Reading Center News
Dr. Mary Klinger March 15, 2017
Special Event -Phonics Dance!
Students in Grades 1-3 are encouraged to attend the Lower Dauphin Technology Fair on May 4th at the Lower Dauphin High School. The children will be performing the Phonics Dance Hunks and Chunks at our booth in the gym from 11:00-11:30! I will wait for students at the front door near the office from 11:40-11:50 in case you prefer to drop your child off. Otherwise, please come right to our booth in the gym.
We have been practicing for months! Be sure to check out the Phonics Dance videos at these websites.
Phonics Dance Alphabet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVs-EKfxBw4
Phonics Dance Hunks and Chunks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMpD2INLHIc
Class Dojo
I hope you have been enjoying the stories and pictures on Class Dojo! If you have not connected to Class Dojo, please send your email address, and I will send you a new invitation. The students LOVE earning points and seeing themselves in action!
Reading Eggs
Remember that your Reading Center student in 1st and 2nd grade has access to the outstanding Reading Eggs website again this year. This site allows each student to progress at their own level. Log in information has been taped to child’s reading folder. Please encourage your child to work on this website at home. I have seen several 1st and 2nd grade students make remarkable progress in reading because of this website. PS - This rwork can count as reading minutes!!
Reading Homework
Please encourage your child to complete his or her daily reading homework. First and Second Grade students earn prizes when they reach their reading goals. Students in Grades 3-5 are to read for their classroom teacher, and complete Reading Center homework, which is usually due on Tuesdays. These pages are carefully chosen to reinforce our learning.
Great websites for Reading:
http://www.abcya.com/
https://www.education.com/games/ela/reading/
https://www.funbrain.com/
http://www.bookadventure.com/Home.aspx
https://www.highlightskids.com/
http://www.jumpstart.com/parents/games/reading-games
http://www.poetry4kids.com/index.php
http://pbskids.org/games/reading/
http://www.prefixsuffix.com/
http://www.readworks.org/
http://www.starfall.com/
https://www.vocabulary.com/
https://worditout.com/
The annual Title I Event will be held on Thursday, May 4th, at Nye Elementary. Bring the whole family for free pizza, prizes, and fun. Artist Kathy Miller will be presenting!
Root Words & Affixes
Grade 3-4 reading students have been working with prefixes and suffixes. Grade 5 students are also learning root words. Please help your child remember these important word parts by reviewing the lists they are keeping in their reading folders. Within a week or two, all students in these grades will have a final test to measure their progress.
Why are we studying word analysis? First, most students in 3rd – 5th grade are developing an understanding of the foundations of phonics and blending letter sounds, including sounds of vowel combinations (e.g. – Phonics Dance Hunks and Chunks).
The next stumbling blocks occur in two areas – breaking words into syllables and recognizing the meaningful units of prefixes, suffixes, and root words. When students know the meaning of word parts, they can easily tackle much more challenging words. These words are especially prominent in science, math, and social studies texts. My intention is to give students a “leg up” for all future reading.
Secondly, our studies with word analysis require students to read sets of multi-syllabic words. This provides the important step of breaking words into syllables. In this year’s iReady scores, most reading students showed low levels of vocabulary knowledge. This deficit obviously affects reading fluency, reading comprehension, and ability to answer questions about texts. This word analysis work addresses our first goal.