Are you looking for a good book to read? Is your child looking for a way to stay busy over Spring Break? Join us for Family Book Club Night on Wednesday, April 29th @ 6:30 p.m. Simply go to the Center Cass 66 District website, click on "Prairieview", and read more about this great school event! You can then print a registration form and send it in. Please note that registration has been extended.
If you have any questions, contact Lynda Slinger lslinger@ccsd66.org or Jennifer Cerney jcerney@ccsd66.org. Hope to see you there!
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I am reading a new book I received from the International Reading Association. Teaching Individual Words: One Size Does Not Fit All by Michael F. Graves discusses, among many other things, how important certain words are to learn. He gives these interesting statistics: English has over 180,000 words. The average high school senior has a vocabulary of about 50,000 words. The average 8th grader has a vocabulary of about 35,000 words. The 100 most frequent words account for about 50% of typical texts. The 1000 most frequent words account for about 70% of typical texts. The 5000 most frequent words account for about 80% of typical texts. Knowing this helps educators know which words to target for instruction.
Friday, March 27, 2009
Friday, March 20, 2009
For the Week of March 23rd
Family Book Club is Wednesday evening, April 29th from 6:30-8:00 PM. This year's books are Granny Torrelli Makes Soup by Sharon Creech and Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor. Why not read one or both of these books with your student over spring break and then let us know that you will be coming to the family book club evening. We would enjoy having you join us. Over the years of doing this, we have received many positive comments about how parents got a completely different picture of their child as they listened to them discuss text. It is also a great way to meet other parents in the district.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
For the Week of March 16
I was reading an article in the "Reading Teacher" about sustained silent reading in the classroom. For many students this is an important part of the day. During this time students get to select their own books and read for pleasure. This daily practice helps them to imprint more words on their brains so that they can read at a faster rate and more accurately. However, for some students, sustained silent reading is not that helpful. Some students pick out books that are too hard for them. This causes them to loose interest quickly and soon they are pretending to read. Books that students read for pleasure, with no adult help, should be books that have a maximum of 5 words on the page that are difficult for them. This same principle applies to students reading at home. The article stressed how important it is for students to choose books at their level. Parent can help with this selection by listening to your child read a page out of the middle of the book. Count how many errors are made. Steer your child towards books at their level. If you are reading a book together and can quickly feed your child words that they don't know, then it is fine to get a reading level that is higher. When students' abilities and the reading levels of books fit, students are much less likely to put the books down.
Friday, March 6, 2009
For the Week of March 9th
Cook to Read and Read to Cook
As I was driving south on 355 this morning, I was listening to two people have a discussion about how beneficial it is for children to spend time cooking with their parents. They were emphasizing the merits of children learning how to cook, learning about good nutrition and spending quality time with their parents. If I could have called in, I would have added that reading recipes and following the directions helps a student's reading ability. In fact, one part of the reading section of the ISAT test is devoted to reading something like a recipe or directions for making or doing something. Then questions are asked about that reading. When students read a recipe, they have to comprehend what the recipe is telling them to do in order to come out with a tasty product. Measuring helps math skills. Volume and fractions are learned hands-on. Double the recipe to make it more exciting - then share some with someone who could use a little cheering up. Cooking together has now turned into a character building exercise. So, pick out a delicious sounding recipe and have some fun together. There are numerous reasons to do so.
As I was driving south on 355 this morning, I was listening to two people have a discussion about how beneficial it is for children to spend time cooking with their parents. They were emphasizing the merits of children learning how to cook, learning about good nutrition and spending quality time with their parents. If I could have called in, I would have added that reading recipes and following the directions helps a student's reading ability. In fact, one part of the reading section of the ISAT test is devoted to reading something like a recipe or directions for making or doing something. Then questions are asked about that reading. When students read a recipe, they have to comprehend what the recipe is telling them to do in order to come out with a tasty product. Measuring helps math skills. Volume and fractions are learned hands-on. Double the recipe to make it more exciting - then share some with someone who could use a little cheering up. Cooking together has now turned into a character building exercise. So, pick out a delicious sounding recipe and have some fun together. There are numerous reasons to do so.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)