Nightly Word/Sentence
Have your child choose a word (any word) to write and to draw in a box. It can be anything, a toy, an item from their room or something they learned at school. There is a box for each night of the week. You will want to do one box a night, so your child will not become overwhelmed. Please remember to have your child color their picture as well.
Have your child stretch out (say the word very slowly) the sounds they hear in the word. Ask your child, “What sound do you hear first?” and continue the same questioning for the other sounds. You can help your child with the sounds by saying it with them. As your child identifies the sound that they hear, have them write the letter on the bottom of the box. After a while you will want to let your child do more of the stretching the sounds on their own, so this can be a skill they can do independently. At first, your child may only hear the first sound or the first and last sounds. This is typical. As your child progresses in their reading and writing skills, they will begin to hear more sounds. Do not correct your child’s writing. This could discourage them and we want them to become independent writers. Instead you can “model” the word underneath theirs. You can say, “Wow! You did an excellent job spelling the word, cat! (example, ct) Now I want to show you how I spell cat. Next time you can try to spell it like me.” Do not allow them to go back and erase their writing. We want to see what they are writing.
As your child grows as a reader and writer, the nightly Word page will change into the Nightly Sentence. Your child will then select a sentence to write. You will follow the same directions as you did for the Nightly Word. Remember a capital at the beginning of the sentemce, spaces between each word and an end mark.
Take Home Books
Your child will have the opportunity to bring home some great books to keep at home and read over and over! A photocopied book will be sent home in your child’s folder every week or two.
Have your child read these books to you every night. This will allow your child to become a better reader and boost their confidence on becoming an independent reader! We will introduce book bags later (around second semester) for your child to borrow books from school and read at their level and return at the end of the week.
BOOK BAGS (2nd semester)
Each week your child will get to exchange 2 classroom leveled readers to borrow and read at home at their own individual level.
These book bags are to be returned each Friday along with the weekly homework.