Reading with your child on a daily basis is the single most important thing a parent can do to help a child become a reader!  

Research indicates that 15 to 20 minutes of out-of-school reading time per day results in double the reading achievement gains usually expected from year to year.  I strongly encourage you to spend time reading with/to your child everyday.  Learning to read takes LOTS of practice.  Please don’t expect your child to read perfectly.  Enjoy this time together.  Home reading should be a positive and enjoyable experience.  The primary goal is to help your child feel comfortable and enjoy books.

Make it fun, so your child wants to read.  Talk about the illustrations, characters, events, etc. in the story as you read.

Notice the little improvements your child makes and celebrate them!  You are also welcome to do some of the reading.               

Thank you parents for consistently listening to your child read each night.  Please be aware, reading becomes more and more difficult as the year progresses.  It is so important for your child to listen to reading and for you to listen to him/her read mini decodable books and reading practice sheets that are sent home Monday through Thursday.

The most fluent readers are the ones that have a lot of practice!

SIGHT WORDS

Sight words are extremely important as a young reader begins to gain literacy.  It is important that students have a strong sight word base to build reading confidence and fluency.  Students will be given a list of sight words every quarter. You can also find a link to download printable flashcards below to practice at home.  Students will be tested on the words every quarter.   Knowing these sight words will undoubtedly help your child become a better reader!  

​Sight words are the most common words in the English language.  These are words that we encounter on a regular basis when reading.  We explicitly teach sight words so that students can read more fluently and focus on specific phonics skills; however, many of the sight words contain a letter or letter combinations that do not follow common letter-sound correspondence.  Some words are permanent irregular and some words are temporarily irregular - meaning students haven't learned the letter-sound correspondene just yet.  We call these "heart words" because some parts of the words must be "learned by heart".  Learning "heart words" can be difficult for students because they are exceptions to the rules.  That's why having opportunities to practice reading and spelling them is important. 

We will practice "heart words" in class by reading each word, tapping out the sounds heard and mapping the sounds using Elkonnin boxes to write the letter-sound correspondence. Students will identify the irregular spelling by underlining and placing a heart above the irregular spelling that must be "known by heart".  Students will practice writing a sentence using the "heart word".

Did you know???

* There are 12 sight words that make up 25% of the words we read and write

​a, and, he, I, in, is, it, of, that, the, to, was

* There are 100 sight words that make up 50% of the words we read and   write.

* There are about 300 sight words that account for 75% of the words we read and write.

Sight words are a BIG component of reading success 

and are VERY important! 

When students are taught sight words early on, 

they become strong and confident readers!