Literacy

In Reading,  students will continue to read their decodable and non-decodable books by selecting 5, including at least one non-fiction text, on a weekly basis. Students are expected to read these daily at school as well as at home with you. The decodable books, in the red folder, are those that reinforce the sounds students have been learning in class and are to be read for the purpose of increasing decoding skills. The other books are read to/with books for you to enjoy with your child. These books are for the students to increase their comprehension skills. You may like ask your child question such as: What do you think this book is about? What do you think will happen next? How do you think the character feels and why? Can you make a connection to the book? Does this book remind you of another book?  What happened in the story? 

Your praise and encouragement as your child’s reading develops is invaluable. Read nightly where possible and remember families can read these books to and with their child as they develop their reading. Student reading bags needs to be returned to school every day so that students can continue to develop their reading skills. They will also have a reading diary where families can record each day the books their child is reading and write any comments. 

Daily paired fluency reading is a daily component of our reading block where students read aloud to a partner. During this time, we will be focusing on reading a decodable text aloud at a reasonable pace, grouping words into meaningful phrases, using punctuation cues, some intonation and expression and reading accurately at an efficient pace without overt sounding and blending.

A key component of daily reading at school involves Phonological Awareness., that is working with sounds in spoken language. This term we will be focusing on counting syllables in words, rhyme identification/production and blending/segmenting sounds in spoken language.  These skills could be reinforced at home by playing oral games such as I Spy with my Little Eye with the Sound...., asking "What rhymes with cat?' "Does dog and cat rhyme?' 

During Shared Reading, the teachers will read rich fiction and non-fiction texts to enrich students' vocabulary and to build comprehension skills. We will be focusing on continuing to build on the comprehension strategies of predicting and making connections to texts.

Ask your child what their reading goal is and what they need to practise to become an even better reader. All students will receive a personal reading goal over the duration of the term.

In Writing,  students will be given daily opportunities to write with lots of modelling by the teacher. Students will have choice over their own topics, paper, and materials. They will rehearse a message and plan with a partner before beginning their writing. 

An enormous challenge in writing is thinking of a writing idea. At home, it would be wonderful if families could discuss what your child could write about in class the following day. We get inspiration from lots of different places and reminding your child of things they have seen or places they have been. Toys, pets or nature are great for writing ideas.

Handwriting will continue to be a focus and students will have daily practise of correct pencil grip, starting points of letters as well as line positioning on both whiteboards as well as in their handwriting books.