Week of December 12th- 16th

Kindergarten
I am very excited about the progress my students are making. They are working very hard on identifying letter names, sounds & popcorn words. They are also putting sounds together to read words. The focus letters for this week are y & x. The popcorn word is -do.

1st Grade
Guided Reading during push-in time has helped improve fluency. Students are using various strategies to figure out unknown words. They have been sounding out words, using pictures, looking for chunks at the end of words and paying attention to magic e. Nice job 1st graders!

1st Grade LLI Intervention Group
Students will continue to read and re-read various books. They will become fluent with reading words containing short vowels. They will quickly recognize high frequency words and will be responsible for correctly writing some of them. They will also write words and sentences by listening for sounds and letters. Note to parents: please encourage your child to write on their own. I am not concerned about proper spelling on their homework. It is important for your child to stretch out the words and write the sounds he/she hears. This is an appropriate stage of writing development. Thank you!

2nd Grade Push-In
I am excited to be in Mrs. Onorato's class this week during Holidays Around The World. We will be teaching the students about Hanukkah & making Menorahs.

2nd Grade Wilson Intervention Group
Students will begin Unit 6 this week. This unit will focus on long e at the end of words. We will continue to focus on multi-syllabic words and various suffixes. The new suffix for this week is -ive. The trick words are - often, -house, -move. The story for this week is called Baby Ruth.

Happy Holidays!!

Week of November 28th - December 2nd

Kindergarten
Students will continue to identify letters and recognize the sounds they make. They will also practice reading their popcorn words.

1st Grade Push-In
Beginning this week, I will no longer be reading with Mrs. Hull's & Miss. Tracy's entire class. Instead, I will have the opportunity to engage three groups in guided reading every day. Two of the groups will be from Mrs. Hull's room and one group will be from Miss Tracy's room. I will read with each group for 15 minutes Monday-Thursday.

2nd Grade Wilson
We will be continuing Unit 5 this week. This unit focuses on multi-syllabic words. Students will learn how to sound out words by its parts. They will also learn two new vowel teams and several more suffixes.

Week of November 14th - 18th

Kindergarten
Students have been working very hard and I am proud to see their progress with recognizing letters and identifying their sounds. I will continue to reinforce and reteach using Jolly Phonics.

1st Grade
Students will continue to read books focusing on finger-pointing. They are expected to recognize high frequency words taught so far. They are also learning how to use beginning letters and pictures to read unknown words. Students will use sound boxes this week to learn how to hear beginning, middle and ending sounds in words. They will also be writing more this week. I will reinforce that they are to write the sounds they hear. They will not be expected to spell the word correctly. Instead they are expected to use the strategies learned thus far to stretch out the word and listen carefully to the individual sounds. This should be reinforced in homework as well. Please refrain from helping your child spell words correctly. Instead, provide them with encouragement and praise in the process of writing on their own. Thank you for reading and working with your child every day.

2nd Grade
Students will complete Unit 4 this week. Students will learn two sounds for suffix -ed and will practice using all suffixes learned thus far: -s, -es, -est, -er, -ing. They will also learn 4 new vowel teams: -ou, -oo, -ue, ew. The trick words this week are -here, -use & -used. Students will continue reading Wish Come True while focusing on fluency, visualizing & retelling.

Week of October 31st - November 3rd

Kindergarten
I am excited to begin an intervention group with Kindergarten this week. I will be using Jolly Phonics to teach and reinforce letter knowledge and sounds.

1st Grade
It is nice to see how the first grade students are improving their reading skills during guided reading. We will continue to read leveled books, while identifying sight words and using strategies to decode unknown words.

LLI Intervention Group
Students have been working very hard on identifying sight words and finger pointing while reading. This week we will continue to work on sounding out words and reading already learned words quickly. We will also continue to discuss stories working on various comprehension skills as well as writing.

2nd Grade
Last week students worked very hard to compose descriptive stories. This week, students will continue to engage in Guided Reading. It is rewarding to see students enjoying reading as they improve their skills.

Wilson Intervention Group
Students will wrap up Unit 3 and will be taking an assessment on Tuesday. Unit 4 will focus on endings -s, -es, -ed, -ing, -est, -er, -ed, -d, & -t. Students will learn how to form plurals and words in the present and past tense. They will read a passage to practice fluent reading and they will make judgements and predictions to practice comprehension skills.

Happy Halloween!

Week of October 24th - October 28th

1st Grade- The comprehension skill I will focus on this week during guided reading will be summarizing. We will read appropriate leveled text then discuss the important events that occurred in the book.

LLI Intervention Group- We will be reading several books while working on specific reading goals. Students will match words with their fingers while reading. They will use first letters and known words to self-monitor. They will identify high-frequency words and will engage in phonics/word work.

2nd Grade-I will be helping students during Reading/Writing Workshop. Students will be writing a descriptive essay. They will use the writing process to describe their costume.
Wilson Intervention Group- Students will begin Unit 3. This unit will focus on more glued sounds such as ild, ind, old, olt and ost. They will also learn two new vowel teams: /oi/ & /oy/.

Week of October 17th - October 21st

1st Grade LLI-
Students will continue to recognize sight words within text. They will practice pointing under words to match print with voice. They will notice rhyming words in text and will identify syllables in words. They will also say words slowly to identify the sounds and will write the words.

2nd Grade Wilson-
We are continuing Unit 2 due to the short week last week. I will review other glued sounds and teach vowel teams: ee, ea, & ey. The vocabulary words for this Unit are toss, stall, stung & damp. Students will practice phrasing words together to help with fluency.

Week of October 12th - 14th

We have had such perfect weather! Great for getting outside and enjoying a book under a tree. :)

Kindergartners will be benchmarked with AIMSweb this week in Reading and Math. Due to the short week and benchmarking, I will not be pushing into the classrooms for guided reading, nor meeting with my 1st grade intervention group. I will be meeting with my 2nd grade intervention group in the afternoon. We will continue to work on vowel teams and bonus letters.

Week of October 3rd - 7th

Kindergarten
I have been working with Mrs. Mazurowski's class two days a week and Mrs. Finn's class two days a week. During this time, I focus on strengthening students knowledge of letter names and letter sounds. We will benchmarking Kindergarten students, using AIMSweb, next Wednesday, October 12th.

1st Grade
I will continue to guide students in leveled text in Mrs. Hull's and Miss Tracy's rooms. I will continue to work on various reading strategies to enhance fluency and comprehension.

My LLI intervention group will continue to be engaged in repeated readings of poems and stories. They will engage in shared reading of new stories and shared writing. They will also engage in word work to practice various spelling patterns.

2nd Grade
I will continue to guide students in leveled text in Mrs. Onorato's class. We will read stories while focusing on fluent reading as well as comprehension skills such as summarizing, inferring, connecting prior knowledge, etc.

My Wilson Fundations intervention group will take Unit 1 test on Monday. This test will assess knowledge of digraphs and blends in words, especially the use of ck at the end of words. We will then begin Unit 2. This unit will review bonus letters, f, l & s. I will reteach glued sounds and will introduce vowel teams - ai, ay, ee, ea, ey.

Week of September 26th - 30th

The first week of RtI was a success. It is nice to work with a team of professional staff members who are dedicated to assisting with the implementation of RtI groups for Reading & Math.

This year, I have the pleasure to work in Mrs. Hull's class & Mrs. Tracy's class two days a week each in the morning. In the afternoon, I am working in Mrs. Onorato's class four days a week. I feel fortunate to have this time to guide students through the reading process within a small group. Beginning this week, I will also be working with the Kindergartners in Mrs. Finn's & Mrs. Mazurowski's class two days a week each in the morning. I will be focusing on letter recognition and sound awareness.

I also have three intervention groups. My two 1st grade intervention groups are participating in Leveled Literacy Intervention (LLI). LLI lessons combine reading, writing, and specific work on letters, words, and sounds. My 2nd grade group is participating in Wilson Fundations. Fundations lessons focus on carefully sequenced skills that include print knowledge, alphabet awareness, phonological awareness, phonemic awareness, decoding, vocabulary, fluency, and spelling.

Week of September 19th - 23rd

RtI intervention groups will begin this week for 1st and 2nd grade. All students will receive core instruction with their homeroom teacher. New for this year, students will not be moving for Reading. Instead, students needing additional reading help will receive either differentiated instruction within their class or will participate in an intervention group at a time outside of the reading block. Also new for this year, 1st and 2nd grade classes will have another teacher in their room 2-4 days a week during reading. This will allow for more guided reading to occur which will be beneficial for teachers and students. Students will be able to read leveled text, in a small group, supported by a teacher.

In first grade, I am happy to be working with Mrs. Hull's class on Mondays & Tuesdays and with Miss Tracy's class on Wednesdays and Thursdays.

My first grade intervention group will participate in Leveled Literacy Instruction (LLI). Each 30 minute lesson will consist of rereading familiar books, phonics/word work, reading new books, writing about reading and letter/word work.

In 2nd grade, I am happy to be working with Mrs. Onorato's class Monday - Thursday.

My 2nd grade intervention group will participate in Wilson Fundations. Lessons will focus on phonics, vocabulary, trick word instruction, fluency, comprehension and writing.

Week of September 12th - 16th

Students did a great job last week learning our school-wide expectations. Students traveled to different stations learning how to behave in the classroom, at recess, on the bus, in the bus line, in the bathrooms & at special events. It is going to be exciting to see all of our students following all of the rules!! :)

This week, the RtI team will be reviewing all the data collected thus far. We will be meeting with teachers to discuss the data and plan intervention groups for 1st and 2nd graders. 1st & 2nd grade RtI groups will begin the week of September 19th.

Please come spend an evening at Ide on Thursday, September 15th for our Fall Book Fair.

Week of September 5th - 9th

Welcome back to a new school year! I am very excited about beginning a new year of RtI! Together with Mrs. Olsen & the RtI team, we have been very busy testing students and preparing for the Reading program. We will begin intervention groups within the next couple weeks.

Week of May 2nd - May 6th

Kindergarten:

We are wrapping up Unit 1. Students will be assessed this week in Wilson Fundations. They will be expected to identify letter names, letter sounds and demonstrate proper letter formation for lowercase letters.

1st Grade:

Students will continue to work blending and segmenting up to five sounds in a word. The trick words are how, your, down, should, because, & each. The words of the day are trust, blink, stump, stand & crunch

2nd Grade:

Students will be assessed this week with MAPS and AimsWeb Benchmarking.

Week of April 11th - April 15th

Kindergarten The new letters are z & qu. The letter q is called the "chicken letter" because it will never ever go anywhere without his best buddy, u. Word awareness will focus on sentences with periods or question marks. Students will create illustrations to develop a class book titled, Baby Echo Flies. 1st Grade Students will begin Unit 10 this week. This unit focuses on blending and segmenting up to 5 sounds in a closed syllable. Such as, skunk and blimp. The trick words are many, before and called. The words of the day are trust and blink. 2nd Grade Students will be taking OLSATS and writing animal reports during Reading and Writing workshop.

Week of April 4th- April 8th

Kindergarten The letters this week are v & w. We will continue to work on identifying ending sounds in words. Students will also continue to become aware that words are made up of sounds and words create sentences. We will focus on creating and reading sentences with question marks. I will re-perform the story "Baby Echo Flies" and will ask students to retell the story in their own words. 1st Grade Students will continue to practice reading words with closed syllables. They will identify that closed syllables have only one vowel, the vowel is followed by one or more consonants, and the vowel sound is short. Some sample words are click, chunk and sniffs. The trick words for this week are would, after and also. The Unit 9 assessment will take place on Friday. 2nd Grade The leveled reading for this week is "Birthday Surprise." The strategy focus will be predicting and inferring. The vocabulary words are groaned, promised, imagined, angry and grumbled.

Week of March 21st - March 25th

Kindergarten
The new letters for this week are p & j. We will continue to learn their sounds and write them correctly. Students will be asked to listen to sounds at the end of words. They will read asking sentences and become aware of what a question mark is. Students will listen to the story, Baby Echo Flies, and will be asked to retell it in their own words.

1st Grade
Students will begin Unit 9 this week. This unit focuses on closed syllables. Closed syllables can only have one vowel, the vowel is followed by one or more consonants (closed in) and the vowel sound is short. It is important for students to visually recognize a closed syllable so they can apply the short vowel sound to decode the word.

2nd Grade
Students will read Jalapeno Bagels. The leveled story is A Gift For Yoshi. The vocabulary words are origami, crane, mobile, cradle, culture, bakery, customer, dough and recipes.

Week of February 22nd - February 25th

Kindergarten
The new letters for this week are d & s. We will continue to work on word awareness while focusing on the capitalization of names. The story for this week is Baby Echo Finds Echo At Last.

1st Grade
The trick words for this week are only, other & new. We will continue to focus on glued sounds that end with -ng or -nk. The words of the week are kings, winks & fangs.

2nd Grade
The story for this week is The Great Ball Game. The leveled story will be Bird Race. We will continue to work on fluency as well as summarizing. The vocabulary words are argument, quarrel, tease, catch up, passed & finally.

Week of February 7 - February 11

Kindergarten
The letters for this week are o & g. Students will continue to learn propper letter formation and letter-sound association. They will also continue to learn word awareness. We will write and read sentences about bikes. Students will also listen to a story and focus on retelling the events: Who was in the story? Where did it take place? What was the problem? How was it solved?



1st Grade
Students will begin Unit 7 this week of Wilson Fundations. They will learn 4 new glued sounds that end with ng: ang, ing, ong, ung and 4 new glued sounds that end with nk: ank, ink, onk, & unk. The trick words are out, so & are. The words of the day are rang, hung, & long.

2nd Grade

Students will be participating in Reading/Writing Workshop this week. They will participate in the writing process while writing biographies. They will be expected to use capital letters, correct punctuation, phonetic spelling, and accurate recall of factual information.

Week of January 31st - February 4th

Reminder to All Students:

Be Respectful

Be Responsible

Be Safe

Kindergarten
The focus letters for this week are c & a. Students will learn the sounds these letters make and will practice writing them using proper letter formation. Students will also learn that words form sentences. We will create and read a simple sentence about pets. They will also retell the story "Echo Finds Dinner." We will draw the events while students recall the characters, setting, the problem, and the ending.


1st Grade
Students will complete Unit 6 this week. The Unit assessment will be given on Thursday. The focus continues to be basewords and the -s suffix. The words of the day for this week are jugs, bells, and hugs. The trick words are been, by & who.


2nd Grade
We will begin Theme 4 this week: Amazing Animals. Students will read Officer Buckle & Gloria. The leveled text is Max is a Show Star. We will continue to work on fluency and comprehension skills.

Week of January 18th - January 21st

Kindergarten

Students will continue Unit 1 of the Wilson Fundations program. Last week we focused on letters, b, & f. This week we will work on letters n & m. Students will focus on letter recognition, sounds and formation. We will also work on word awareness; understanding that sentences are made up of words.

1st Grade

The RtI team will be benchmarking all first grade students with AimsWeb. Students will be assessed on reading fluency.

2nd Grade

The story this week is Jamaica Louise James. The leveled story is Mrs. Cheng's Surprise. The comprehension strategies that we will focus on are evaluating and making inferences. We will also work on writing lists while focusing on plurals.

January 3rd - January7th

Kindergarten

AimsWeb benchmarking has been completed. I will partipate in a Data Meeting with Kindergarten teachers and RtI team to review data and determine appropriate reading groups and interventions. Reading groups will begin next week.

1st Grade

Baseword and Suffix -s: students will be introduced to the concept of a baseword and suffix in a very simple way, with just the suffix -s. Sometimes the suffix -s is added to a word and says /s/ as in the word "shops" or it sometimes says /z/ as in the word "bugs. " I will also introduce the concept of plural words.

2nd Grade

We will continue with Theme 3 of our reading curriculum. Students will read The Big Bushy Mustache and appropriately leveled text to practice fluency and comprehension.