Monday, October 5, 2009

Read-at-homes Going Home




Today is the start of our read-at-home program. Children will take home one book that is at their independent reading level. That means that your child will read accurately almost every word AND be able to retell the story with details such as setting, plot, and characters in sequence. Many times we say to "sound out the word" but that is not a very efficient strategy for beginning readers. As adults we know the rules for letter/sound chunks but our first graders are developing this skill. Instead of sounding out the words such as "have", "said", and "what" your child should try to think what makes sense with the beginning/ending sounds and the context of the sentence. Skipping the word and coming back to it when the sentence is finished is also a valid strategy. Pictures are valuable resources too. Watch the video I made for more strategies beyond "sounding out."



Books should return every day with the title and your initials on the record sheet provided.

Again I cannot emphasize enough that these books are not at your child's instructional level and will not be difficult to read, nor should they be for this piece of your child's intructional program.


Check out the resources provided on the website for more information about strategies and how to choose good books.






PS: check out Cherry Lane's Homepage... we are featured doing science with digital cameras.

Also on our homepage I have posted the rotating schedule and revised specials schedule. We will be doing book exchange at the library on D days and not B days.

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