Christmas Candle Tea

We had a great time going to the Moravian Candle Tea last week at Old Salem. We learned about how candles were made and how people celebrated Christmas in the the 18th century. We also go to see the home of "Sister Mouse," a fictional character we read about in class. We are looking forward to our Author's Tea, and we hope to see you there at 1:15 Tuesday!

December Homework

This week we will not assign homework so that families will have more time to celebrate together. However, we strongly encourage students to continue reading for at least 20 minutes at night, and continue working on Xtramath, Reading Eggs and Math Seeds.

December Highlights

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas in primary this month! The primary teaching team will attend the last Math Foundations conference this week; we have missed being in the classroom but have gained a wealth of information that we are excited to share with the kids. We will start posting strategies and techniques on this blog to help you, help your child at home. Most importantly we are teaching "outside the algorithm" and helping students deepen their understanding of place value and number manipulation. Of course we have a lot going on with literacy too, and we are constantly assessing and re-evaluating groups and placement. Our themes this month are gift-givers and Christmas. We have planned a trip to attend the Moravian Candle Tea at Old Salem on December 9th; unfortunately, due to limited tickets and reservations we are not be able to invite parents to join us. However, we are encouraging all families to join us at school on December 19th at 1:15 for our author's tea when we will unveil our class book, Christmas Is... Immediately following the tea we will have our class Christmas party. Josiah's mom, Kara Deese is overseeing this party. If you are interested in volunteering to help, please contact her. We hope to see you there!  

Reading Eggs/ Mathseeds trial

Our class is giving a new online reading and math program a trial. The blurb on the site states: " Reading Eggs makes learning to read interesting and engaging for kids, with great online reading games and activities. And it really works! Children love the games, songs, golden eggs and other rewards which, along with feeling proud of their reading, really motivate children to keep exploring and learning." 

Reading Eggs also has a "sister site" titled Mathseeds. Reading Eggs and Mathseeds can both be accessed from the same login site here and iPad app.

  "Mathseeds teaches kids aged 3-8 the core math and problem solving skills needed to be successful at school with fun, highly interactive and rewarding lessons. Mathseeds combines highly structured lessons with fun motivational elements that keep children engaged and keen to learn."

This is a trail, please send us feedback about the programs, and if you would or would not like to continue using this as part of your child's homework/ computer work. 

We will not have any formal homework assignments next week due to Thanksgiving. However, please encourage your child to work on Reading Eggs and Mathseeds daily as part of their "homework" next week. We will send home logins and passwords this week. 

Our Class book is here!

Be sure to save the date for our Author's Tea and class book unveiling - December 19th @ 1:15. The class worked hard on the book, and I think they have put together something that they should be proud of. We received the books back from the publisher this week, and they look great! I will hold the books until our class party on December 19th. However, if you ordered books as gifts, or need you copy early please let me know, and I will be happy to send it to you ASAP.

This video is a peek at the publishing process- part of what we hope the kids will learn from this experience.

November

This month we are going to build on that concept by deepening our understanding of place value and properties. Our themes this month are forest and farm animals, Native Americans, Pilgrims, Thanksgiving and food!  We have a field trip planned on the 18^th to see Pinkie and Blue, an original play at UNCG, and we will take our monthly trip to the library on the 16^th. We have also sent off the manuscript of our class book to get published.  This year we are combining our Author’s Tea and class Christmas party, so we hope you will be able to attend! Mark your calendars now for December 19^th. 

The following are a few snapshots from our trip to J. Razz & Tazz Farm:

Happy Halloween!

We had a great day Monday! It was so fun to see all the kids dressed up in their costumes! We had a lot of fun, and got some learning in too.

We discussed the history of Hallowe'en, and learned about it's symbols and traditions. We also made predictions, measured, floated, and made arrays with three pumpkins and their seeds. Thank you to the families who donated the pumpkins so that we were able to do all of these fun activities!

The crowning moment of the day was our class Hallowe'en party! I know all of the kids had a blast! A huge thank you to Debbie Koonce for organizing the party, and to Vivian Goff, Chris Dupre, Heather Bowman, Kerrin Jarrell, Kera Deese and Thomas Wear for volunteering to help! The following are some pictures of the holiday fun:

October is Fire Prevention Month

Our class has been learning a lot about being fire safe. We have talked about ways to avoid fires, and what to do if you find yourself in a "fire situation." We recommended that the kids talk with their families about deciding on a good place to meet if their is a house fire, and checking the smoke and carbon monoxide detectors in their homes on a regular basis.

We owe a huge thank you to High Point fire department #4 for coming out today to teach our class about the fire engine and what they do on a daily basis. It was also very special because one of the fire fighters is Morghen's uncle!

Library Trip! (and a note about library book due dates)

We had a great time at the library today! The theme today was mice; we read, sang songs and did an art activity that was centered around different kids of mice. A HUGE thank you to Izzy's mom for volunteering to drive today, we couldn't have done this without you!

Most of the students checked out a book today, they are due on 10/19. If you would like to renew the books so that they won't be overdue when we return to the library on the 26th, you can do so online using the PIN-1234. Or, you can return the books to any Forsyth County library.

Dear Parents, 

Unfortunately our field trip has been cancelled (by the farm) due to rain in the forecast. I'm sorry for the inconvenience. 

Updates and Reminders

·       Tomorrow (9/21) is our trip to the Apple Orchard; we will NOT go if rain is imminent. If you are meeting us at the farm and are unsure about the weather please call the school after 8:15 to see if we are going.

·       Please have students wear their field trip shirts tomorrow.

·       We are planning on going to the Kernersville Public Library the last Wednesday of every month (except December). In the Tuesday folder you will find a liability release. Please sign the bottom of this form allowing your child to ride with a parent volunteer.

·       There is also a form coming home today from the library that will allow your child to check out a book from the public library. If you wish to allow your child to check out library books from the public library during our visit please fill out that form and return it ASAP.

-Thank you! 

September (11:15 release Friday)

It has been such a great pleasure to meet so many new panthers in primary this year, and September is set to be a very busy month! This month our themes are school days, marvelous me, the U.S. Constitution, and all about apples! All primary students have been set up with an Xtramath.com account, and It’s good to see that students are completing their sessions daily. Please make sure this is done as part of the regular homework routine, just like reading every night for 20 minutes. Our overarching goals for math this month are counting, reading and writing numbers through 120, comparing two two-digit numbers based on an understanding of place value and increasing mental math abilities in the base 10 system. Be sure to look for unit subtest being sent home weekly in the Tuesday folders. We have also started our guided reading groups, and this month we are focusing on decoding, encoding and determining the main idea of a passage. We will celebrate Johnny Appleseed’s birthday on September 26, and we will visit Millstone Creek Orchard for our first field trip on September 21. We will send out permission slips and volunteer opportunities soon. 

REMINDERS: Friday is early release, our class gets released at 11:15 - This is earlier than the upper grades! 
No school Monday- Happy Labor Day! 
Happy Birthday to Levi and Morghen this month!

Apple Field Trip!

In next week's Tuesday folder you will find the permission form for our field trip. Please sign and return it to school ASAP. We are renting a 15 passenger van for this trip, so if you would like to join us please let me know so that I can make accommodations. Also, please let me know if you would like to drive and meet us at the farm.

• We will leave school promptly at 8:15 which will allow us to still have guided reading instruction before leaving. 

• 9:15 check in

• 9:30-11:00- hayride, cider pressing, apple picking/tasting, antique farm equipment demonstration

• 11:00-11:45- lunch, shop and "run around" time

• 11:45 return to van for ride back to school
• 12:30 return to school 

the website for the orchard is http://millstonecreekorchards.com

~Event Details~

            Date: Wednesday, September 21st             

            Tour Start Time: 9:45am

            Cost: $8for parents
            Includes: Apple Tasting, Cider Pressing Demonstration, 
Hayride,Apple Picking, Antique Apple Washer Demonstration

      ~Safety Issues~ Bees are an important part of the orchard.  Please make the necessary arrangements for children with allergies.

      ~Clothing~ Mornings can be wet in the orchards…please dress   your child in old shoes and comfortable clothing.

      ~Other Details~ The orchard is located at 506 Parks Crossroad Church Rd,Ramseur 27316.  Parents are welcome ($8/person). They accept Debit & Credit Cards.

Homework and Xtramath.com

Welcome to the first full week of school! We certainly are going full-steam now in our classrooms. We are reimagining the way math instruction is delivered in 1st and 2nd grade this year. Last year we developed our version of what we call "the guided-math workshop-model." We're taking this further this year by moving away from isolated subjects and going towards STEM instruction. Because we value the thought process and critical thinking as much as (or perhaps even more than) the outcome, math homework will be limited to fact practice- at least of the time being. It is very important that this is done at home because very little time is spent in class on rote memorization of facts. We are using Xtramath.com again this year as part of your child's homework. They will need to log on every day. The program charts their progress and adapts to meet their individual level. For example if "Suzie" keeps missing 5+3, she will be given that problem more often until it is mastered. All students will start with addition facts until mastered and eventually graduate through division.

Today your child will come home with their homework packet; packets are due Friday. Students' words for the week are sight words that do not follow a particular pattern or they follow a pattern the children haven't learned yet. However, they at least need to be able to read these words by sight to be fluent readers. The theory is if they practice spelling the words, recognizing them to read by sight will come naturally. 

This tutorial will help you connect your child's account to your email so that you will receive updates on their fact practice progress. 

Welcome!

It's been great getting to know the children these past two days! Thank you for sending the Marvelous Me bags back today, we had a great time learning about one another! There will be no homework for the rest of this week, but we will start our weekly homework packets on Monday. I look forward to an excellent year!

Literacy Terms

Do you ever find yourself a bit confused at all the literacy terms there are out there for reading and writing? I know I totally did when I was first introduced to them. Today, I hope to shed a little light on many of the literacy terms you may find in your curriculum or while searching on a website/blog. I’m organizing them by category and then each term will be listed and defined in alphabetical order. 

General Literacy Terms

§  balanced literacy- A term used to describe a reading program that integrates several reading methods so that you’re not leaning too heavily on one side of teaching. For example, a balanced program integrates reading AND writing as well as phonics AND sight words. It’s not an either/or. All are included.

§  book awareness- An awareness of how books “work”. Where is the cover? Where is the title? How should he hold the book while reading?

§  developmental literacy- A method of teaching that looks at the child’s level of development and teaches at that level versus just saying, “Well, he’s in 4th grade. I should work with him on 4th grade skills.” A child might be in 4th grade, yet working on a 2nd grade level developmentally.

§  dyslexia- A language processing issue that can make it difficult for the student to: 1) Hear sounds in words {see phonological awareness below}, 2) recognize “known” words quickly, affecting fluency, 3) figure out unknown words, 4) spell, and 5) comprehend text.

§  emergent reader - A child who has learned the basics, like letters and their sounds and is ready to begin the early stages of reading.

§  multi-sensory teaching- Using as many of the five senses to teach a concept. The goal is to help learning become meaningful for that particular student and that the learner will connect with the literacy skill or text in a meaningful way.

§  phonics- Understanding the relationship between written letters and the sound(s) that they make

§  pre-reader- A child that does not fully understand that print has meaning. For example, a pre-reader does not fully understand the relationship between the written letter and that it makes a sound (phonics)

§  print awareness- The awareness of how print works. For example, moving from left to right as the child writes or knowing the difference between an upper case and lower case letter 

§  reading level- In my opinion, kids need to be able to read the words AND comprehend the text in order for you to say that they are indeed reading on a particular level. For example, if Suzy can read the words on a 4th grade level, but cannot remember what she has read (this is a re-occurring thing), I would not say that Suzy is reading on a 4th grade level. Reading equals thinking and if the child isn’t getting any meaning from the text, she is simply barking the words.

§  reversals- Reading SAW for was or spelling with a b instead of a d. Reversals are VERY common in early literacy {K-2nd grade} and do not necessarily mean the child is dyslexic.

§  sight words- A sight word is any word that a child has learned by sight. While the most common sight words can be found in Fry’s list as well as the Dolch word list, a child’s name could also be considered a sight word for that particular child.

Phonological Awareness Terms

§  phoneme (a.k.a. phonogram)- The smallest sounds (not necessarily letters) in a word. For example, the word cat has three phonemes: /k/-/a/-/t/. But, sheep also has three phonemes /sh/-/ee/-/p/. Keep in mind you are only counting sounds, notletters.

§  phoneme blending- The ability to take the small sounds (phonemes) in a word and blend them together to make a word. For example, if you said, “/k/-/a/-/t/”, with the three sounds separated a bit, can you your child blend them together a little quicker to know it was the word cat?

§  phoneme isolation- The ability to isolate a certain sound in a word. For example, I can ask my child, “What sound do you hear at the beginning of mop? This requires the child to isolate one sound and pull it out from the word: /m/.

§  phoneme manipulation- The ability to “play” with sounds in a word by blending, isolating, and/or segmenting them. For example: “If you take the /m/ off of man and put a /p/ on the front, what word would it make?” (answer: pan). Doing this requires the child to isolate the m sound, separated it from the word, add the /p/ and then blend the word back together. The easiest stage of phoneme manipulation is with the initial or first sound of the word (like the example I just gave). Harder examples include: asking the child to change man into mat (take off the last sound, add a different sound) or man into mutt (take off the middle sound, add a different vowel sound).

§  phoneme segmentation- the ability to take the entire word and break it into separate phonemes (or small sounds). For example, if the child wants to spell frog, can he separate the sounds /f/-/r/-/o/-/g/ and write a letter to represent each one? Beginning spellers typically hear and spell the first and/or last sounds before moving to the middle sounds.

§  phonemic awareness- The ability to hear the small sounds (or phonemes) in a word. Phonemic awareness plays a HUGE role in reading and writing

§  phonological awareness- The ability to hear sounds within a word. This is the larger umbrella under which phonemic awareness falls

§  rhyming words- a part of phonological awareness. Two words that begin differently, but have a similar sound at the end. For example: play, day, sleigh, weigh, stay, etc. Note: rhyming words are not always spelled the same.

§  syllables- a part of phonological awareness. I call these the “big parts” of a word with younger kids. For example, words like cat, mop, and fun only have one big part (or syllable), while words like button, able, and under have two. 

§   Phonics Terms

§  ambiguous vowels- These are vowel combinations that can make more than one sound, like the oo in book and moon OR sounds that can be represented by more than one vowel combination, like the sound of /ah/ in tall, caught, or cost.

§  blend (consonant)- A blend is when you take two letters, put them together (side-by-side) in a word, and you hear both sounds. A few examples include: bl, gr, st, ornd. 

§   consonant- Consonants include the letters: b, c, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, q, r, s, t, v, w, x, y, and z (although some of these letters can act as vowels, too). Consonants are frequently referred to just with the letter C in curriculum and on sites.

§  decode- The ability to look at letters and figure out the “code” of the letters so that it makes a word.

§  digraph (consonant)- A consonant digraph is when you take two letters, put them together (side-by-side) in a word, and you hear only one sound. Examples include: ch, gn (less common), sh, th, wh, wr.

§  digraph (vowel)- Two vowels found side-by-side in a word that make one sound (unless you are from the south and you can make these vowel digraphs into 3 or 4 sounds). Examples include: ai, ee, oa, or, aw.

§  inflected endings- Endings put on the end of base words such as: -s, -es, -ed, or -ing.

§  long vowel- A vowel that makes it’s sound of its letter name. For example, in the word cat, the a does not make the letter name sound, but in the word name, it does. In spelling instruction, long vowels are typically taught after short vowels because, although its easier to hear the vowel sounds, the spelling patterns are less predictable than short vowel patterns.

§  nonsense words (pseudo-words)- A word that resembles a real word in English, but it isn’t real. Examples include: gake, frot, or shup but NOT braj, xog, or chiv. Nonsense words are used to see if the child can apply the “rules” of phonics without giving the child the crutch of a real word. (Sometimes kids are very good at knowing words by sight, but you want to purely assess if they can decode unknown words. Nonsense words can help you do that.)

§  onset- The first part of a word before the vowel. Examples include: b in bat, sk inskate, or t in toy.

§  phonogram- See phoneme in the section above

§  prefix- A group of letters before a (base) word that changes the word’s meaning. Some common examples are: un-, de-, in-, non-, or ex-. Prefixes have meanings themselves, too. For example, un- means not. If the meaning of the word doesn’t change, it is not considered a prefix. For example, in the word uncle, the un- is not a prefix, but a part of the word itself.

§  r-controlled vowels- Vowels followed by an r that “control” them. They are often referred to as bossy r vowels. The five most common r-controlled vowel combinations are ar, er, ir, or, and ur.

§  rime- The part of the word that comes after the onset. Many rimes are predictable, meaning they are usually spelled the same. The words play, day, jay, and gray all share the same rime: ay. For this reason, I love to have kids spell and read using word families (or rimes).

§  schwa- A sound in the English language that sounds like the short u sound /uh/, but it is made during a syllable that is not stressed or emphasized. For example, in the words away, another, and again, the schwa sound is found at the beginning of the word. Schwa is usually represented with an upside down letter e.

§  short vowel- Short vowels do not make their letter name sounds like long vowels. Vowels are typically pronounced with their short sound when there is only one vowel in the word or syllable and it is followed by one or more consonants. While there are some exceptions to this (like told or truth), most words do follow this generalization. Examples of short vowel words include: well, hot, sand, or six.

§  suffix- Letters put on the end of a (base) word that changes its meaning. Examples include, but are not limited to -ed, -ly, -ful, or -less.

§  syllable juncture- The point at which two syllables come together in a word. Studying various kinds of syllable junctures helps readers understand how to decode/read words. For example, sample is divided between the m and p whilerobot is divided between the first o and the b.  The division of the syllables affects vowel sounds within the syllables.

§  vowel- Vowels include the letters: a, e, i, o, u and sometimes y (my) and w (flew). Vowels can be long, short, or make ambiguous sounds (like oo). Vowels are typically represented by the letter V in curriculum or on websites, like here: CVC.

§  word families- Words that rhyme and have rimes that are spelled the same. They have different onsets (beginning letters), but the same rime (word chunks). An example of this are the words dog, frog, log, clog, etc. Emergent readers are prime candidates for learning phonics by way of word families!

§  word study- The study of word patterns in the English language. Instead of teaching phonics as a list of isolated rules (that are so often broken), phonics is taught by looking at and analyzing words that are spelled similarly and coming up with generalizations that apply to that group of similar words. For example, why don’t give, love and have contain long vowels? These words aren’t rule breakers! When studied as a group, students realize there’s a generalization for them. 

Fluency Terms

§  accuracy (word)- The ability to read the word correctly the first time. Word accuracy is important for fluency and comprehension.

§  automatic- When a reader can look at a word and read it within one second of seeing it. Word automaticity is important for fluency and comprehension.

§  echo reading- The adult reads a portion of the text with fluency first, then the child copies the adult

§  expression- Another term used for prosody {see below}

§  fluency- Fluency includes reading rate (or speed/word automaticity), word accuracy, and prosody. Being able to read with fluency has a direct impact on comprehension!

§  intonation- Using the sound of your voice to convey meaning. For example, your voice inflects up a bit at the end of asking a question {a part of prosody}.

§  miscues- Miscues are mistakes kids make while reading. Miscues include, but are not limited to, substituting other words for the word in the text or omitting words that in the text.

§  prosody- using your voice to express the meaning of the text. Prosody includes things like: intonation, grouping words together in meaningful phrases, or using the punctuation to group words together. When someone reads with prosody, it sounds more like they are talking rather than reading.

§  reading rate (words per minute)- How quickly did the child read the passage? A simple way to calculate words per minute is to take the number of words in the passage and multiply it by 60.  Divide that number by the actual time in seconds it took for the child to read that passage. So if the passage was 200 words long, and Samantha read it in 2 minutes, her words per minute would be 100 words per minute. And just a side note: reading quickly isn’t always a good thing if kids are more focused on how fast they can read versus the meaning of the text.

§  re-reading- Going back and reading a text again that you’ve already read. There are several reasons to re-read. Reads might go back and re-reading for meaning (like if it didn’t make sense the first time). I ask readers to re-read entire (shorter) texts or passages sometimes just to work on fluency.

§  self-corrections- When a child goes back and corrects a mistake in her reading.

§  silent reading- When a child reads silently to himself. Younger children tend to whisper read instead of reading in complete silence. Silent reading is a part of balanced literacy. Books that the child reads during silent reading should primarily be books that he can read with independence (for example, books that the child has already read with you).

Comprehension Terms

§  Bloom’s Taxonomy- A way to classify different kinds of thinking. Bloom’s starts out at the basic level (knowledge) and moves up into higher order thinking, like synthesis and evaluation.

§  comprehension strategies- The strategies proficient readers use as they are reading. Some examples of comprehension strategies include: asking questions, making predictions or creating mental images etc.

§  context (in context)- When reading is done in context, it is done within the text. Words are kept in their context. Instead of pulling individual words out for study, words are figured out by using the context of the sentence or passage.

§  explicit questions- Questions that directly come from the text, the reader can go back and find the answer word-for-word. These kinds of questions would be on the lowest level of Bloom’s Taxonomy.

§  fiction- A story or text that is made up. Fiction can be realistic or fantasy. (I hesitate to say that fiction is “not true”, because lots of fiction does include facts, like historical fiction.)

§  implicit questions (higher order thinking questions)- Questions that require the reader to read between the lines, the answer is not in black and white, but rather implied. These kinds of questions invoke the child to dig a little deeper and for that reason, I like to use them more than explicit questions.

§  main idea- The way I always describe main idea to kids is: What is the story ALL about? Main idea does not include small details, but the big picture and can usually be summed up in one or two sentences.

§  non-fiction- Text that is not made up and is based on facts. Non-fiction includes more than a science or history book. A recipe is non-fiction. The ingredients on the cereal box are non-fiction. The rules to a card game are non-fiction.

§  out of context- Pulling words out of context means that you take the word (or words) from the text and study them separately, apart from the text itself.

§  picture walk (preview)- This is an activity done before reading takes place. The reader looks through the pictures of the text and predicts what he or she thinks is happening. This is a great way to activate prior knowledge and to give the child a purpose in reading. Students using non-fiction texts can preview the text by looking at the table of contents, charts, or photographs to predict what the text will be about.

§  plot- The rise and fall in action from a story. Scholastic has a plot diagram to demonstrate plot in a fiction text.

§  prior knowledge (background knowledge)- Also known as schema. What does the reader already know about the subject before even reading the text. Comprehension is much easier if the reader has prior knowledge of the subject before reading. If the child does not have the prior knowledge, the adult can build prior knowledge by making learning a hands-on tangible.

§  retell/summarize- When a child retells what happened in the story, she is including only the important parts of the story. Retelling requires the reader to determine what’s important/not important from the text and retell it in a way that makes sense to the listener

§  story elements- Story elements are the basic features that make a story be a story such as characters, setting, problem, and solution. These story elements work together to form the plot.

§  text features and text structure- Text features and text structures go hand-in-hand in helping young readers know what is important and not so important to the text.

§  theme- The theme is what the author wants you to walk away with from the text. Often the author wants readers to learn a lesson for life such as be kind or act responsibly. Fables are a great medium for teaching theme, as fables all have a moral or lesson to be learned.

Writing Terms

§  conventional spelling- Spelling words the correct way.

§  copy work- Asking a child to copy words, phrases, or sentences to practice grammar, handwriting, and/or phonics skills. Many people will select passages from a text that the adult and child just read together as copy work. Once the child copies the work, he is supposed to read it aloud to practice fluency as well.

§  developmental spelling- Understanding that spelling is a process. A preschooler’s spellings will look much different than the spellings of an older child.

§  dictation- Used mainly with children in the pre-writing stage or when a child wants to write something for which he is not developmentally ready. The child tells the adult what he wants his sentence(s) to say and the adult writes the words in front of the child. The adult then reads it back to the child. Although this is a great strategy for pre-writers, it is effective for older reluctant writers, too!

§  fine motor- In order to hold a pencil and write, the muscles in the hand need to develop strength. Fine motor activities such as tweezer work, beading, playing with playdough, building with Lego bricks, or scissor practice can help to strengthen those muscles.

§  handwriting- Letter formation or writing. All young writers should begin writing their letters from the top down instead of the bottom up when making vertical strokes. Right-handed children should also drag their pencil from left to writing when making horizontal strokes while left-handed children should drag their pencil from right to left. Forming letters this way facilitates dragging the pencil versus pushing the pencil to write.

§  invented spelling- When a child does not spell the word conventionally, but makes up a spelling of the word instead. I love invented spellings because they tell you so much about what a writer understands about how words work

§  pencil grip- The way a child holds his or her pencil while writing. Correct pencil grip may not be used right away when kids first start writing and that’s okay! shared writing (interactive writing)- This is a highly effective writing strategy, especially for struggling writers, in which the adult and the child share the pencil. The adult writes most parts (maybe the parts that are too difficult for the child) and the child writes what he can. For example, if a child knows a few basic sight words, the parent would let the child write those words if they come up in the writing as they work together. While the adult is writing, she is modeling what good writers do. It might sound like, “I am going to put some space between this word and this one so my reader knows these are two different words.” (More info to come on this later this spring!)

§  writing process- This is my favorite way to teach writing: as a process. This approach encourages kids to engage with writing like real authors do. It includes brainstorming ideas, writing rough drafts, revising, editing, publishing, and sharing work

§  writing prompts- Any time an adult gives the child his subject for writing. Writing prompts can be effective for giving young writers a springboard for more writing. They can also be effective for controlling vocabulary. For example, if your child was working on the sight word like, you might give him a prompt to practice that new word, such as “I like…”, and he completes the sentence

I hope this was helpful, as always, please contact me if you have any questions or need clarification. This list was compiled by fellow blogger “This Reading Mamma.”