This week we have been focusing on learning more strategies to use when reading. Students are using pictures to help them figure out words and thinking about the pattern in the text. They are also asking themselves whether what they read makes sense and if not, checking the text more closely. They are learning that good readers read books to learn and to enjoy the story. If the words don't make sense and they can't understand what they read, they must go back, reread, and try a fix up strategy. They are also learning how to choose books from colored coded baskets that are organized based on level. These books may not be all just right readers and before choosing, they need to use the five finger rule to decide if that book is just right for them.
Our new sight word this week was was. This word really confused them as most kids were spelling it phonetically in their writing. We talked about how some words are trick words and they are not spelled easily by sounding out. For practice, we arm tapped this word, sky wrote it, used white boards, wikki sticks, gel boards, and rainbow wrote it for extra practice. Ask your child about the new game they played today called sparkle. This game was a fun interactive game used to review all the sight words we've practiced so far this year!
We have been continuing to read a number of Jan Brett Books. I'm dying to get my hands on The Three Snow Bears so if you have it, please send it in! We have used these books to practice a number of reading comprehension strategies such as making predictions, visualizing, and making connections. We have also been talking about different story elements including characters, setting, problem, and solution. Ask your child what pictures help them remember these big words! In addition we have been continuing to work on retelling stories and sequencing the events that happened.
