trick words are -two, -about, and -into.

2nd Grade

This week students will begin Unit 3 of Being a Writer. During this four-week unit, students will explore fiction writing and draft, revise, and publish their own stories. The first two weeks of this unit will focus on immersing the students in the genre and having them draft several fiction stories. They will write about different characters, including people, animals that talk, and toys that come to life. Since fiction writing is an act of the imagination, these two weeks will focus on stimulating the students' creativity and developing their abilities for invention and experimentation. The last two weeks will focus on taking the students through the writing process.

Week of January 19th - January 22nd

Kindergarten

This week students will identify and learn proper letter formation for letters -n & -m. They will also review letters from last week: -t, -b, & -f. Students will associate the letters to keywords and sounds. Ex. n-nut-/n/, m-man-/m/. They will also listen to a story and practice retelling it. The following questions will be asked in class and can be asked at home as well after reading stories together: Who was in the story? Where did it take place? What was the character's problem? What did the character do about it? What happened in the end?

1st Grade

Students are starting Unit 7 of Wilson this week. They will be introduced to four new glued sounds ending with -ng (ang, ing, ong, ung) and four ending with -nk (ank, ink, onk, unk). The trick words for this week are -out, -so, and -are.

2nd Grade

Students did a great job last week writing about pets and creating silly characters. This week students will listen to a story by Judith Viorst. Students will discuss how a professional author tells more and will use that as an inspiration to add more to their stories. They will write about a character and something interesting that happens to their character. Students will also use their partner's feedback to tell more. In addition to writing, students will be engaged in "Guided Reading" to practice various reading skills and strategies.

Week of January 11th-January 15th

Kindergarten
This week the students will begin a program called Wilson Fundations. It is a systematic program that builds a foundation for reading and writing. The first unit will last about 12 weeks. Throughout this unit students will learn the following skills: properly form letters a-z, identify letter names and sounds for short vowels and consonants, word awareness, print awareness, story re-telling, and fluency with echo reading.

1st Grade
Students are continuing Unit 6. The trick words for this week are -there, -what, and -she. The words of the day for this week are -walls, -socks, and -ships. Students will continue identifying and reading words with basewords and the -s suffix. They will also practice spelling words by listening to individual sounds. They will read a story titled, Jack's Bags, practicing fluency and comprehension skills.

2nd Grade
Students are beginning Unit 2: Telling More within the Being a Writer program. This week students will think and talk about stories before they write. They will write about a pet and a character of their own choosing. They will be inspired by listening to the following stories, "Let's Get a Pup!" Said Kate by Bob Graham and Sheila Ray, the Brave by Kevin Henkes. They will also reread their writing and tell more, using their partner's feedback to help. Students will help

one another improve their writing.

Week of January 4th - January 8th

This week the RtI team and I will be administering the AimsWeb Winter benchmark tests. The timed tests will assess letter & sound knowledge as well as Reading fluency. AimsWeb will be administered to all students in grades K-2 and is a requirement of the Response to Intervention program.