Thursday, October 2, 2014

Raz-Kids

 

Your child is coming home today with information regarding a wonderful online reading program called Raz-Kids to which our school subscribes. Please take advantage of this great opportunity to encourage independent reading at home! Your child has a special picture password, shown on the form sent home, that he will need to use to log in. Please encourage proper use of this program to get the most benefit. Your child should not simply try to 'zip through' the levels in order to get points; rather, he should work at a pace that encourages thinking and use of the various reading strategies we have learned in class. You can help with this by listening to him read, and even encouraging him to record his reading through the program! If he gets stuck on a word, please give him time to work on figuring it out on his own before providing it. My suggestion is to time yourself. I have learned through experience that ten seconds can seem like a very long time when waiting, but allowing your child that thinking time will help him develop into a stronger reader who is able to strategize and form conclusions on his own. 

When listening to your child read you can use the language we use in class. Thus far we have learned these reading strategies:

Stretchy Snake:  Saying each sound in a word and then putting them back together
Owl Eyes:  Looking closely at the picture for clues
Lips the Fish:  Getting your lips ready to make the sound of the first letter in the word
Touch Each Word:  Just as it's stated, touching each word as you read
Making Connections:  Finding connections between the text and your own life 
What Make Sense:  Your child can as, "What word would make sense here?"


Please also remember to encourage the use of IXL over the break. If you have any questions regarding either of these programs please don't hesitate to email me. Eid Mubarak to all those celebrating, and to those of you who get time off, enjoy the holiday!!

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