Reading and Spelling

 

 Spelling and Reading vocabulary words will come home on Mondays. Your child

will be tested on all words on Fridays unless otherwise designated due to

holidays. Please refer to the following tips to help your child to be

successful with both spelling and reading.

 

Spelling Words

1. Spelling words will come home on Mondays, or the first day of the school

week. You will find the word list and homework board in your child's BEE in

the spelling side of the homework folder. With the help of an adult, your

child should choose at least 3 assignments from the homework board.

 

2.  Your child is responsible for completing the homework assignments

GRADUALLY throughout the entire week.   Please DO NOT allow your child to

complete all of the assignments in one night. Your child will NOT learn to

spell the words if all of the homework and practice is completed in one night.

 

3. If your child is having difficulty mastering the spelling words,

additional practice will be necessary. If the assigned spelling homework

does not seem to be enough practice, please have your child write the

spelling words extra times Writing the words repeatedly is the best way to

practice. Remember to use creative materials such as shaving cream, fun

paper, or gel pens to make the spelling practice time exciting for your child.

 

4. All homework must be completed neatly in pencil on clean paper. I will

do my best to supply your child with necessary paper at the beginning of each

week. If you find that you are in need of paper, please send a note to

school with your child and I will be happy to supply paper. If an artistic

spelling project is assigned, your child's work should include good detail

and color.

 

5. All spelling homework should come back to school in your child's BEE on

Friday.

 

6. Spelling tests will always be administered on Fridays, unless otherwise

noted due to holidays. Your child WILL be required to take the spelling test

as long as he/she received the words on a Monday or Tuesday.

 

Reading/Vocabulary Words

 

1. Vocabulary words will also be listed on your child's weekly word list,

which will come home on Mondays in your child's BEE.

 

2. These words are sight words, which means that most of them cannot

be "sounded out" as they contain irregular phonics sounds. Therefore, the

only way for your child to learn them is to read them enough times to

memorize them.

 

3. Your child should practice reading the words as much as possible

throughout the entire week. It is extremely important that your child spend

several minutes reviewing the words EVERY DAY!!!

 

4. Your child will read the words aloud to a teacher or classroom aide on

Fridays. In order to receive credit for each word, your child will need to

recognize the word automatically without hesitation. Also included on the

list of words to read on Fridays, you will see phonetically decodable words

that your child should be able to read based on his/her acquired phonics

skills. After several weeks of school, the words will be within sentences for

your child to read.

 

 

5. As your child completes each week, please save the word lists as we will

have periodic unit tests. At that time, your child will be required to read

all of the words from the most recent 4-6 weeks. Notes will come home in

advance to let you know when you should start thinking about upcoming unit

tests.

 

6. Your child will also receive credit for time spent reading. After

reading with your child for at least 15 minutes each night, please sign the

bottom of your child's spelling homework board. Your child will receive

credit for each reading signature when the homework board returns to school

on Friday. Remember that it is important for your child to practice both

reading and listening. Take turns reading to each other!

 

7. Decodable readers, or short stories appropriate for your child's reading

level, will come home periodically throughout the week. You will find these

copied stories in your child's BEE. Your child should practice reading these

stories aloud to as many people as possible. Any time spent reading

decodable readers may be counted towards daily reading signatures on your

child's homework board.

 

I know that this seems like a lot at first! Please know that these are all

necessary steps in helping your child to be a more advanced and successful

reader! Feel free to send me a note or e-mail with any questions. Happy

practicing!

 

 Reading and Writing take up a great majority of our day in first grade! We

have been busy practicing our phonemic awareness skills. The children are

learning to blend sounds into words. They are also learning to segment the

separate sounds found in words to decode unknown words. All children should

now be comfortable with one syllable short a words (as in “cat, nap, bag”). 

 

Short a is also our spelling pattern for the first week! Please remember

that spelling homework will not be collected until Friday. Even though it is

not due until Friday, it is important that you help your child to “ration out”

his/her spelling homework throughout the week. This will ensure that your

child is genuinely learning the words, rather than merely cramming for the

test on Thursday night. You may keep your child’s spelling homework in

his/her BEE until Friday if that helps you to keep track of it. If it seems

as though your child is struggling with his/her spelling words, please send

me a note or an e-mail. I appreciate feedback about what is happening with

homework so that I can better adjust my instruction here at school.

 

We have been reading a lot of wonderful stories in first grade! Your child

has learned to recognize the important parts of a story to include: setting,

characters, problem, and main character’s wish. When we read a new story at

school, we take a “picture walk” first to make predictions about what might

happen in the story. We then stop throughout our reading to check if our

predictions were correct, and to summarize what has happened thus far in the

story. Please help your child to do this at home. The more practice he/she

receives with comprehension skills, the better a reader your child will

become!

 

Please note that “Decodable Readers,” or short stories, will come home in

your child’s BEE several times throughout each week. Please keep these

stories in your child’s reading treasure box so that you can refer to them

throughout the school year. Please help your child to keep track of time

spent reading so that he/she can receive credit at school.