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Parent Resources
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From time to time we’ll provide
suggestions to help parents work with their
children at home. We
appreciate your support and look forward
to working with you.
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How Your Child Will
Succeed at Reading
and Writing This Year
Our
school believes that children who are good
readers and
writers will be better, happier students and citizens.
We have made a commitment to do all that we
can to ensure that all of our students will be good readers and writers. Because our school recognizes that all
children learn differently, we know that we must find ways to reach
children no
matter what their strengths and weaknesses might be.
Our teachers are using a method of instruction
called the “Four Blocks Model”, and we want to tell you about it. We also want to ask that you play an
important part in helping us with the development of your child as a
reader and
writer.
There
are four basic ways that students have always learned to read. Usually, a school or teacher would choose one
of those methods in hopes of reaching most of the students. The “Four Blocks Method”, however, allows us
to teach all students by teaching all four methods every day.
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GUIDED READING
BLOCK
During
this block of time, we focus on reading
comprehension skills—those strategies that help readers make sense out
of the
print on the page. We also work on our
reading fluency—the smoothness with which we read text.
The teacher will direct a lesson about a
particular
story or text with all of the students. Afterwards,
our students will practice reading
in pairs or small
groups. Then, the teacher will again
work with the whole group of students to discuss what they have learned. Students will get a great deal of support
from their teacher, from their classmates, and will work toward
becoming
independent readers.
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SELF-SELECTED
READING
BLOCK
During this block, students will
have an
opportunity to
see themselves as readers and will build their fluency, the ability to
read
smoothly. The block will begin with the
teacher reading aloud an enjoyable story or text to the students.
Then each student will select a book from the
book bins to read independently for an extended amount of time, usually
no more
that twenty minutes. During this time,
the teacher will have individual conferences with designated
students.
Together, they will discuss the book, and the
teacher will be able to evaluate the student’s growth in reading.
At the end of the block of time, several
students will share what they read and whether they liked the book,
much like
the way adults share information with their friends about the books
they’re
reading.
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WRITING
BLOCK
During this block, student will
learn to think
about and
use their knowledge of phonics to write compositions.
Along with applying phonics, they will have
an opportunity to practice penmanship, to learn about the writing
process,
grammar, and the mechanics of good writing.
The teacher will write her own composition for the students and
will use
it to teach a lesson about writing.
Then, all the students will write their own story or
composition, using
their best guesses about spelling. On
certain days, the student will work individually with the teacher to
learn to
correct their errors and, throughout the year, they will have the
opportunity
to publish their work as a book to be enjoyed by other
classmates.
At the end of the writing time each day, a
few students will share their work with the class.
Sometimes, the first text a child learns to
read is his own.
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WORKING WITH WORDS BLOCK
This
block allows students to explore words,
word families
(patterns), spelling, and phonics; and to see how they can use what
they learn
about words in their reading and writing.
This block begins
daily by studying words from
the Word
Wall. These words will be displayed on
the wall all year for students to use as a resource.
They are high-frequency words—grade-level
words
used frequently in reading and writing—that we expect students to spell
correctly
in their writing. We will use movements,
such as clapping, snapping, and cheering to learn to spell the words. We have a number of other activities to
interest children during this work exploration.
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HOW YOU CAN HELP YOUR CHILD
·
Talk
about books with your child. Ask what he
or she has read in school. Look for
books to come home and read to or with your child or
simply listen
to your child read.
·
Share
something that you’re reading with your child—books, newspapers,
recipes,
magazines, etc.—to let your child know that you value reading. Do the same with writing.
When you write a note or letter, share it and
talk about it with your child. Seeing
their parents as readers and writers really makes an impression on
children.
·
Get
a library card for your child at the public library and, if possible,
visit on
a regular basis.
·
Keep
reading and writing materials available for your child.
·
Read
aloud to your child, even after he or she learns to read.
Reading
aloud should continue at least through elementary school.
·
Try
to attend school events, such as Open House and Parent Teacher
Conferences. We want to be partners in
your child’s education.
Throughout the
school year, we will provide
information
that we feel would be helpful to you as parents. We
appreciate your support and look forward
to working with you.
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Gingerwood School Page |
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