Dear Parents,
Decades of internationally based research shows that students who read more read better. They develop more expansive vocabularies and achieve higher levels of reading and writing development. This is particularly true for students who have daily opportunities to read, year after year.
Daily time to read in school is not a frill or waste of classroom time; on the contrary, it is one of the best ways for your child to:
Learn new vocabulary and information.
Increase speed and fluency (that is, read smoothly and accurately).
- Improve comprehension.
- Notice authors’ writing styles (which in turn helps their own writing).
- Develop a greater interest in reading and learning.
- Develop a love of reading.
Therefore, a major part of our reading program will be daily quiet time during which students read books of their own choosing. During that time,
I will be monitoring your child’s reading development through individual reading conferences. Your child will also be expected to maintain a reading record and to read at home each evening. Our reading program will also include whole-class and small-group work.
Your child is expected to have a book at school every day, one he or she has selected from our classroom library, the school library, the public library, or your home library. Our main goals are for your child to enjoy reading for pleasure and information and to become a stronger, more flexible reader. Please join me in helping create an environment in which our children can enjoy books for a lifetime.
Reading for pleasure will help your child become a good reader. Help your child choose books he/she can read and wants to read, what we call “just right” books. This means that your child:
Is interested in the book.
- Can read and figure out almost all the words.
- Understands what he or she is reading (can tell you what the story is about or w hat he or she is learning).
- Can read fairly smoothly. If your child is stumbling over many words, he/she will not be able to focus on reading for understanding.
In helping your younger child select a “just-right” book, try the “five-finger” rule.” As your child reads, have him or her count on one hand any unknown words. If there are five or more different unknown words on a full page, this book is too hard for your child to read alone, although you may still want to read it aloud. Have older children or children w ho are already good readers read at least several pages before deciding whether a book is too hard. Sometimes, a book that may initially seem too hard is “just right” once the child has read enough for meaning to “kick in.”
If your child wants to read aloud to you, that’s great. However, it is not necessary for your child to read aloud to you every night. Once students are readers, they do most of their reading silently. Talk with your child about what he/she is reading, but don’t quiz him or her; keep your conversations relaxed and informal.
Be a reading model for your child. If possible, try to set aside time during which the whole family reads. Also, students read more w hen they have their own libraries. Create a shelf for your child’s books and give books as gifts on special occasions.
Thank you for working with me in encouraging your child to become a reader.
First Grade Daily Schedule
The activities that further the development of reading and writing are divided into four blocks. These blocks are: Guided Reading, Self-Selected Reading, Writing, and Working with Words – provide numerous and varied opportunities for all children to learn to read and write. We also practice handwriting daily during our Working with Words block.
Daily Schedule is as follows:
Morning Meeting: Prayer time, calendar time, jobs for the day, student of the week directs the morning meeting and states what the date is, and what the weather is like. Teacher then shares a book with the class and a discussion follows.
Working with Words Block – 60 minutes
Four blocks of 30 minutes each where activities are designed to help students achieve two critical goals: to read and write independently, children must learn to automatically recognize and spell high-frequency words, which occur in almost everything we read and write. They must also learn to look for patterns in words so that they can decode and spell the less frequent words they have not been taught. To accomplish these two goals, I depend on a daily word wall activity and a second activity designed to help the children become better decoders and spellers.
Math
Teacher will use the overhead projector as well as manipulatives in order for the students to learn mathematical concepts.
Guided Reading – 60 minutes
Some days we will do a shared reading in a big book. On other days, I will have them silent read and I will conference with them in small group as well as individually. We also will have partner reading. We will be reading from all genres. We will be working on reading fluency as well as reading comprehension.
Science or Social Studies
The students will work on computers, textbooks to learn about the world they live in, why things happen, and what it means to be a responsible citizen, in the classroom, at home, or at recess.
Religion
Students will have prayer partners, will actively participate in Mass, will write to a Seminarian, and will read and learn about their faith and how to love Jesus more deeply, as well as how to be the best person they can be by loving one another and being a good friend.
