Christmas Break

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all the Jefferson Bears!

Please remember to read over the break! Even if it is only 15 minutes....Reading at home is important to continue building those skills and help students with their fluency!

I'd like to say congratulations to one of my 1st grade students, AmaiyahV. She has been dismissed from Title 1 reading services!!!
Amaiyah showed that with hard word and persistence she was able to move up to a 1st grade level!
She is now reading at a Level F, and according to Fountas and Pinnell that is right where you need to be for the middle of 1st grade!!
Way to go Amayiah!!!!

I'd also like to welcome a few new additions to my roster:
1st grade:
Adriana W.
Aviona E.
Aliyah W.
Steven S.
Lea R.
Kayne G.
Lukas R.
Alex D.

2nd Grade:
Murren F.
Carly S.
Iyana B.


Some of these students have also starts using Fountas and Pinnell's Leveled Literacy Intervention. They are using many strategies to read books on their level. Everyday we read, write, and practice word building strategies.

Keep up the good work Jefferson Bears!!!!!!!!

Connecting Learning Through Nonfiction Text

This week I wanted to give some of the students I work with a special surprise. I found out from their regular classroom teacher that they had been studying and comparing dogs to guinea pigs. I thought it would be a great learning experience for them to actually see, and touch a real live guinea pig.
The students were able to share their new learning's about guinea pigs, and I was able to share all the things I have learned over the years about guinea pigs.
This was great for the students because they are working on nonfiction writing as well.
I see it is a very powerful thing when students can connect their reading and new learning's to a real live event. Student asked wonderful detailed questions, and even shared some experiences with their pets.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is a time to spend with family and friends. It is important to remember all that we are thankful for.

Over Thanksgiving Break, Here is a list of great Thanksgiving Books that you and your children can read together:

1. The Thankful Book. By: Todd Parr
2. The Firefighter's Thanksgiving. By: Terry Widener
3. The Perfect Thanksgiving. By: JoAnn Adinolfi
4. Ankle Soup. By: Marueen Sullivan


Just because school is not in session, we can still enjoy wonderful books at home :)

Vowel Sounds

I have found a wonderful chart to help students practice vowels and vowel teams that will help them work on the sound itself, and the placement of the tongue and mouth. 

The vowel chart starts with a long e sound, that shows your mouth is the most closed. It moves down to the short o sounds where you mouth is the most open. The chart finishes at the top with the vowel team oo like you hear in school with your mouth moving back to being closed.

If you have any other questions about phonemic awareness, syllable types or the vowel sounds. Please visit this website:

http://elearndesign.org/modules/ocada301_norm1/23/24_2/35alias2.html

Student's Favorite Books in Title One

Many students come through my door and find new books that they enjoy. One particular book series that the students and I enjoy are the Danny Books.
The Danny books are written by Mia Coulton who shares her love for pets, combined with a reader's imagination. You can read all about Danny's adventures with Bee, his friend Abby, and Grandma Ruth.

 If you are unfamiliar with the Danny books, you can check out the author's website or Facebook page.
Website: http://www.maryruthbooks.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DannyFromMaryRuthBooks



Here are a few students reading these wonderful books:

Aiden B's favorite Danny Book is Super Danny because he dresses up like a super hero.

Brian R. just read a new Danny Book called Grandma Ruth's Garden.

Ortheis H. likes Danny's Rocket because Bee tries to take off and he lands on the ground.

Caden R. likes Five Danny Dogs because there are stuffed dogs in the book that pretend to be real dogs.

New Students!

I'd like to welcome a few new students to my roster!

These students are: 

Alyssa H.

Caden R.

Aamiyah V.

A few students have been released from my roster. With hard work and dedication these students have made wonderful gains and are ready to continue their reading progress in their classroom!

Congrats to:

Willie L.

Nicole W.

Keep up the good work Jefferson Bears!!!

Good Readers......

The National Reading Panel reports that for children to become good readers, they must be taught,

1. Phonemic Awareness Skills- the ability to manipulate the sounds that make up spoken language
2. Phonics Skills- the understanding that there are relationships between letters and sounds
3. The ability to read fluently with accuracy, speed, and expression.
4. To apply reading comprehension strategies to enhance understanding of what they read.

Dolch, Sight, Fry or High Frequency Words?

We've all heard these terms; dolch words, fry words, sight words, and high frequency words. But what is the difference?


Sight Words- are Anglo-Saxon in origin. Sight words require memorization because of their non-phonetic structure and high degree of usage in the English language. (i.e. come, said, two)


High Frequency Words- words are phonetic but have a high degree of frequency in the English language. High frequency words must be learned before any phonetically based series would teach the concept. (i.e. a, down, please, three).


Dolch Words- may have at least seven different versions. Some of the lists are restructured and should be learned at a certain grade level.


Fry Words- are the most common words in English, ranked in frequency order. The first 25 make up about a third of all printed material. The first 100 make up about half of all written material, and the first 300 make up about 65 percent of all written material.

Text Coding

Text coding is a great way to differentiate things for the diverse learners in your classroom. I discovered some great facts about text coding on the http://toolsfordifferentiation.pbworks.com/w/page/22360123/Text%20Coding website.

Post it notes work wonders for text coding! Students can then stick the notes in their books without having to write directly in the text! 

Parents: you can also encourage your readers to do this at home!!!! Have a discussion about the book and watch your reader blossom and really engage in the text!

What is text coding?

Text coding is a way for students to monitor their comprehension and apply fix-up strategies when their comprehension breaks down.
Text coding helps students to become active readers that are aware of their thinking as they read.  Text coding can also be useful for discussion about the reading.

Why Do It?

Proficient readers often have ways of marking or coding text they want to remember. Maybe they use a yellow highlighter, underline or box words, or put marks in the margins to flag questions or exclamations as they read. In school, however, students are often discouraged from making any marks in their books. In fact, the more challenging the material (like science or history textbooks), the less likely that kids will be allowed to use this effective tool for enhancing comprehension. However, Post-its may be the solution teachers need for students to annotate their texts.

Whether books or other materials can be marked up or not, it’s important for students to have a useful set of response codes. When addressing such tough text, students need to attack the page, penetrate the surface, and dig out the meaning with very active strategies. 

How Can You do it? 

You can select codes that fit your student needs/abilities. Select codes that reinforce the purpose of the reading. Although codes may vary for different types of reading assignments, try to consistently use a few that reinforce good reading habits. It can be helpful to introduce only two or 

three symbols at time until students become proficient in using them.

Here is an example of what text codes can look like in your classroom:

Symbol	Meaning
T-S	Text-to-self connection
T-T	Text-to-text connection
T-W	Text-to-world connection
V	Visualize or make a picture in my head
P	Predict
I	Infer (read between the lines)
2+2	Synthesize (put together)
!	Important
?	Question: I wonder; I don’t understand; or Puzzles me
+	New information (clarify)
X	I thought differently
=	Reminds me of…
ü	Confirms what I thought

How to Teach Text Coding?

You want to make sure first and foremost you are explicitly modeling this strategy for students. Introduce them to 1 or 2 codes at first. Have a group of students sit and listen to you read aloud, as you code your own text. The most effective thing you can do as a teacher is say everything out loud that you are thinking (think-aloud). Then do some guided practice where you work on coding a few pages together. Then you want to release your students to coding the rest of the text on their own. Bring your group back and discuss there findings. Ask a lot of open-ended questions like: Why did you think that? What evidence in the text gave you that idea?

If you have any questions about what text coding looks like, feel free to call or email me!

Importance of Sight Words

I often see students reading sight words incorrectly. Sight words are an important part of our reading and comprehension. Sight words help us build our fluency as readers.

What are sight words?
These are words that good readers know instantly upon looking at them without having to sound, or "figure them" out.

Why should we learn sight words?

There are two reasons why sight words are an important part of good reading. First, many of these words do not sound like their spelling would suggest, so trying to "sound them out" would be unproductive. Also, a good reader can't afford spending time dwelling on too many words, then you loose your speed and fluency that is needed to determine the author's message.


Did you know........?
The 100 most common words actually make up about 50% of the material we read! 

We can enable our students to greatly increase their reading efficiency when we teach them to read half or more of the words they encounter in a quick and automatic manner.

I found an excellent website that discusses the importance of sight words. It discusses the importance of sight words. You can find word lists, activities and games to practice at home using basic sight words.
http://www.pcboe.net/les/elderweb/sightwords.htm

Keep practicing those sight words at home Jefferson Bears!!! Keep up the good work with all the strategies you are using to become an excellent reader!!!!!

Jefferson Bears are working hard on their reading strategies!  One of the things we are working one is pointing to every word as we read, and getting our mouth ready to make the first sound we see.
Here is one of my students practicing sliding a finger under each word and getting her mouth ready for the first sound!

Good readers point to each word so they don't loose their spot while reading!!!

Also, we have been writing things that we have read in our books, or make up a sentence of our own! Here is a student writing about something she just read!

Show your parents at home these wonderful strategies! Keep up the good work Jefferson Bears! 

Getting Ready to Take a Test

Another great week for the Jefferson Bears!
I'd like to welcome another new student to my roster, Ortheis H. I'm so excited to be working with new students and getting to know what strategies they use to read!

Also, MAP testing is in full swing. This test is administered three times a year with an emphasis on student growth. Here are some helpful tips to get your child ready to take a test.
You can assist your child prepare for testing by doing the following: 

• Make sure your child gets a good night's sleep before a test, and make sure your child eats properly the day of a test.
• Maintain a pleasant home environment and avoid unnecessary conflicts. Try to make the morning of the test a pleasant one. Do not add to your child’s stress. 
• Make sure your child has taken any needed medication. 
•  Ensure that your child is present during testing (children generally perform better when taking tests in their groups rather than at a make-up time.
• Get your child to school on time the day of the test. 
• Wish your child good luck each morning of the test. Tell your child that he/she is special and that you believe in him/her! 
• Remind your child the test is important. Encourage him/her to do his/her best. 
• If your child is too ill to attend, please call the school office. 
• If the test is on a subject for which you can review (such as a spelling test), help your child go over the material. 
• Remind your child to listen carefully to the instructions from the teacher and to read the directions and each question carefully. 
• Explain to your child the importance of using time wisely. If your child gets stuck on a question, encourage him or her to make the best guess and move on. 
• Tell your child to attempt to answer all of the questions and not to leave any blank.
• Encourage your child to stay focused on the test, even if other students finish early. 
• If your child is disappointed after taking a test, reassure him or her that there will be plenty of opportunities to improve and succeed. 

Have a wonderful weekend!!!!!

First Week

The school year is off to a running start! I was so glad to meet so many new faces and have some of you come read with me! Many Jefferson Bears use some great reading strategies!

I'd like to welcome to my roster the following students:

1. Brandon V.

2. Elizabeth B.

3. Katelyn K.

4. Evan W.

5. Ortheis H.

6. Willie L.

7. Aiden B.

8. Nicole W.

9. Jessica S.

10. Matthew B.

11. Olivia V.

12. Brian R.

13. Jasmine O.B.

I'm excited to work with all these students and build upon those wonderful reading skills they have!

Welcome back Jefferson Bears! I'm so excited to start the school year with all of you! I'm excited to see some new faces as I am new to Jefferson. This will be my first year teaching in West Allis-West Milwaukee. I am excited to get to know all of you and work with you in reading!!!!