Reading Strategies?!? What are those?!?

I’m sure that you opened your child’s homework folder today and thought ‘So… I got all of these papers, now what do they mean?!?’ In your child’s homework folder today, you should find several papers that will be very useful in helping your child with reading. I will take a little while to explain one of those important papers.

The first paper lists each of our reading strategies. What is a reading strategy, you may ask? In the simplest terms, a reading strategy is a tool that can be used to determine a word or phrase during reading. We tell our students that they each have a ‘tool box’ for reading and each of our reading strategies is a tool that they can pull out of their tool box when they are having trouble with a book.

Here are the strategies that your child should be using each time he/she is reading:
*Point to the words (make sure your finger is pointing to the word you are reading)
*Look at the pictures (if you get to a word that you don’t know, look at the pictures for a clue… but only guessing won’t work! Make sure to use other strategies to check if the word works!)
*Stretch out the word (say each sound slowly and snap it back together to read the word)
*Get our mouth ready (get your mouth ready to say the beginning sound in the word)
*Does it make sense? (ask yourself if the word you picked make sense in the sentence… if it sounds silly it might not be the correct word)
*Skip it and read on (if you still can’t figure it out, skip the word and come back to it later)
*Try it again (if the first time doesn’t sound right, try it again until it works)
*Look for the smaller words in the word (look for chunks that you know, for example ‘that’ or ‘catch’)
*Look for word families (rhyming word families all have the same ending but change the beginning sound)
*Try both vowel sounds (if the short vowel doesn’t work, try the long vowel sound)
*Self-correct (if you realize the word you said wasn’t right, go back and read it again with the correct word)
*Look for blends and endings (look for combinations of letters that you know)

As you can see, your child has many tools in their reading tool box. Please make sure to encourage your child to use these tools each and every time he/she reads to you!

Book-in-a-Bag

Your child should have begun bringing a book home each night in his/her Book-in-a-Bag. It is part of your child’s morning routine to change this book daily by selecting a new book from his/her Book Bin. As of right now, your child may only have 3-4 books in the Book Bin, and may bring the same book home several times. This is ok.

Here are some common concerns about Book-in-a-Bag and ideas to utilize this time more effectively:
*My child keeps bring the same book home each night: Not a problem. Rereading a book will allow your child to become familiar with the story. If it is a non-leveled (picture/story) book, your child should be able to retell the story to you. See if he/she is including all parts of the story, using language from the story, and included the dialogue of the characters. Discuss the characters, setting, plot (problem & solution) for the story.

*My child is bringing home a book that seems too hard for him/her to read on their own. Is it ok for me to read it to him/her? Yes; reading to your child is a wonderful step to helping your child learn how to read. Try moving your finger under each word as you read it to help your child better understand that each word you say is a separate word on the page.

*My child is not bringing a book home every night. Book-in-a-Bag is a part of your child’s homework, and it is very important that you uphold this nightly routine. We will do our best to remind your child at school, but we need your help at home. We are unable to watch all 34 of our students pick a book. It is their responsibility. Please help your child understand how much you love to read with them. This should give them incentive to remember their book… it can be your special time each night.

Hello Mrs. Sambito!

Hi Friends! I have missed you all so much and am excited to be back at school tomorrow! The wedding was perfect, and I have spent a very relaxing time with my new husband on our cruise. I just wanted to take a minute to share some pictures with you all. I hope that you like them ;)

A Fantastic First Day

What an exciting and busy first day of school! We started our day in the cafeteria where we all waved goodbye to our parents. Some of them were a little sad to see us go, but we all did great! We made our way to our classroom and watched the morning announcements as Mrs. Thomas and I unpacked everyone's backpacks. (If you haven't done so already, please make sure to clearly label your child's backpack. There are several that are similiar and it can be very confussing.) After unpacking our things, we learned how to quickly and quietly gather at the carpet, which is our class meeting area. At 10:15 a.m., we made our way to the cafeteria to hear a very cool band play for us. We had a great time singing and dancing together. We could definitely feel the rhythm!

Then it was time for lunch! For many of us, it was our very first time going through the lunch line... what an adventure! There are so many choices! If your child buys lunch, please make sure to send in lunch money in his/her blue folder in a ziploc bag with his/her name written on it. At the beginning of each month, you will receive a calendar of the lunch menu. It would be a great idea to go over this with your child before he/she gets into the lunch line.

After lunch, we read The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn. We colored a picture of Chester Raccoon and then found a clue from him! He told us to go visit Mrs. Snead in the art room... maybe we would find him there! We traveled all over the school looking for Chester. On our search, we met our art teachers, Mrs. Snead and Mrs. Sappington, one of our music teachers, Mrs. Roettges, our principal, Mrs. Phillips, and our wonderful media staff, Mrs. KK, Mrs. Karen, and Mr. JB. We will spend a lot of time with these special people this year. We searched very hard, but didn't find Chester. He had to go back into his book, but he did leave us all a special treat.

After playing outside, it was already time to head home. We packed up our things and found our way home. Thank you for sharing your child with us! We are going to have a fantastic time getting to know each other this year!

Outstanding Orientation!

It was such a pleasure to meet and greet our new Kindergarten students, parents, and siblings yesterday! It was wonderful to see such a supportive group of family members. We have a few reminders to share with you. Please remember to read The ABCs of Kindergarten packet. It will answer a lot of your questions. On Monday, you are encouraged to walk your child to the dining room. We will be there at 8:50 a.m. to escort your child to our classroom. You will be invited to join the other Kindergarten parents in the Media Center to enjoy a "Boo-Hoo Breakfast" sponsored by our PTA. In class, we will be getting acquainted with your child. We will be reading books, drawing pictures, and having some free time to explore developmental centers. We will also tour the school - the library, art room, music room, front office, and cafeteria. In the morning, we will also have a special presentation in the dining room. Then it will be lunch time! After lunch, we will practice our fire and tornado drills. So much is planned for this exciting first day of school!

Welcome to Nashville!

Hi Friends!

We are working hard to get ready for our new school year! Chets Creek’s theme this year is “Orchestrating a Symphony of Student Success,” which means that we will be moving and grooving to musical sounds all year long. Kindergarten will be celebrating Country music. So, get your boots and hats ready to “Boot Scootin’ Boogie” into a new year!

We look forward to meeting all of you at Orientation on Friday, August 21st at 8am. If you have bought your supplies already, please feel free to bring them with you to orientation.