I had the opportunity to attend an RTI conference in Springfield last Monday and Tuesday.  It was a great opportunity to stay current and learn how to further enhance RTI within the Common Core Standards.  The remainder of the week was spent getting to know the students in my new push-in groups and intervention groups.  I am excited to be working in Mrs. Schlagbaums's Kdg room, Miss Tracy's & Mrs. Hull's First grade rooms and Mrs. Oliver's Second grade room. I will also be using the Leveled Literacy Intervention for 1st and 2nd grade Tier 3 Reading.  

Week of December 10th - 14th

Fuzzy Slipper Day- December 14th

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

Kindergarten

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

1st Grade Push-In

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

1st Grade LLI

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

2nd Grade Push-In

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

2nd Grade LLI

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

Week of December 3rd - 7th

Kindergarten

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

1st Grade Push-In

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

1st Grade LLI

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

2nd Grade Push-In

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

2nd Grade LLI

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

Week of October 22nd - 26th

Kindergarten

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

1st Grade Push-In

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

1st Grade LLI

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

2nd Grade Push-In

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

2nd Grade LLI

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

Week of October 1st- 5th

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

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

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

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

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

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

Week of September 17th - 21st

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

Week of September 10th - 14th

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

Week of September 4th - 7th

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

Week of December 12th- 16th

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

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

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

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

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

Happy Holidays!!

Week of November 28th - December 2nd

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

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

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

Week of November 14th - 18th

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

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

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

Week of October 31st - November 3rd

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

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

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

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

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

Happy Halloween!

Week of October 24th - October 28th

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

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

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

Week of October 17th - October 21st

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

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

Week of October 12th - 14th

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

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

Week of October 3rd - 7th

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

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

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

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

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

Week of September 26th - 30th

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

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

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

Week of September 19th - 23rd

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

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

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

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

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

Week of September 12th - 16th

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

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

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

Week of September 5th - 9th

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