Reading:
1. After your child reads for 15-20 minutes each night have him/her retell
what was read. This is a great way to help your first grader improve
comprehension. Emphasize that s/he retell the story using as many details
as s/he can remember. Also, discuss how important it is to retell the
events in sequence. If your child is reading longer text try breaking the
story up into pieces (beginning, middle, and end) � this would also be great
for shorter stories. Have him/her divide a piece of paper into three
columns, labeling each with beginning, middle, and end. After your child
has read the beginning of the story have her/him retell that part in the
first column. Then discuss all of the details that s/he remembered and make
sure they are in sequence. Try this with the middle and ending as well.
2. After your child selects a story to read for the night, please have
him/her read the story at least two times. The more times a story is read
the less the student has to focus on decoding each word and can devote
his/her energy to expression and comprehension. This really improves
confidence and helps the student feel like a successful reader.
3. There are many helpful reading strategies that we have worked on in
class this year. I am expecting your child to be utilizing them as s/he
reads. These are a few things that s/he should try before you help him/her
with the word:
1. Saying the beginning sound
2. Breaking the word apart by looking for word chunks that they are
familiar with (oo, er, ir, or, th, sh, ch, etc.)
3. Looking at the picture
4. Sounding it out (s-a-t)
5. Reading on and then going back to the word once they are finished with
the sentence (context clues)
6. Trying to say the word and then thinking about if it makes sense in the
sentence
Writing:
1. At this point in the school year, I am expecting consistency both with
capitalization and punctuation. As your child writes at home this should be
emphasized.
2. As spelling words are covered in class, I also expect them to be
consistently applied in all areas of writing (i.e., dictation, spelling,
journal writing, story writing, and any other daily writing activities).
Math:
1. Continue working with your child on all addition and subtraction facts
that we have covered this year. The foundation we are building will
definitely help your child be successful in the future. I have included
some useful math websites under helpful links on the class website. I
encourage you to check them out. If you are in need of a few ideas to help
make math facts practice fun, check out the helpful links section on the
website.
2. Look at the list of facts to be studied for the week. Cross out the
ones your child can already answer automatically.
3. Repeat the facts in as many voices as possible. Shout it, sing it, say
it in a whisper voice, go up the scale or down the scale, and so on. Use
your imagination! How would a fish say 11 -7 = 4? Repeat the facts in the
bathtub, in the car, while doing chores.
4. Practice counting backwards quickly! Then, when your child sees 12-6,
he/she should be able to say "11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6" and come up with the
correct answer.
5. Tie what your child knows about addition facts to help learn subtraction
facts. For example, if your child is learning 11-2 = ___ : ask, "What
number plus 2 = 11?"
6. To help with general addition facts, play plenty of games that require
two dice!
Another game to play is:
Playing Card Addition
Materials: 4 cards each of 1 through 9
2 to 4 players
How to play:
a. One player turns the first 9 cards from the deck face down and arranges
them in 3 rows of three cards each. The remaining cards are kept in a pile
near the playing area.
b. Players decide who will play first by picking a card. The highest
number goes first.
c. The players take turns turning over two cards and finding the sum. When
a player succeeds with the correct sum he keeps the cards and fills in the
empty spaces with cards from the pile. He turns over two more cards and
play continues.
d. If an error is made, the next player gives the correct sum.
e. The game ends when all of the cards have been used. All players are
winners because they have learned how to add better!
7. Make flashcards for each of the facts; put the fact on one side and the
answer on the back. Show the card, have your child say the answer and then
you show the answer.
8. Let your child practice typing the problems into a calculator!
9. Feel free to give a practice test at home each evening and stress to
your child that speed is important.
10. Be creative and use whatever works best with your child!
SPELLING HINTS
Please help your child get into a routine for studying Spelling words each
night. Remember that the study time needs to be for a short time(10
minutes). You can practice in the car on the way to soccer practice or the
grocery store!
To help your child study, you may want to use these tips:
1. Practice spelling the words aloud.
2. Practice writing the words on paper. The words need to be written in
lower case letters unless the word requires a capital letter.
3. Practice writing the words in salt, sand, bubbles in the bathtub, any
fun type material!
4. Use magnetic letters on the refrigerator to practice spelling the words.
5. Play "Spelling Scramble":
On a piece of paper, rearrange the letters in each word and see if your
child knows the word.
For example: "tca" is cat
6. Play "Word Puzzle":
Write the word in large letters on paper. Cut apart the letters, mix them
up, then have your child arrange them correctly to spell the word.
7. On Thursday night, give your child a practice spelling test.
8. As a challenge, have your child write a sentence containing some of the
spelling words that you dictate.
Thank you for your help! Good luck!
MATH FACTS STUDY TIPS
1. Look at the list of facts to be studied for the week. Cross out the
ones your child can already answer automatically.
2. Repeat the facts in as many voices as possible. Shout it, sing it, say
it in a whisper voice, go up the scale or down the scale, and so on.
Use your imagination! How would a fish say 11 -7 = 4? Repeat the facts
in the bathtub, in the car, while doing chores.
3. Practice counting backwards quickly! Then, when your child sees 12-6,
he/she should be able to say "11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6" and come up with the
correct answer.
4. Tie what your child knows about addition facts to help learn subtraction
facts. For example, if your child is learning 11-2 = ___ : ask, "What
number plus 2 = 11?"
5. To help with general addition facts, play plenty of games that require
two dice!
Another game to play is:
Playing Card Addition
Materials: 4 cards each of 1 through 9
2 to 4 players
How to play:
a. One player turns the first 9 cards from the deck face down and arranges
them in 3 rows of three cards each. The remaining cards are kept in a
pile near the playing area.
b. Players decide who will play first by picking a card. The highest
number goes first.
c. The players take turns turning over two cards and finding the sum. When
a player succeeds with the correct sum he keeps the cards and fills in
the empty spaces with cards from the pile. He turns over two more cards
and play continues.
d. If an error is made, the next player gives the correct sum.
e. The game ends when all of the cards have been used. All players are
winners because they have learned how to add better!
6. Play math games on the computer! Math Blaster is one program that
covers math facts. Don�t forget about this website that can be used for
practice:
www.aaamath.com
7. Make flashcards for each of the facts; put the fact on one side and the
answer on the back. Show the card, have your child say the answer and
then you show the answer.
8. Let your child practice typing the problems into a calculator!
9. Feel free to give a practice test at home each evening and stress to your
child that speed is important.
10. Be creative and use whatever works best with your child!
GOOD LUCK!