- RAZ-Kids Online Reading
Raz-Kids online is an online library that our classroom has subscribed to. It is filled with exciting reading materials. Raz-kids helps your child improve their reading skills as they listen to books with modeled fluency. With this program your child can...
1. Listen to books online
2. Read books online.
3. Take quizzes about their reading.
All you need is access to the INTERNET.
Click here to access the website: www.raz-kids.com or download the app on an iPad or Tablet.
OR - Go through CMS Portal using your child's student login and access via Clever.
1. TEACHER USERNAME: spostonb
2. Click on Student's Name
3. PASSWORD (each child's is individualized)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ - Reading Strategies:
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Reading in first grade is centered around learning how to figure out words we don't know. During shared reading and guided reading instruction, we've been discussing what to do when you come across these words. It's the good readers who have tricks or strategies for figuring out those new words. Here are the strategies we will be using this year:
1. Look at the picture
Some people used to think that using pictures was "cheating"; we now know that this is a valuable cueing system, especially for first graders who are so good at "reading pictures". You can encourage your child to look at the picture when they get stuck on a word.
2. Get you mouth ready.
Just by getting their mouths ready, or saying the first sound of a word, readers can often identify a new word. This strategy works well with looking at the picture.
3. Does it sound right? Use your sounds.
This is when a reader guesses a word they get stuck on in their reading, then makes sure that the guessed word matches up with the sounds in the word. S/he uses the sounds to identify a new word. S/he also uses the syntax/structure of a sentence to fit in a word that sounds right.
4. Look for chunks.
We have been working hard on our sight words. These are words like is, it, at, and in that are all part of strong "word families". They are words that help us to read and write lots of other words. The word will, for instance, contains a chunk (-ill) that helps us to read and write many other words like mill, still and fill. When we get stuck on new words, we look for chunks of letters that are familiar to guess a new word.
5. Reread.
As readers we often reread words we know to identify or get clues about the unknown word. This strategy can be used in a sentence where the reader cannot figure out one of the words in a sentence. One way to figure out that word is to read the sentence, skip the word, then go back and reread. Rereading is also helpful to help the reader understand what is happening in the story.
6. Does it make sense?
As readers we are always asking this question. We can, therefore, often identify a new word by the context clues of a sentence. Reading for meaning is the ultimate goal for all readers.
7. Skip then reread? If a reader comes to a word that they are unsure of, they can skip the word and keep reading the rest of the sentence. Often times the reader will be able to figure out the skipped word by what the rest of the sentence is saying.
It is a great help for you to become acquainted with these strategies to coach your child during home reading assignments. Having a wide repertoire of word strategies will prepare your new reader for many different types of reading and ultimately for enjoyment of stories for years to come. - ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- Book Level Finder
- Use BOOKWIZARD to
Find Guided Reading Levels for Books that You Have at Home or Check out at the Library
www.scholastic.com/bookwizard/
-Simply type in the book title or author’s name and click find books.
-Scroll down on the left hand side and you will see the words: READING LEVEL.
*(You might have to click on the picture of the book if it doesn’t show up right away)
-Then look for Guided Reading (it will have a letter)
-The letter is the book’s guided reading level.
For example when you type in the title, “Biscuit’s Big Friend” the guided reading level is H.