Thursday, February 28, 2013

Ice Skating Field Trip

Yesterday we went to Seven Peaks Ice Skating Arena. We had a blast! I was amazed at how fearless so many of you were and how quickly you got the hang of it!
I already want to go skating again!


Phonics app

I found this free app over the weekend and love it! It is called "Endless Alphabet" and is perfect for kindergartners or 1st graders that need reinforcement in phonics. My 18 month old is also starting to figure it out and thinks it's great!


Sunday, February 24, 2013

Resources for Reading Help


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Resources for Help with Reading

Reading is made up of these main parts: phonemic awareness (the ability to hear and manipulate the individual sounds in words), phonics (the ability to associate sounds with letters and use these sounds to form words), vocabulary (understanding the meaning of words they are reading), fluency (the ability to read a text accurately, quickly, and with appropriate expression) and comprehension (the ability to extract useful information from a text- the main purpose we read). 

These aspects are listed in order as they are mastered as a child learns to read. So if a child is struggling with phonics or vocabulary that will directly affect their ability to read fluently and comprehend a text.

This list is a compilation of resources and ideas to assist you in helping your child progress in reading found on different websites. The DIBELS reading test measured reading progress in these main areas: fluency, accuracy, and comprehension. These resources will cater to these areas as well as a few of the additional aspects of reading.

Phonemic Awareness
(Most likely students in grades k-1)

Phonemic Awareness activities:


10 ideas to improve phonemic awareness at home:

Rhyme a week, printable poems for practice:

Phonemic awareness assessment:

UEN K-2 Student Interactives:

Phonics
(Most likely students in grades k-2)

Phonics games and activities online:



Online activities, printables, and things for home:

Different approaches to teaching phonics:

More online resources for phonics:

Vocabulary

How to improve vocabulary and worksheets:

Online games:

Cloze activities (how to and practice):


Online Cloze activities:

UEN 3-6 Student Interactives:


Fluency

Printable activities (scroll down to fluency):

How to improve fluency:

Fluency assessment passages:

Ideas from Pinterest:

Comprehension

When A Child Doesn’t Remember What He Reads (article):

Fostering Reading Comprehension, a “how to”:

Printable worksheets:



Online games and activities:




Games and activities broken down by comprehension skill:


Thursday, February 7, 2013

Valentine's Day Crafts and Activities

 

Heart Origami
Parenting.com

Crayon Hearts

gt076_crayheart01_s.jpg



Creative Love Notes
 

A collection of Valentine worksheets, activities, the history of Valentine's Day, print outs, etc.:

Black History Month Resources

February Is Black History Month! Here are some resources to help celebrate and explore exceptional African-American achievements with these cross-curricular, online activities.

13 ways to celebrate Black History Month:
(grades 3-12)



The Underground Railroad: Escape from Slavery


With this interactive slideshow, students follow the path of a slave in 1860 as he courageously travels the Underground Railroad to freedom.

A TON of resources and online lessons from Dr. Martin Luther King to the history of jazz music!