Reading Eggs

Your child has been given a Reading Eggs login and password. I strongly encourage students to work on Reading Eggs daily to sharpen their literacy skills. Incorporating Reading Eggs into the homework routine is also a great idea! If you have any questions please let me know.

Inclusion? Separate Setting? Private? Public? - What's the right choice?

This article aired earlier today on Here and Now on NPR. Interesting food for thought.

http://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2017/08/24/philadelphia-special-ed-students

Our First Week of School & Homework

We had a great first week of school, and we are now well underway with our academics! We should be finished with our assessments this week, and we will start our "regular" homework packets next week. The packet will have sight words for your child to work on over the week, please note these are NOT spelling words. However, once the students can read the words by sight, it would be to their benefit to learn how to spell the words, but we will not assess students on the spelling of uncontrolled words.

The packet sent home this past week contained penmanship practice; next week's packet will also contain penmanship work in addition to sight word practice. Please encourage your child to hold their pencil correctly and form their letters correctly (from top to bottom). After next week our focus will move from penmanship (with the exception of our kindergarteners) so I encourage everyone to take advantage of this review!


As part of their homework students need to read or be read to for 20 minutes each night. I can't stress enough the importance of children having daily exposure to books at home.


As you are helping your child with their homework, please encourage them to use the correct pencil grip- even if at first they say it is uncomfortable (in fact expect that at first). Having a poor pencil grip is a very hard habit to break, but will benefit them immensely as they grow and continue to write.

Your child will soon be given a login for Reading Eggs; this can be completed as a regular part of their homework routine along with Xtramath.com.

Thank you so much for your support, we are off to a great start for a fantastic year!

Welcome to the First Day of School!

We are super excited to meet all our new primary friends, and see our old friends tomorrow during orientation! Remember, the only supplies you will need are a bookbag and a folder to put your homework in. For your convenience I have posted our handouts below. I look forward to a fantastic year! 

PS-Don't forget to read your special message before going to bed Tuesday night! 

*You may also want to "follow" our blog so that you don't miss any posts.  The link is on the right. 

Our Class schedule is as follows: 

A sneak peek into our room:

Unlocking Dyslexia

NPR presented a special segment about Dyslexia this week. Many of our students battle with dyslexia, but it does not mean that they can not be successful in school.



At TPS, we use multiple strategies for students with language based learning differences including LindaMood-Bell, Wilson, Fundations, Orton Gillingham, and Imagine It among others.

End of Year Slideshow

For those who were unable to attend, this is the slideshow we shared at graduation.

Avoid Schwa!

One of my pet peeves is the introduction of the schwa sound when students are "tapping" out sounds in words to read. Many well-meaning parents and pre-k teachers pronounce the schwa and teach it to thier kids. However, I strongly encourage "clipping" the schwa sound when tapping out the individual sounds in words.

Of course schwa has its place, but only when pronouncing full words like "pizza" which, of course, would be considered a sight word and not tapped out anyway.