Nessling's News

Week of December 12th- 16th

2011-12-09T10:09:00.004-06:00

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

2011-11-27T21:51:00.002-06:00

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

2011-11-12T23:17:00.003-06:00

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

2011-10-30T09:36:00.005-05:00

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

2011-10-21T09:00:00.004-05:00

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

2011-10-17T12:32:00.002-05:00

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

2011-10-10T21:38:00.004-05:00

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

2011-10-01T22:08:00.003-05:00

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

2011-09-24T22:29:00.003-05:00

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

2011-09-17T21:01:00.003-05:00

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

2011-09-09T15:03:00.003-05:00

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

2011-09-03T21:06:00.005-05:00

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

2011-05-02T00:13:00.003-05:00

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

2011-04-10T21:56:00.002-05:00

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

2011-04-03T22:14:00.005-05:00

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

2011-03-21T15:22:00.004-05:00

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

2011-02-22T08:42:00.002-06:00

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

2011-02-07T00:48:00.004-06:00

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

2011-01-30T07:21:00.007-06:00

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

2011-01-17T23:00:00.005-06:00

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

2011-01-02T00:25:00.007-06:00

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.

Week of December 13th - December 17th

2010-12-12T03:03:00.007-06:00

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

2010-12-05T00:27:00.004-06:00

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

2010-11-21T02:48:00.003-06:00

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

2010-08-30T23:04:00.004-05:00

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

2010-05-24T08:20:00.003-05:00

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

2010-05-07T14:03:00.007-05:00

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

2010-05-02T22:40:00.002-05:00

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

2010-04-25T13:58:00.005-05:00

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

2010-04-18T17:13:00.002-05:00

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

2010-04-11T08:45:00.003-05:00

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

2010-04-04T00:17:00.005-05:00

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

2010-03-31T01:04:00.003-05:00

Happy Spring Break!!!

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

Week of March 22nd - March 26th

2010-03-21T08:54:00.003-05:00

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

2010-03-07T21:12:00.002-06:00

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

2010-03-01T18:00:00.003-06:00

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

2010-02-21T20:26:00.002-06:00

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

2010-02-15T17:04:00.002-06:00

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

2010-02-07T12:18:00.005-06:00

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

2010-01-29T15:26:00.004-06:00

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

2010-01-24T08:34:00.011-06:00

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

2010-01-18T17:01:00.004-06:00

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

2010-01-10T21:35:00.003-06:00

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

2010-01-02T23:08:00.003-06:00

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.

Week of December 14th - December 18th

2009-12-13T20:21:00.003-06:00

1st Grade

This week students will learn about suffixes and base words. They will also learn about plurals. The new trick words are: were, her, and put.

2nd Grade

Students will be "traveling" around the world this week. They will have the opportunity to learn how holidays are celebrated in various countries. They will have their passports stamped and will participate in making some traditional holiday crafts.

Week of December 7th- December 11th

2009-12-06T13:36:00.005-06:00

Kindergarten

The new letters for this week are -x & -q. The popcorn word is -friend. Students will continue to sing songs and learn actions to go along with letter sounds. Feel free to ask your child to sing some of the "Jolly Phonics" songs such as, "Snake is slowly slithering- /s//s//s//s//s/", etc. Students will also continue practicing tracking simple sentences by pointing to each word while reading sentences that contain some of the popcorn words learned thus far.

1st Grade
Students will be introduced to two new glued sounds this week: -am & -an. The new trick words are -from, -or, and -have. They will continue to practice tapping out words as an aid to spell words correctly. They will also work on identifying words by listening to individual sounds. Students will practice fluency and comprehension skills while reading a story called, Pam and Dan.

2nd Grade
Students will be participating in Reading & Writing Workshop this week. They will learn how to write a persuasive letter. They are going to be asked to persuade their parents to buy them a specific Christmas present and will need to provide support as to why they deserve the specific gift. Beware parents, their letters may be very convincing. :)

Week of November 30th - December 4th

2009-11-29T14:14:00.007-06:00

"Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress.
Working together is success." Henry Ford

I am looking forward to discussing your child's progress during conferences this week!

Kindergarten

This weeks letters are v & y. The new popcorn word is -to. Students will sing songs and use manipulatives to continue to learn letter names and sounds. They will use the Imagination Station computer program and will practice identifying individual sounds and syllables in words.

1st Grade

This weeks trick words are -they, -one and -said. Students will continue to identify and spell words with the glued sound -all. They will also spell and identify words that contain a bonus letter such as -f, -l, or -s. These letters are doubled if the word has a vowel immediately before it such as hill, puff, or miss. The vocabulary words for this week are chill, yell, and mess. Students will also read a story titled The Big Mess. They will also practice voice expression as well as identifying capital letters, ending marks, bonus letters, and glued sounds within the story.

2nd Grade

Students will write about a fantasy trip this week. They will work with partners to generate ideas for their stories. They will be encouraged to reread their writing to tell more and add details. They will be held accountable for proper capitalization and punctuation. They will also use peer conferencing as an aid to assure complete thoughts and coherent writing pieces. They will be asked to present their stories while practicing appropriate presentation styles.

November 23rd & November 24th

2009-11-22T18:28:00.005-06:00

Due to the short week, students will not switch rooms for reading. I will be reviewing and analyzing data during the regularly scheduled "power hour." However, I will continue to read with my smaller group of 1st and 2nd graders. We will continue to practice sight words and various reading strategies to improve fluency and comprehension. Happy Thanksgiving!

Week of November 16th - November 20th

2009-11-16T07:43:00.003-06:00

Kindergarten
The letters this week are z & w. The popcorn word is -a. Students will identify pairs of rhyming words from a series of three. They will listen and name the beginning and ending sounds in words. They will segment words by syllables and will blend them together. Students will also substitute and add phonemes to create new words: smallest- change small to tall, what is the word? (tallest)

1st Grade
Students will begin Unit 4 this week in Wilson Fundations. They will learn about the bonus letters f, l, & s. If a word has one vowel immediately followed by an f, l, or s at the end, that consonant is doubled. Such as puff, hill, and miss. The trick words for this week are you, we, and I. Students will continue to work on phonics skills as well as reading fluency and comprehension.

2nd Grade
Students will review their writing this week. They will choose one of their stories written thus far and will have an opportunity to revise and edit it using all the writing concepts they have learned up to this point. They will share their writing with their peers and will practice responding to their peers writing through prompts- I found out..... and I like your story because.... Students will use these prompts to help them stay focused within the writing process. Students will also think and talk about stories before they write. They will practice visualizing to get writing ideas, reread their writing and tell more, and they will check for sentence punctuation.

Week of November 6th - November 13th

2009-11-07T09:33:00.010-06:00

Kindergarten
Students will continue to work on phonics and phonemic awareness. They will identify beginning and ending sounds. They will associate letter names to the correct sounds. They will recognize rhyming words, segment compound words, and will manipulate words by changing parts of the word.

1st Grade
The trick words this week are as, his, and has. Students will continue to read and write words with the following digraphs: wh, ch, sh, th, and ck. They will practice tapping out individual sounds to spell words. They will read a story about a fish through shared and choral reading. They will have the opportunity to identify learned concepts throughout the text. Such as highlighting trick words, underlining digraphs, circling capital letters, etc.

2nd Grade

Students were inspired last week from listening to Harry and the Terrible Whatzit by Dick Gackenback. They brainstormed a list of scary words and began to write scary sentences. This week they will listen to The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything by Linda Williams. They will choose one of their sentences and will write their own scary story. They will be expected to include adjectives, capital letters, and proper punctuation. They are also expected to apply appropriate spelling skills. Students should refer to the word wall or their spelling dictionaries to spell high-frequency sight words. They should also approximate the spellings of unfamiliar words by sounding the words out.

Week of November 2nd - November 6th

2009-10-31T08:34:00.007-05:00

Kindergarten
The letters for this week are l and f. The popcorn word is like. Students will sing songs and poems to reinforce letter names and sounds. They will also continue recognizing and manipulating rhyming and compound words, as well as beginning and ending sounds.

1st Grade
The trick words for this week are is, he, and for. We will practice them with sky writing, tracing, chanting, and finding them in print. Students will use magnetic letter boards to find letters and create words while tapping out individual sounds. Students will be "dipraph detectives" looking for wh, ch, sh, th, and ck and will write sentences using words that have digraphs in them. Students will also engage in shared reading to practice fluency.

2nd Grade

This week students will hear and discuss good writing from the following books:

They will write sentences to generate writing ideas. They will then create their own silly stories. They will be working on capitalizing proper nouns and applying spelling skills and rules throughout their writing. Students will also be peer-sharing and will have the chance to give their peers feedback.

Week of October 26th - October 29th

2009-10-25T20:37:00.003-05:00

Kindergarten
Students are staying in their classroom this week and will be working on short vowels. My reading groups will meet again next week. The new Jolly Phonic letters for next week will be l & f. The new popcorn word will be- like.

1st Grade
Students completed the Unit 2 assessment in the Wilson Reading program. Unit 3 will last for three weeks and will focus on digraphs-letters that "stick together" such as wh, ch, sh, th, and ck. The following trick words will be taught throughout this unit: to, a, was, is, he, for, as, his, and has. We will continue to work on sentence dictation, segmenting, blending, and reading stories with fluency.

2nd Grade
Students did a nice job of writing stories about their friends. They are getting very good at adding adjectives to their writing and editing their writing. They are also becoming more comfortable with presenting their writing to their peers. This week, students will be staying in their classrooms for reading. Next weeks focus will be on writing silly stories, capitalizing proper nouns and approximating the spelling of unfamiliar words. At this point, students should be capitalizing the beginning of sentences as well as using proper end punctuation.

October 19 - October 23rd

2009-10-18T17:15:00.006-05:00

Kindergarten
Due to a field trip this week and an early dismissal, I will only meet with the Kindergarten students three times this week. They will be using the computer program Imagination Station and will continue to work on identifying letters and recognizing their sounds. Students should know the following letters s, a, t, i, p, c,k, h, m, d and the following popcorn words, I, am, at, & see.

1st Grade
We are on our second week of Unit 2. We are still working on the following concepts:

Blending and reading three-sound short vowel words
Segmenting and spelling three-sound short vowel words
Phonemic Awareness skills: sound manipulation (beginning, middle, and ending sounds)
Sentence dictation procedures: capitalization, period, word spacing
Sentence proofreading
Trick words: the, of, and

An assessment will be administered on Friday. This test will check student's understanding of letter-sounds, spelling three letter words (cvc), spelling trick words, and sounding out words to write sentences.

2nd Grade

Students did a great job writing descriptive stories about their costumes. This week students will continue to make lists to generate writing ideas and will continue to explore descriptive language. They will write stories about a friend, using proper sentence punctuation and will approximate the spelling of unfamiliar words. They will also be responsible for correctly spelling the trick words that have been added to our word wall.

Week of October 13th - October 16th

2009-10-10T22:27:00.003-05:00

Kindergarten

Students will learn about letters m and d this week. They will learn to spell and recognize the popcorn word- am. They will recognize rhyming words, compound words, and will isolate beginning and ending sounds. They will also review letter names and sounds learned thus far.

1st Grade
Students completed Unit 1 and did well on their first assessment. Unit 2 will last two weeks and will focus on the following concepts:

Blending and reading three-sound short vowel words
Segmenting and spelling three-sound short vowel words
Phonemic Awareness skills: sound manipulation (beginning, middle, and ending sounds)
Sentence dictation procedures: capitalization, period, word spacing
Sentence proofreading
Trick words: the, of, and

2nd Grade

Students did a great job last week adding sight and sound words to their writing. This concept will be expanded this week during Writing Workshop. Students will be expected to write a descriptive piece about a Halloween costume. They will be expected to write an interesting opening sentence, use adjectives, and write a closing sentence.

Week of October 5th - October 9th

2009-10-03T22:01:00.005-05:00

Kindergarten
Students will continue to participate in activities that promote phonemic awareness. We will continue to recite rhyming words, isolate beginning and ending sounds, and combine two small words to create compound words. We will continue to review letters s,a,t,i,p,n,ck,e and the following sight words-at, and I. Our new letters for this week are h & r. The new popcorn word is see. Students will also be engaged with I-Station this week, a data driven computer intervention.

1st Grade
Students have been progressing well with letter-keyword-sound relationships of letters introduced thus far. This week's focus will be on letters p, j, v, w, z, qu, y, x. I will review short vowel sounds and reinforce letter formation. A unit test will be administered on Friday. The students will be asked to place letters in alphabetical order and will need to identify and write letters to match their sounds.

2nd Grade
This week students will continue to hear and discuss good writing. They will listen to another story from Donald Crews and one from Cynthia Rylant to use as models for their own writing. They will make lists to generate writing ideas and they will write about something that happened to them. They will learn how to use descriptive language to enhance their writing and they will be asked to focus on capitalizing first letters of sentences and using ending punctuation.

Week of September 28th-October 2nd

2009-09-26T08:06:00.006-05:00

Kindergarten
We sang alphabet songs last week and used alphabet letter strips to learn letter names and sounds. This week I will continue to focus on alphabet recognition and sound awareness. I will begin using Michael Heggerty to focus on phonemic awareness. "Phonemic awareness is the understanding that spoken words are made up of individual sounds, which are called phonemes. A child who is phonemically aware is able to isolate sounds, blend, and segment the sounds into spoken and written words." Studies have shown that this awareness is one key to active reading.

1st Grade
Students did a great job participating in their first week of Wilson. Each unit lasts about 3 weeks, unit assessments are generally given on day five of the third week. The first unit focuses on letter-keyword-sound for consonants and short vowels, letter formation for lowercase letters a-z, alphabetical order, and sound recognition for consonants and short vowels. This week we will focus on the following letters: d, g, h, j, k, l, p, s,v, w, e, o & u.

2nd Grade
Students did a wonderful job participating in their first week of Being a Writer. They learned how drawing can be used to inspire writing and they worked together to write a shared story. Students also wrote about a place they like to go to. They had an opportunity to sit in the "Author Chair" and share their stories with their peers. Their finished work has been compiled into a book and placed in my library. This week students will learn about the author Donald Crews, they will learn "turn to you partner" to share ideas, they will draw sketches to generate ideas and they will write about their drawings.

Week of September 21- September 25th

2009-09-19T14:51:00.003-05:00

I want to thank parents and students for understanding my absence last week. Unfortunately, I was grieving the loss of my very special Gram. I am going to allow her spirit to give me strength to come back to teach my students how to become better readers.

Kindergarten RtI will begin on Wednesday of this week. I will be engaging Kdg. students with Michael Heggarty, a skill based intervention focusing on phonemic awareness.

I will become acquainted with my 1st and 2nd grade students as well. First grade students will be engaged in Wilson Fundations, a comprehensive skill based intervention focusing on letter knowledge, letter formation, decoding, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. Second grade students will be engaged in Being a Writer, a research based intervention which incorporates stories as a model for good writing.

Week of September 8th - September 11th

2009-09-07T08:31:00.004-05:00

We have finished administering Aims Web and Imagination Station assessments to all students. We have also finished administering ISEL's to kindergarten and second grade students as well as DRA's to first grade students. This week we will be utilizing all the data to help place students in appropriate leveled reading groups. We will also be working diligently this week on deciding which reading interventions will be used for each reading group.

August 31st - September 4th

2009-08-29T21:16:00.005-05:00

Welcome back parents and students! This past week was filled with excitement of starting a new school year. I have great expectations for a successful year! This week the RtI team will be administering the AIMS Web benchmark tests and creating reading plans and schedules. First and Second grade students will begin switching for reading on September 14th. Kindergarten students will begin on September 23rd.

June 1st - June 5th

2009-05-31T19:11:00.003-05:00

I can't believe the school year is coming to an end. Time sure does fly when you are having fun! I really enjoyed teaching your children this year. It has been extremely rewarding to witness their growth in Reading. Please continue to promote the joy of reading over the summer. Summer is definitely a time to have fun and explore outside but reading can not be forgotten. Print is all around us..have your child look for words around them. Encourage silent reading, partner reading, and enjoy a book together through a read-aloud. I wish good luck to the students going on to Prarieview and am looking forward to seeing the returning students at the end of August! Have a great summer filled with books!!! :)

Week of May 18th - May 22nd

2009-05-17T10:01:00.005-05:00

Monkey Monday....I am excited to be joining the Kindergartners on their field trip to the ZOO. We will read and write about animals this week.

I am proud of how hard all my students worked this year. This week we will review strategies learned and will brainstrom ideas on how to keep reading and learning over the summer!

Week of May 11th - May 15th

2009-05-11T08:19:00.002-05:00

Kindergarten
Students will continue to work on improving their phonemic awareness. They will rhyme, blend, segment, add/delete sounds in words, and they will identify final sounds. They will also participate in echo and choral reading of our poem of the week.

1st Grade
Students will use nonsense words to create rhymes. They will identify medial and final sounds. They will work with glued sounds, such as -ang, -ing, ong, ung, ank, ink, onk, and unk. They will practice with sight words and will practice strategies during shared reading.

2nd Grade
Students will continue to work with blends, ending sounds, and word families. The focus this week will be on long -i, spelled igh and ie. They will work on fluency through repeated readings and they will focus on summarizing and paying attention to detail while reading stories.

Week of May 4th - May 8th

2009-05-03T16:03:00.004-05:00

This week, myself and the RtI team will be administering the Aims Web Benchmarking Tests. These tests are mandated through the state and are administered three times a year. Kindergartners will be asked to complete three timed tests: Letter Naming, Letter Sounds, and Phonemic Segmentation. 1st Graders will be asked to complete two timed tests: Nonsense Word Fluency and Oral Reading. 2nd Graders will be asked to complete one timed test: Oral Reading Fluency.

Week of April 27th - May 1st

2009-04-25T23:08:00.006-05:00

Wow-less than 30 days left of school left! Time flies when you're having fun!

This week, I am going to continue working on the three foundational skills of reading:
1.)Phonemic awareness, or learning the individual sounds that constitute a language, for example, "buh" as the sound of "b".
2.)Phonics, or the letter-sound relationships available in the language.
3.)Exposure to the meaning of the written word by reading aloud to children as well as having children read independently.

All three of these parts are very important building blocks when teaching a child to read, as each piece is necessary to support the next. With phonemic awareness as the first building block, a child can begin to piece together words in books. Add a helpful person by their side and they will begin to ask questions, which lets you know that they are at the "phonics phase”. Now is the time to point out important clues, such as how letter sounds blend, how an "e" at the end of a word changes a vowel sound from short to long, or how some consonants have more than one sound. You can also show them upper and lower case letters. It is also important at this time to show your child the frequently used words, best learned by sight. Remember to keep reading to your child, to include exposure to meaning.

This week, I am including some helpful reading tips to incorporate at home:

1. Read aloud to your child from books, but also mail, instruction booklets, grocery lists, etc. (and don't stop even when your child can read independently!)
2. Take turns "drawing" a letter on each other's back with your fingers; guess what it is, tell them what sound it makes
3. Encourage hands-on play with magnetic letters and sponge letters in bath; sound out the nonsense words your child creates with them.
4. Show them how fun it is to trace letters with crayons or colored pencils.
5. Cut out letters from different types of paper; make some “ABC” craft projects.
6. Play word games like Hangman, Junior Scrabble, Boggle, ABC Bingo, word searches, or make up you own game asking them: "What begins with ‘buh?” or “What ends with ‘guh?"
7. Write a single letter on some Post-It notes and make it into a game having your child stick them on everything beginning with that letter.
8. Pick a "sight word of the day," then have your child call it out every time you find it in a story.
9. Leave fun engaging looking books around the house and car for your child to find and pick up.
10. Provide a quiet period when you both get you favorite book and go off to read alone.
11. Get cozy! Or make it an adventure for them. Read to them at night under a blanket with a flashlight, or read them an adventure story outside in a play tent.

Week of April 20th-April 24th

2009-04-19T17:44:00.003-05:00

Kindergarten

This week students will continue working with digraphs -sh, -ch, -th, and -wh. They will isolate beginning sounds and will segment individual sounds to form words. Students will listen to a read-aloud and will respond through writing, focusing on making connections.

1st Grade

"Dr. Seuss is on the Loose." This week students will be making their own books following Dr. Seuss's whimsical style of writing. They will develop rhyming sentences and will draw pictures to support their text.

2nd Grade

This week students will be engaged in Reading and Writing activities about butterflies, Earth Day, and the Rain Forest.

Week of April 13th - April 17th

2009-04-13T08:03:00.002-05:00

Kindergarten
Students will be introduced to digraphs -sh, -ch, and -th. They will identify rhyming words and they will isolate the beginning and ending digraphs in words. Students will blend individual sounds into words and will chop sounds from whole words. They will add sounds to rimes to make new words and they will substitute parts of words to create new words.

1st Grade
Students will complete cloze sentences using rhyming words. They will isolate beginning blends in words such as -pr, -st, -gl, -dr, -tr, -bl. Students will blend individual sounds into words and they will "punch out" the final sounds in words. They will also add sounds to parts of words to create new words.

2nd Grade
Students will be working on Expository writing this week. They will be writing three paragraph essays about a Rainforest animal of their choice. They have worked hard to research facts about their animals, now they are going to put the information together into a fluent writing piece. They will also be creating visual representations to support their writing.

Week of April 6th - April 10th

2009-04-05T14:53:00.005-05:00

I hope everyone had a nice, relaxing Spring Break!!!

This week students will practice reading "just right" books. They will continue to learn how to successfully choose and read appropriately leveled books. Before reading, students will complete a picture walk. We will use the pictures to predict what will take place throughout the story. During reading, students will practice decoding skills to help them become more fluent readers. After reading, students will discuss the book while working on comprehension strategies.

Week of March 23rd - March 27th

2009-03-22T09:40:00.002-05:00

I will continue to engage my students in phonics and sight word instruction.

Phonics instruction teaches children the relationships between the letters of written language and the individual sounds of spoken language. It teaches children to use these relationships to read and write words. The goal of phonics instruction is to help children learn and use the alphabetic principle--the understanding that there are systematic and predictable relationships between written letters and spoken sounds. Knowing these relationships will help children recognize familiar words accurately and automatically, and "decode" new words. In short, knowledge of the alphabetic principle contributes greatly to children's ability to read words both in isolation and in connected text.

Here is an example of some activities that will be implemented this week to help promote a strong knowledge of the alphabetic principle:

Students will segment (isolate sounds within a word), judge if two words start the same or end the same, remove a phoneme (smallest sound) from a word, count phonemes in a word, blend sounds together, sound/symbol identification, including knowing the letters by sight and by sound, and matching letters with the appropriate sounds and vice versa, and awareness of sound patterns in the language.

Learning sight words is also an important step in literacy. Readers need to recognize each word as quickly and effortlessly as possible so that they can pay attention to the more mentally demanding task of understanding what they are reading. Students will encounter sight words more frequently than any other words in print and, for this reason, they need to recognize them on sight, and need to read them without hesitation.

Some activities that will be implemented this week to practice sight words include word activities, magnetic letter activities, and writing activities such as "Mind Reader" and "Rainbow Writing."

Mind Reader: Students number their papers 1-5. They listen to clues and write a sight word on each line- hoping to read my mind to find the correct word from our word wall. "It has four letters, rhymes with __, starts with __, ends with __, etc.

Rainbow Writing: Student write a sight word, whispering the correct spelling of the word. Then they trace the word three times with different colored crayons. This creates a fun way to memorize trick words.

Week of March 16th - March 20th

2009-03-16T08:16:00.003-05:00

Kindergarten
Students will work with the following rimes: -ut, -ust, -ump, -unk, & ush. They will continue working with the short u vowel sound. They will blend individual sounds into words and they will segment words into individual sounds. Students will also substitute beginning sounds to form new words. Also, we will engage in a read aloud on "Friday Fun-day."

1st Grade
Students will listen to word endings to identify rhyming words. They will listen to words and will identify the final and/or middle sounds. They will review sight words and compound words. Students will also be introduced to the concept of baseword and suffix. Specifically this week, we will work on adding the suffix -s to basewords. The concept of plurals will also be introduced. We will engage in a read aloud on "Friday Fun-day."

2nd Grade
Students will identify final and medial sounds in words. They will add and delete sounds to form new words. They will work on identifying and spelling two syllable words ending in -le and -er. Students will learn about verbs and will practice adding proper verbs to their sentences during journal writing. They will also be engaged in a read aloud on "Friday Fun-day."

Week of March 9th - March 12th

2009-03-07T09:35:00.004-06:00

Bridging home and school is very important to me. I am looking forward to conferences this week!

Reminder

After School Reading Club will not meet this week. Classes will resume on Tuesday, March 10, 2009

I will continue to engage students in meaningful reading activities this week. Focus will continue to be on phonemic awareness, word recognition, and reading fluency. Students will be expected to focus on word families and vowel patterns. They will learn decoding strategies and will practice reading leveled books. While reading, students will track words with their fingers and practice various strategies: using context and picture clues to read an unknown word, look at word families or vowel patterns within words, and skip an unknown word to the end of the sentence then go back to the beginning to read it again.

Week of March 3rd- March 6th

2009-02-28T20:58:00.005-06:00

I am glad to be back in good health this week. Unfortunately, I was unable to complete my plans detailed in last week's blog due to being out sick. I will be engaging the students in read-alouds and "cooking up" "story pies." Please see last week's blog for a detailed explanation.

I will also be engaging the second graders in narrative writing. They were asked to bring in three items that are important in understanding who they are. We will explore these items and write personal narratives in a five paragraph essay.

Week of February 23rd - February 27th

2009-02-21T08:35:00.006-06:00

In addition to working on phonics this week, we will be engaging in read-alouds to focus on fluency and comprehension. Why are read-alouds important, you ask?? Well, let me share the reasons. Read alouds expose students to a positive reading role model, new information, the pleasures of reading, rich vocabulary, good grammar, a broader variety of books than they'd choose on their own, and richly textured lives outside their own experiences. At the same time students imaginations are stimulated, attention spans stretched, listening comprehension improved, emotional development nurtured, and the reading-writing connection established. Outside of all that, reading aloud doesn't do much. ;)

After reading, we will be "cooking up" a "story pie." Each student will get a slice of paper and a task to write and illustrate their "piece" of the story (the setting, the characters, the problem, etc.). As students retell their parts, the pie will be reassembled, taped together, and displayed.

Week of February 17th - February 20th

2009-02-13T13:06:00.008-06:00

Kindergarten
Students will continue to work with their "popcorn" words. They we continue to produce rhyming words within the following word families: -ill, -ick, -im, -ist, & -ish. This week's focus for beginning sounds is short vowel /i/. Students will blend individual sounds to form whole words and they will chop words into individual sounds.

First Grade

Students will continue to work with sight words and spelling words. They will continue to work with -l and -r blends, such as sl/cl/bl/gl & cr/dr/br/pr. Students will identify final and medial sounds. They will substitute, add, and delete sounds in words. They will transfer their knowledge of sounds in words by segmenting individual sounds and writing the corresponding letters to create words and sentences on paper or white boards.

Second Grade
Students are staying in their homeroom classes this week for Reading. They will be writing biographies on significant historians. I will be working with a small group of 2nd graders. We will be creating timelines demonstrating significant events in a specific historian's life.

Week of February 9th - February 13th

2009-02-06T11:44:00.004-06:00

Iowa tests are going to be administered this week so I will not be working with my reading groups. I will be analyzing our current interventions to assess the strengths and weaknesses of each. I will also be researching alternative interventions that may be utilized for next year.

The students at Elizabeth Ide are continuing to read "around the world." This month, we are "traveling" to New Dehli, India. Since tigers are natural inhabitants in India, students are encouraged to dress like a tiger or wear stripes to school on February 27, 2009.

Week of February 2nd - February 6th

2009-02-02T07:46:00.002-06:00

Kindergarten
Students will continue to work with word families to create rhyming words and they will listen for short /i/ at the beginning of words. Students will blend words saying individual sounds while sliding chips into Elkonin boxes. They will segment words by chopping it into individual sounds. Students will also add and delete sounds at the beginning of words to create new words.

First Grade
Students will create rhyming words specific to categories and word families. They will blend individual sounds and will chop the sounds into individual phonemes. Students will identify final sounds within a series of words, they will substitute, add, and delete sounds in words. Students will also work with -r blends this week: dr, fr, gr, pr, tr, br, & cr.

Second Grade
Students will continue to work with singular possessive nouns, base words, and noun endings. They will continue to write in their journals, trying to include words that have the nd, ng, or nk endings. Students will also listen to a read-aloud this week while focusing on comprehension, specifically cause/effect and questioning.

wWeek of January 26th - January 30th

2009-01-25T09:32:00.004-06:00

Kindergarten
This week students will work on identifying and reading sight words. They will list rhyming words; creating words that are in the following families: -ad, -ab, -am, -and, & -ast. They will be exposed to short -a words. Students will also listen and say individual sounds while sliding chips into Elkonin boxes. They will also have fun repeating words using a roller coaster action with their hands. This will help with becoming aware of vowel sounds in the middle of words.

First Grade
Students will identify sight words. They will segment and blend sounds as well as add and delete sounds in words. They will read words containing short and long vowels. They will also write and read long -o words.

Second Grade
Students will write in their journals and will edit their work focusing on proper writing conventions. They will create words containing digraphs: sh, th, wh, ch, & ck. Students will continue to work with prefixes and suffixes and learn how to break words apart by syllables to become fluent readers.

Week of January 20th - January 23rd

2009-01-18T00:21:00.005-06:00

The data from mid-year benchmarking has been analyzed and has been used to determine the best reading placements for individual students. This week, I will incorporate some community building activities to help some of the new reading groups feel comfortable working together. We will continue to manipulate words by segmenting, adding, and deleting sounds. We will enjoy shared reading and guided reading, while focusing on fluency and comprehension. As there never seems to be enough time in a day to practice essential skills, I have listed some strategies that can be incorporated at home to help your child become a successful reader.

Reading Tips for K-2 Parents
· Talk with your child. This helps develop language patterns and helps your child become comfortable with words.
· Encourage your child to tell you about something that happened. Talking helps your child connect words to experiences.
· Use magnetic letters and alphabet books to help teach the ABCs and how to spell your child’s name.
· Read to your child for 10-20 minutes a day. Stop when your child loses interest.
· When you read, read slowly and follow the words with your finger, left to right.
· Read with expression to help make the story come alive.
· Let your child say words or phrases from the story that repeat.
· Pretend to read by looking at the pictures and saying parts of the story from memory.
· Have your child try to guess what will happen next.
· Ask why a character may have done something in the story.
· Limit T.V. time and set aside time just for reading.
· Read on your own. By watching you read, your child will see that reading is a great way to gather information and that it's fun!

Week of January 12th - January 16th

2009-01-10T23:12:00.002-06:00

This week I will continue to work on the benchmark data and create new goals for students in the RTI program. I am also very excited to continue working with the first and second grade students this week in a small group setting. I will implement a phonemic awareness program, as well as reinforce concepts beinng learned within student's classrooms.

First Grade
Students will learn how to spell and read words with long a; they will become "detectives" to find words with vce (vowel consonant vowel) patterns and realize that that the "magic e" creates the vowel to say its name. Students will also practice identifying and reading words with digraphs- ch, wh, th, and sh. They will segment words into individual sounds and will add rimes to beginning sounds to form new words.

Second Grade
Students will review digraphs th, wh, sh, and ch. They will learn how to spell and read words with vowel pairs ai, ay, ow, ou, ee, and ea. Students will blend individual sounds together to form words. They will have fun with words by realizing that numerous words can be made by changing either the beginning, middle or ending sounds. They will also have opportunities to practice their writing skills through journal writing.

Week of January 5th - January 9th

2009-01-04T13:54:00.004-06:00

This week, I will be administering the Aims Web winter benchmark test to all students in grades K-2. This test will be one component used to assess academic progress. This test is part of the state mandated RTI program. The benchmark test is conducted three times a year-September, January, and May.

Week of December 15th - December 19th

2008-12-13T19:57:00.004-06:00

Kindergarten
This week students will work on rhyming, and identifying beginning, medial and ending sounds. They will also continue to work on language awareness through repeating and segmenting sentences. They will continue to notice language patterns through poetry and nursery rhymes.

First Grade
Students will continue to "give me 5" rhyming words following specific word family patterns. They will blend individual sounds together to form words and they will continue to work on identifying middle vowel sounds. Many students need extra practice distinguishing short vowel sounds in words, specifically determining the difference between /e/ and /a/. They will participate in a read-aloud on Thursday and they will reflect on the story in their journals.

Second Grade
Students will be staying in their classrooms this week, learning about Holidays Around the World. I am happy to share in this experience with Ms. Oliver's class. I will also be accompanying Ms. Beseth's class on Thursday while the students share their holiday spirits through caroling.

December 8th - December 12th

2008-12-07T20:35:00.003-06:00

Kindergarten
This week students will continue identifying letters and sounds. They will listen for rhyming words and will isolate beginning and ending sounds in words. Students will also segment sounds and will learn about words through nursery rhymes and poems.

First Grade
This week students will continue to practice identifying sight words. They will "give me 5"; offering rhyming words within specific word families. Students will blend individual sounds together to form words as well as chop words into individual sounds. They will also practice substituting, adding, and deleting sounds and syllables in words.

Second Grade
This week students will be "mind readers" while practicing sight words. They will be working with prefixes and suffixes as well as isolating and blending sounds together. Students will continue to improve their writing and comprehension by responding to read alouds in their journals.

Reminder For All Grades: Friday is Pajama Day! Our "Roadmap to Reading" incentive plan is off to a good start. We are reading our way to Manila, Philippines. In celebration of our reading achievements, we will be watching and reading Polar Express on Friday. Remind your children to wear pajamas and get ready to jump aboard!

November 24th & November 25th

2008-11-23T19:43:00.002-06:00

I am looking forward to working in Mrs. Amish's classroom on Monday. I will be giving a lesson about respect and understanding differences. We will be creating a class quilt. I enjoyed working in Mrs. Hull's and Ms. Tracy's classrooms last week. The students completed turkey projects, listened to a story about accepting differences, and also made class quilts.

Tuesday is dress like a Farmer Day. We will celebrate accomplishing our reading goals!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Week of November 17th-21st

2008-11-15T20:31:00.002-06:00

Kindergarten

This week my students will be engaged in numerous activities that promote letter and sound recognition. They will continue to identify rhyming words as well as beginning and ending sounds.

First Grade

We are going to read and learn about getting along with others. We are also going to read and write about thanksgiving. We are going to reflect on the things we are thankful for.

Second Grade

This week we are going to work on writing persuasive letters. We are going to learn how to write to a family member to convince them to agree to buying a new pet. We are going to go through the writing process from planning, to drafting, to revising, to publishing.

Week of November 10th - 14th

2008-11-08T15:14:00.004-06:00

Kindergarten
My students will identify letters by the sounds they make. They will identify rhyming words and they will become aware of changing words by adding or deleting beginning and ending sounds. They will also have an opportunity to listen to a book on Friday and "write" and draw their feelings about the story. Last Friday, they listened to I Went Walking by Sue Williams and wrote about what they saw when they went walking.

First Grade
My students will work on rhyming, onset fluency, blending, and identifying final and medial sounds. We will also work on our spelling words and sight words. On Friday, we will read a book and complete a journal assignment.

Second Grade
My students will learn about vowel teams and identify the sounds they make in words. They will continue to work with suffixes such as -ing, -ed, -es, -er, and -est. They will also continue to be "writers" while expressing their thoughts in their journals.

Some of my Second Grade students are "traveling" to the rainforest. We are integrating Science with Reading. We will be reading and researching about natural resources and discussing the importance of preserving our environment.

Week of November 3rd - November 7th

2008-10-31T14:19:00.009-05:00

"The more you read, the more things you will know.

The more that you learn, that more places you'll go."

-Dr. Seuss

Kindergarten

We will continue to practice our letters and sounds while having fun with words. Students will identify rhyming words, isolate beginning and ending sounds, and blend syllables in words. They will also continue to "turn up their brains" so they can add and delete parts of words to form new words.

At Home Tip of the Week: Write notes to your child. Not only will they have to read the message, but they will enjoy a note of encouragement from a parent.

First Grade

We will continue identifying final and medial sounds in words. Students will also identify rimes in words and will add beginning sounds to form new words. For example, if the rime is -oke, they can add j to make joke, etc. Students will also write this week and proofread their work to be sure that they included capital letters, finger space between words, ending marks, and propper spelling of word wall words.

At Home Tip of the Week: Identify common signs while walking the dog, going to the park, Taking a trip to the grocery store, etc. This simple game increases vocabulary.

Second Grade

We will continue to work on identifying parts of words and learning how to decode words to increase fluency. Students will practice strategies to help with comprehension and they will continue to write in their journals.

At Home Tip of the Week: Send your child a piece of mail. Each day parents receive envelopes from the postman that require a great deal of time to look over. Send your child a card or a short letter to encourage them to read.

Week of October 27th - October 31st

2008-10-26T11:53:00.003-05:00

Happy Halloween!!

Word study, fluency, comprehension strategies and writing instruction will continue this week. I will continue to help my students begin to read and become strategic users of literacy. My lessons this week will focus on allowing students to receive what they need while learning to read. It is important that children who are learning to read:

Enjoy reading even when texts are challenging.
Be successful even when texts are challenging.
Have opportunities to problem-solve while reading.
Read for meaning even when they must do some problem solving.
Learn strategies they can apply to their reading of other texts.
Use what they know to get what they don't know.
Talk about and respond to what they read.
Make connections between texts they have read and between their own knowledge and reading.

Please continue to read with your child every day and ask questions to promote understanding of the events that took place in the story.

Week of October 20th-October 24th

2008-10-18T23:19:00.003-05:00

Kindergarten
Students will continue to be engaged in activities that promote phonemic awareness. Students will work with the alphabet to become efficient in identifying letter names and sounds. They will separate words by syllables and identify rhyming words within a word set (hat, bat, ball). They will also continue to identify beginning and ending sounds in words.

First Grade
Students will be engaged in activities that promote phonemic awareness as well as word sorts to help discriminate spelling patterns within words. They will also complete activities that will teach and review short vowels.

Second Grade
Students will begin journaling this week to work on expressing their thoughts through written words. They will also complete word sorts to learn vowel patterns within words as well as be engaged in activities that promote phonemic awareness.

Game Night, Anyone?

Looking for something fun to do with your child? Scrabble Jr. is a great way to bring awareness to vowel patterns as they have fun creating words and adjusting just when someone uses the letter on the board that they were planning on using! This can not only help with reading, but writing, as well. Here are a few tips:
1. When playing, remind the child to sort their letters into two piles - vowels and consonants (anything that's not a vowel).
2. Encourage them to make longer words so that there are more options to play words.
3. You probably don't want to keep score so that they focus more on the vowel patterns instead of the value of specific letters. An alternative might be to give one point for each letter played. The Jr. Scrabble version does not have any points on the tiles.
4. Refer back to the list of possible vowel combinations (see word file below).
5. Have fun!

Attachment:

Long_Vowel_Patterns.doc

Week of October 14th- October 17th

2008-10-11T09:30:00.002-05:00

Kindergarten
Students will continue to focus on consonants; recognizing letters and being aware of the sounds letters make. They will be engaged in activities focused on identifying beginning and ending sounds, rhyming words, and compound words. They will also practice saying sentences with expression and will "walk it out" and/or "chop it out" to isolate each word within the sentence. I am looking forward to reading another book on "Friday Fun-day." Every Friday, the students have an opportunity to hear a fun book read aloud while practicing comprehension strategies, such as predicting, making connections, and asking questions.

First Grade
The first graders will be engaged in activities focused on isolating and blending syllables, identifying final and medial sounds, substituting parts of words to create new words, adding and deleting parts of words and reading sentences with expression. They will also continue to practice with sight words and short vowel sounds. We will read another book together on "Friday Fun-day" to practice comprehension strategies, such as predicting, inferring, visualizing, and making connections.

Second Grade
The second graders will continue to focus on manipulating speech sounds in words. They will segment words into syllables, substitute parts of words with new parts, add and delete phonemes, as well as separate sentences into individual words. They are learning how to decode new words as well as learning how to remember familiar words. They will also have opportunities to practice writing. This week we will focus on descriptive writing. I will continue to model fluent reading during a read-aloud on "Friday Fun-day." The students and I have been enjoying shared reading during this time. We read and discuss fun books while practicing comprehension strategies.

Week of October 6th-October 10th

2008-10-05T01:30:00.005-05:00

Kindergartners will be busy this week with rhyming words, letter recognition and letter sounds. The first grade students will continue to segment words, add and delete phonemes, read with expression, practice propper letter formations, and identify and spell words with short i. The second grade students will be busy with guided reading and manipulating letters and sounds to form new words.

Off to a Good Start!!

2008-09-26T12:38:00.003-05:00

Our first week of RtI went very well! The students seem to be excited about switching rooms and learning with different friends throughout the day. I am very happy to be working with many different students. We will continue to have fun with words! We are identifying rhyming words, isolating beginning and ending sounds of words, and blending and segmenting compound words. We are also practicing with different types of sentences, such as reading with "feeling" when we see an exclamation point. I will continue to use Michael Heggerty's Phonemic Awareness Program as well as Wilson Fundations Program to provide the skills needed to help each student succeed.

RtI Begins

2008-09-23T19:58:00.004-05:00

RtI has begun!! Our first two days of the RtI program went very well! Students are busy moving to different classrooms for Reading. They are receiving instruction directed to their specific academic needs. I will be working in Mrs. Krep's kindergarten classroom, Ms. Tracy's 1st grade classroom, and Mrs. Olsen's 2nd grade classroom. I will be focusing primarily on the Michael Heggerty program. The Michael Heggerty program focuses on phonics and phonemic awareness.

Week of 9/15/08

2008-09-15T20:38:00.014-05:00

Busy Bees

We are still buzzing around to prepare for the start of RtI on Monday, September 22nd. The RtI team has been working dilligently on the RtI schedules for kindergarten, first and second grades. Bzzzzzz,Bzzzzzzzz, I must get back to planning and preparing...only a few more days!

Response To Intervention

Center Cass School District #66 is in the process of implementing an Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) mandate, Response to Intervention (RtI). RtI is an array of procedures that can be used to determine if and how students respond to specific changes in instruction. RtI provides an improved process and structure for school teams in designing, implementing, and evaluating educational interventions.

Reading

2008-09-03T15:35:00.001-05:00

This week we have been administering the aimsweb test to the children in kindergarten, first, and second grade. We are still preparing for the beginning of the RTI program which will start Monday, September 22nd at Elizabeth Ide.

RtI

2008-09-03T08:39:00.001-05:00

Center Cass School District #66 is in the process of implementing an Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) mandate, Response to Intervention (RTI). RTI is an array of procedures that can be used to determine if and how students respond to specific changes in instruction. RTI provides an improved process and structure for school teams in designing, implementing, and evaluating educational interventions.