It's incredible that June is just a little over a week away! Many of our students have been re-assessed to see what level they are independently reading and thinking on. It's amazing to see the kind of progress they make.
As a reminder, here are some things you can work on with your children to help them with their reading skills and strategies:
- Retell
- Characters
- Setting
- Plot (Beginning, Problem, Solution, Ending)
- Figure out tricky words
- Use the picture
- Think about the story (Does it make sense?)
- Does it look/sound right? Does it make sense? (e.g. walking/ waking; on/in)
- Look for parts you know
- Favorite part
- Part of the story
- REASON
- "It was my favorite part because it reminded me of ___." (connection to the story)
- "It was my favorite part because before ___ and now ___." (change)
- Connection (What does the story remind you of?)
- This reminds me of ___ (similar situation you were in) JUST LIKE ___ (refer back to character/book).
- This reminds me of __ (how character's feelings changed) JUST LIKE ___ (refer back to character/book).
- Most Important Part (for levels 18+)
- An important event that happens and leads to the solution and ending of the story (BEFORE the solution; it's HOW the solution happens)
- Author's Purpose/Moral of the story (for levels 18+)
- What the author wants you to learn. These are usually related to themes, such as: friendship, fitting in, being helpful, being kind, accepting others, working together, being brave, etc.
I'm updating Raz Kids to reflect your reader's current independent reading level.
For math, be sure to have your mathematicians SHOW how they know. The answer isn't enough; there should be a number sentence (equation), such as 5 + 7 = 12, AND a sketch (drawing) to match.
For our next Writing Unit, we'll be fundraising money towards bee conservation. Be sure to talk to your children about why bees are important: Bees help pollinate foods like almonds (from trees), fruits, and vegetables!
Thank you for your help!
Love,
Ms. Liang