Week of December 10th - 14th

Fuzzy Slipper Day- December 14th

Students can wear slippers while watching a movie in class as their reading reward for meeting their monthly goal. 

Kindergarten

Students have been working very hard with identifying letter sounds and popcorn words - yay!!  I will continue to engage students in activities to stregthen these skills.  The ultimate goal is to have them apply their knowledge of letter sounds to be able to blend them into words. 

1st Grade Push-In

Students had fun "digging for words" and playing "Monster Sight Words".  They also practicied spelling their words with playdough.  They are becoming quicker with recognizing the high frequency words. Thank you for helping your child practice their word cards at home.  They have been getting very excited to move their words over to the "Words I Know" pack.

1st Grade LLI

Students have been learning many new word families and utilizing the "Chunky Monkey" strategy.  They have been looking for small "chunks" in words to help them sound out words quickly.  They enjoyed performing a play of the Three Little Pigs.  This week I will continue to focus on patterns in words, especially words that end in silent e.  We will work on reading dialogue with expression, read with phrasing and attention to end punctuation.  Students will also work on identifying a simple story problem and its solution.

2nd Grade Push-In

Students will work on persuasive writing this week.  They are writing about what they want for Christmas.  Watch out Santa & parents :) they are going to try very hard to persuade someone to get them exactly what they want. 

2nd Grade LLI

Students will recognize and use consonant blends such as sm-, sk-, sl-, st-, br-, fr-, tr, gr-.  They will read with propper phrasing and pausing, using the punctuation.  They will follow a series of events in a story and will make predicitions.       

Week of December 3rd - 7th

Kindergarten

My students have been very excited about their word & letter cards.  I hope all of you have noticed them bringing the bags home.  I hope you found the list of suggested activities to do together helpful.  As stated in the letter, it is very important that your child learns letter names, letter sounds and identifying popcorn words.  I will continue to check their knowledge of these skills.  Once you notice 5 stars on the back of the cards, the card will be moved over to the "letters I know" or "words I know" packs.  Thank you for your support with this!

1st Grade Push-In

Sight words are still my primary focus during this time.  I am continuing to individualize the words that each student needs based on their skills.  The goal is for students to know all sight words from Kindergarten as well as the 40 1st grade sight words by January.  Please continue to encourage your child to practice the words that are sent home with them every day in their word bags. 

1st Grade LLI

Students are getting very strong at 1:1 matching and utilizing strategies such as "Eagle Eye" and "Flip Flop Froggy" to read unknown words.  The first strategy encourages them to use the picture for clues and the 2nd strategy encourages them to try the vowel as a short or long vowel to see which one sounds better.  Word work has been focused on short vowels as well as various word families.  Thank you for your support with helping you child complete and return the daily Reading homework!

2nd Grade Push-In

My students are reading Big Bushy Mustache in their classrooms this week.  I will engage them in various activities to strengthen their comprehension skills. 

2nd Grade LLI

Students are strengthening their fluency skills.  Word work has been focused on contractions and various word families. 

Week of October 22nd - 26th

Kindergarten

The team met last week to analyze the data collected during benchmarking.  Intervention groups have been formed. AimsWeb reports will be given to parents at conferences.  This will give teachers the opportunity to explain the reports.  I am looking forward to working with my new groups this week.  I will be focusing on letter sound knowledge as well as reinforcing popcorn words. 

1st Grade Push-In

I will continue to focus on sight words.  Thank you for helping your child return their sight word bag to school every week.  Beginning this week, I am asking for the bag to be returned every day.  You will begin to see card packs titled "Words I Know" & "Words I am Learning".  Please help your child engage in the suggested activities with the words they are learning.  Also please continue to ask your child to read and recognize the words they know to assure that they continue to have those words mastered.

1st Grade LLI

Students will continue to engage with leveled books.  They will practice voice-print matching while using various strategies to read unknown words.  They will recognize and write some high frequency words.  They will write simple sentences while using space between words and capitalizing the first word in a sentence.  Students will also make predictions and inferences using information from the pictures.

2nd Grade Push-In

I will focus on specific phonics skills such as long o, u & e, 2 sounds for C and consonant clusters.  I will reinforce vocabulary from the weekly story and will engage the students in activities to strengthen their comprehension skills.

2nd Grade LLI

Student will continue to engage with leveled text.  He will use multiple strategies to solve unknown words.  He will use "Flip Flop Froggy" to practice identifying the proper vowel sound in a word.  Try the short vowel sound, if it doesn't sound right flip it to the long vowel sound. He will also say words slowly to identify sounds and write the letters that represent them.   

Week of October 1st- 5th

It has been so wonderful working with your child within a small group setting.  This setting allows targeted instruction to meet the individualized needs of your child. We spend our time together reading appropraite leveled books and focusing on specific phonics skills and reading strategies.  I am fortunate to work with students in all three grades, K-2.  I am lucky to be able to work within some classrooms with specific students as well as work outside of the homeroom classes, providing specific interventions. 

Kindergarten:
I am working within Mr. Pitassi's classroom.  I meet with two groups of students 4 times a week.  During this time I am focusing on reinforcing letter names and sounds.

1st Grade Push-In:
I am working with Miss Beseth's class and Mrs. Hull's Class.  I meet with two groups of students 4 times a week. During this time I focus on sight words.  Sight words require a lot of practice due to the fact that most of them cannot be sounded out.  Please look for word bags on Monday.  Each week your child will receive words and activities to practice at home.

1st Grade LLI Group:
I have been working with small groups of first graders every day for 30 minutes.  During this time, we engage in rereading of leveled books, reading new books focusing on reading strategies, phonics word work & writing.  I have given each student in this group a reading folder and reading bag.  Each night your child should be bringing home a book and a letter suggesting some activities that can be done at home.  Please reinforce the taught concepts and have fun listening to your child read the book to you several times.

2nd Grade Push-In:
I am working with Mrs. Zurales's class and Mrs. Walega's class.  I meet with 4 groups twice a week for 30 minutes.  During this time I focus on specific reading skills that have been introduced within their classroom.  I extend the lesson and reinforce specific concepts.

2nd Grade LLI:
I work 1:1 at this time every day for 30 minutes.  During this time I engage the student in rereading of leveled text, reading new books, word work & writing.   

Week of September 17th - 21st

This week my team and I will continue to plan for the start of intervention groups next week.  We are analyzing the data to match the appropriate intervention to our student's needs.  I will also be training some of our interventionists and organizing materials.

Week of September 10th - 14th

The students were absolute troopers last week during a full week of testing.  Data has been collected and will be reviewed this week.  The data will help inform instruction as well as assist with forming appropriate intervention groups.  Letters will be sent home shortly indicating test results and any interventions that your child may receive to aid with his or her learning.  RTI groups are scheduled to begin Monday, September 24th. 

Week of September 4th - 7th

Welcome back to school!  This week, the RTI team and I will be administering the AimsWeb benchmark tests to the first and second graders.  These tests will assess letter/sound knowledge, reading fluency, math computation and math concepts.  The data collected will be one piece of information to guide instruction within the classroom as well as form intervention groups.