Frequently Asked Questions: This page contains answers to common questions
of students and parents.
- Will my son or daughter have homework from his Title I teacher?
- I recently heard of the DIBELS testing in school. What exactly is it?
- Third and fifth grade students take the PSSA. What does PSSA stand for?
- What can I do at home to help my child with fluency?
- How can I help my child with phonics?
Will my son or daughter have homework from his Title I teacher?
Generally no since work is usually completed in class. We
strongly suggest
your child concentrate on homeroom assignments, taking handouts
home, and
engaging as frequently as possible in recreational reading.
I recently heard of the DIBELS testing in school. What exactly is it?
DIBELS is an acronym for Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early
Literacy Skills.
The test is given individually to all children in grades
kindergarten
through third three times a school year.
Third and fifth grade students take the PSSA. What does PSSA stand for?
PSSA stands for Pennsylvania State System of Assessment.
Students in those
grades are tested in both reading and math. The results in any
school
district can be compared with students across the commonwealth.
What can I do at home to help my child with fluency?
Reading aloud to your child is very beneficial to their progress,
and allows
the child to hear how the reading should sound. Repeated
readings of a
familiar text will help with fluency and expression. Remember to
emphasize
the importance of punctuation ques while reading. Point out
quotation marks,
exclamation marks, and question marks and talk about how that
part of the
reading should sound. When children read decodable text, a little
below their
reading level, they can focus on their fluency and expression
rather than
figuring out difficult words.
How can I help my child with phonics?
When your child gets to a word he/she does not know, give them a
chance to
figure it out. Some guiding questions might be; "Do you know any
parts of the
word?", "How do these letters sound together?" "What does this
ending
say?", "Now try and blend it all together." Dividing the word
into more
managable parts to sound out and blend together makes figuring
out a word
easier. Children need to be given the time to apply strategies
that work for
them when figuring out a word.