Our reading group book this week was titled, Birds, by Bruce Larkin.  We focused on the sight words this and is throughout the book.  The students were also introduced to the reading strategy, looking for a small word in a big word (i.e. is in this).  After reading the book all week, we created our own sentences and designed an illustration to match.  The students also put into practice their new knowledge of creating an interesting illustration by adding details.  They did a GREAT job!

We became authors and illustrators today during small groups.  The students came up with a sentence and illustration that they would add to I Jump (our reading group book  for the week) if we were the authors and illustrators.  The students learned that the text must match the illustration and that the dot at the end of each sentence is called a period!

Reading groups began in K Prep today!  Our very first sight words were introduced and we practiced reading them in our very first reader…I Jump by Bruce Larkin.  We will continue reading these books for the remainder of the week and practice recognizing our first sight words of the year.  New sight words are introduced every Monday/Tuesday.  Don’t forget, if you miss a day in K Prep, you miss a lot!

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Before your child begins to read, he/she is learning about the way letters and sounds work together to form words. Phonemic awareness and phonics are the first steps a child makes in their journey to becoming readers.  By listening to and playing around with the sounds in language, your child is building an important foundation for reading. These playful processes are a part of phonemic awareness, which research has found to be the best predictor of reading success in young children.

If your child has phonemic awareness, he or she understands that words are made up of sounds (phonemes) and that those sounds can be grouped together, moved, and changed. Throughout the day there are many opportunities to point out words that begin or end with the same sound. Just making your child aware of sounds in words is one of the first steps in reading.  Click on the first picture below for an online game called Dog’s Letter Pit that your child can play to practice building phonemic awareness.  Have fun!

What color is the Recycling Bin?

We have been working on learning to read the color words during the month of April and it continues this week…earth day style!  What Color is YOUR recycle bin?

This month we have been reading and reenacting…

“We’re Going on a Bear Hunt”

We’re going to catch a big one!

What a beautiful day!

We’re not scared!

To watch the Bear Hunt video visit http://www.schooltube.com/video/cf2fb859b65bb6660cdf/

We’ve been focusing on the sight word you, this week, during our guided reading groups.  We built the sight word on each page to complete the sentences, read the text to identify any unknown words using the basic reading strategies we’ve been learning this year, and reread the text to practice fluency.

Strengthening fine motor muscles in the hands is essential for successful writing.  Coloring small pictures with a focus on moving your hands/fingers slowly to stay inside the lines helps improve hand strength and dexterity of children.  An easy way to encourage fine motor development at home or just about anywhere!

We have been working on a more difficult book during reading groups this week.  It contains our previous sight words: is ~ can along with our new word~we.  Most pages contain multiple sentences which is requiring the students to pay close attention to each and every word that they are reading as they track the words with their finger.  This book also contains missing words that the children added by listening to the sounds in the word.  They’re working hard as we continue our journey to becoming readers!