HOMEWORK

Please read with your child every night! The guided reading books in their book bags may be read again and again! This helps with fluency. If you would like new books, just let me know!

At Home help

Helping your child at home...
​Above all else, reading every day is extremely valuable to a child's literacy development. I highly encourage you to make reading at least 15 mins. part of your daily routine! 

3 Ways to Read a Book
Read the pictures- this is a VERY important strategy for beginning readers.  Pictures hold meaning and allow even emergent readers to make sense of the story.
Read the words
Retell the story- Retelling builds comprehension 

Solidify Letter/Sound Knowledge
Identify letters in the alphabet in both upper and lowercase
Practice with letter sounds on home-made flash cards. Have your child say the letter, sound and a word that starts with that sound. Ex. A /a/ apple
Look for specific letters while driving in the car, reading a book, etc. 
Have them find an item in the house that starts with the ___ sound.
Ask them to tell you what the first sound in any given word is and then which letter makes that sound.
Write letters in shaving cream, salt...anything!
Encourage your child to sing letter songs we sing at school... 
Blending- Ask your child to tell you what word they hear when you tell them the isolated sounds in the word /c/ /a/ /t/
Segmenting- Ask your child to tell you the sounds they hear in a predictable word (cat)
Place sounds in front of word families such as -an, -in, -et to make new words.   

Rhyming  
Play rhyming games  
"Can you think of a word that rhymes with____." 
Have your child predict what the rhyming words may be in familiar books. 
Say a predictable rhyme in a favorite book, song, poem etc. that is familiar, leaving the rhyming word out.  Have your student fill in the blank.

Counting, Patterns, and Shapes  
Encourage your child to count to his/her ability.  Begin by counting and creating sets to 10, then 20, and oral counting to 100.
Have your child identify, create, and extend patterns ( AB, AAB, ABC, etc.) 
Identify and compare/contrast characteristics of common shapes. 
Count objects and have your student tell you how many more/less they need to make a given number. 
Have your student put numbers together for the total.
Say a number and have them write the number. (to 20)
Ask your student to tell you what number is __ less or __ more than that number. 
Practice writing numerals

Writing
Encourage your child to write as much a possible (lists, thank you cards, invitations, etc.) even letter strings! 
Practice writing name legibly along with other letters of the alphabet & sight words!
Keep a journal at home and encourage your child to write about special events, activities, or outings you participate in. 
Phonetic spelling, outside of sight words, is encouraged. Spelling tests will come in first grade but students are encouraged to write the sounds they hear in words during kindergarten. 
Practice sentence structure. Are they placing words in the right order? 
Have your child create a written response to a book they've read.  What did it remind them of? What was their favorite part? Make up a new ending, character etc. and describe/share it!!
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