December 2020 Vol

TITLE I NEWSLETTER December 2020 Vol. 1 issue 1

Welcome to our first issue of the Title Children like to get into the holiday I Newsletter. I am so sorry that this is spirit of giving presents. late, but working from home, I Unfortunately, most of them do not discovered that my home computer is have any money to purchase a “store lacking some of the programs needed bought” item. A gift coupon book of to create the newsletter, and I simply promises makes a great gift and best can not afford them. So, this one will of all, it doesn’t cost anything. look a bit different. Materials: We are all trying hard to provide your 8 ½ by 11 heavy paper or youngsters with the best education cardboard for the cover possible under these Covid 19 restrictions. We have also discovered 10 pieces of 8 ½ by 11 paper some absolutely fabulous parents, glue and a stapler If you have any questions, please contact me, Cookie Stewart at who have been helping us tirelessly in Method: educating the children. [email protected] Cut the cover and paper into a large The first round of NWEA testing is Or call me at 508-398-1638 and oval. Have the child draw his or her please leave a message, because if I underway, and much to my surprise, face on the cover. my youngsters are just where they am teaching I do not answer my should be at this time in the year! Print the words “I promise” on a phone. I will return you call the same They are learning much better than I separate piece of paper and cut out in day. ever would have thought under these the shape of a cartoon dialogue I wish you and yours a wonderful conditions, thanks in large part to the bubble. Holiday season. Please stay safe and wonderful parents and their devotion On each of the interior pages have wear a mask. to their children. the child draw a picture of a chore or activity that they will willingly do when asked. These become the “I promise” coupons. (Example: set the table, take care of a pet, dry the dishes, clear the table, make the bed, help with the laundry, sing a song or tell a story, write a thank you note, help put away groceries, give a parent a hug or kiss before going outside, help clean the car, etc.)

Glue the words “I Promise” onto the face picture and staple the packet

together.

Elementary School • December 2020 ®

How Families Can Help Children Become Better Readers Dennis-Yarmouth Regional School District Title 1 Help your elementary schooler use Practice reading before tests To succeed on tests, children must six strategies to learn from reading comprehend what they read. As your child progresses in school, she will need strong reading Even math tests involve reading skills to excel in every subject. To help your child get the most instructions and questions. out of what she reads, encourage her to: To help your child 1. Look through the text, prepare for tests: noting interesting details, • Boost reading skills illustrations and charts. whenever possible. 2. Summarize what she reads Read together daily. using her own words. Introduce your 3. Ask herself, “What is the child to new words. main idea of this passage?” • Review schoolwork directions carefully. 4. Review key words and terms. What words are used often? Help She should pay attention your child practice following complex to words that are in bold directions. or italics. 5. Consider the purpose of the reading. Why does your child think the author Graphic organizers get to the point chose to write about this? Graphic organizers are diagrams that 6. Wonder aloud. Does a plot in help kids think about what they read. a novel remind your child Draw a large star with of a historical event she’s five points. Have your learned about? What does child write the title of your child think about a story he has read in what she learned? the center. Then, in the points of the star, he can use information from the reading to answer who, what, when, where and Review language with word games why. He’ll have a clearer picture of what he’s read in no time! It’s much easier to remember grammar rules if you use them often. Playing word games with you is a fun way for your child to do this. Here are some examples: • Take turns thinking of adjectives that describe something, Make time to cook and read! wet, misty, damp such as a rainy day. You might choose To get your child excited about reading, or overcast. How many can your child think of? try cooking together. Appoint your I, me, we and us in sentences. Have • Use the pronouns s child your kitchen helper and: one person say a sentence, and the other guess if it’ • Take turns reading a recipe aloud. grammatically correct. For example, “My friends and me will • Have him make a I will go together” is correct. “My friends and grocery list of the go together” is not. ingredients you need. • Define prefixes and suffixes (the beginnings and ends of non means “not,” as in • Cook and enjoy the words). For example, the prefix meal together. Then, ful, means “having,” as in healthful. nonstop. The suffix read a book related to the type or style of food you made.

Ask your child to be your family’s ‘reference librarian’ Suggest graphic novels Give your child practice searching for and Graphic novels offer finding accurate information online. Make more than just it fun by asking her a series of questions and entertainment. Many challenging her to find the answers. address relevant and Get started with questions like these: complex social issues. • Who was the first astronaut to walk on the moon? What else They cover diverse happened on that space mission? genres of literature, like mystery, • What was the largest dinosaur that ever lived? Where did it live? fantasy and historical fiction. • What happens if people don’t get enough sleep? Ask the teacher to suggest one Remember to adjust your questions to match your child’s interests your child might enjoy. and ability. When your child finds the information you requested, say, “I’m impressed. Tell me where you found that information.” Talk about ways to tell if a source is reliable. For lower elementary readers: • Pluto Visits Earth by Steve Metzger. When Pluto finds out that astrono- Build your child’s vocabulary to boost mers have renamed him a dwarf reading comprehension planet, he gets upset and travels to Earth to Having a large vocabulary helps children understand what demand that he be they read. They don’t have to stop reading to figure out a a real planet again. word’s definition and they can focus on the meaning of the entire passage. • Who Wants a To boost vocabulary: Tortoise? by Dave 1. Provide simple definitions. Keane. What do you When defining curious, do when you want a puppy for your say, “A curious person is birthday—and get a tortoise instead? eager to learn more.” For upper elementary readers: 2. Give relatable examples. “When that big box • Mr. Ferris and His Wheel by arrived in the mail, you Kathryn Gibbs Davis. See the were curious about what inspiration that led George Ferris was inside.” to create the Ferris wheel, which 3. Ask your child for examples. amazed audiences at the 1893 “Can you think of some- World’s Fair. one who was curious?” ” • Love, Amalia by Alma Flor Ada 4. Keep using the new word. and Gabriel M. Zubizarreta. Amalia “I’m curious about coun- has a very special relationship with tries in South America. her Abuelita. Abuelita always knows Let’s do some research.” the right thing to say and do, no matter what Amalia is feeling.

: My third grader has always enjoyed reading, but lately Building Readers® Q she has begun to complain about books being “boring.” How Families Can Help Children Become Better Readers Publisher: Doris McLaughlin. What can I do to make sure she doesn’t lose interest? Publisher Emeritus: John H. Wherry, Ed.D. : Your child may be bored because she is choosing Editor: Rebecca Hasty Miyares. A books that are too easy. Many third graders can Copyright © 2020, The Parent Institute® (a division of PaperClip Media, Inc.) handle increasingly intricate story lines. Help her find P.0. Box 7474, Fairfax Station, VA 22039-7474 books on topics that interest her and that include some challenging 1-800-756-5525, ISSN: 1533-33021531-4901 words. Ask your child’s teacher for recommendations. www.parent-institute.com

How Families Can Help Children Get Ready to Read Dennis-Yarmouth Regional School District Title 1 Inspire your preschooler’s love for books Songs can teach language skills Your preschooler has the best chance of being a strong reader Songs aren’t just fun to if you focus on books as something to be loved, not necessarily sing—they can also be something to be learned. important learning To encourage your child’s tools. Listening to desire to read: music together is one • Read together every day. Your more way to expose child will look forward to your child to words and language. spending time with you and To help your child enjoy and learn listening to new books and from songs: old favorites. • Move to music. • Write stories. Children are • Invent silly lyrics together. creative storytellers, and • Share some of your favorite songs your child will love reading a from your childhood. book he “wrote.” Write down stories that he tells you and have him draw pictures to go along with them. It’s time to celebrate reading • Show your own love of reading. Want to have some family fun Make sure your child sees and nurture your child’s language- you reading regularly. When learning skills? Start new holiday he sees you get wrapped up traditions this month: in a book, he may want to • Read holiday books do the same. as a family. • Give books as gifts. “I think of life as a good book. The further you get • Play literacy games into it, the more it begins to make sense.” (such as letter and —Harold Kushner word hunts) during travel time.

Improve your little one’s rhyming skills Review when to use ‘me’ and ‘I’ Have you ever secretly wondered if Enhance your child’s language skills by encouraging her to find rhymes wherever she can. Here are a few ways you’re giving the right advice when to get her rhyming all the time: correcting your child’s grammar when Choose things • Point out common items in your home. he says, “You and me went on a walk” with simple names like chair and hat. Ask your child instead of “You and to name a few words that rhyme with each object. I went on a walk”? While reading, • Read familiar nursery rhymes together. Double-check by pause before a rhyming word comes up. See if your taking “you and” child can guess the word. out of the sentence. Think of a word See how it sounds. • Play Rhyme Time when you’re on the go. and challenge your child to think of another word (“Me went on a that rhymes. This is a great game to play while doing walk” or “I went on a walk.”) Now chores or taking a walk. you know “I” is the right choice in this case!

Conversations strengthen language skills The more kids talk and use language, the easier it is for them to Sock puppets add life to stories learn to read. Open-ended questions (those that can’t be answered with one word) are especially helpful for starting conversations. Help your preschooler turn one of To have more discussions with your child: her favorite stories into a puppet • Narrate your day. Let him hear you reflect on show. Here’s how: • your activities. While making dinner, you Make a sock puppet together. might say, “I’m making my favorite salad. Help your child Tell me about your favorite foods.” draw a face on the • Ask questions while reading together, such as toe end of an old “What do you think will happen next?” sock. • Give descriptions. Mention what your child is • Have your child doing: “That’s a bright sun you’re coloring. Tell me why you retell the story and chose that color for your picture.” use the puppet to act it out. • Affirm what your child says. “Yes, it is getting cooler outside!” • Listen and cheer. Say something like, “I love the way you acted He’ll see that what he has said is correct and relevant. Then he’ll want to say more! out the character’s emotions.”

Let family tales inspire your storytelling Books to delight your early reader Stumped about which kinds of stories to tell your child? • The Biggest Snowman Ever by Start in the most familiar place of all: your own family. Steven Kroll (Cartwheel Books). Children love to hear tales about people they know—and When it’s time for the town snow- especially about themselves. man contest, Clayton and Desmond To boost your storytelling: each decide to enter. They soon realize • Be confident. Who cares if that it’s hard work you’re not a pro? Certainly building a snow- not your child. Just be man alone, and enthusiastic and engaged. discover the value • Think back. What silly of teamwork. things have happened in your family’s past? What • Yoo-Hoo, Ladybug! do you remember from by Mem Fox (Beach Lane). “Yoo- when you were a child? hoo, Ladybug! Where are you?” Use old photo albums for Help your child build observation inspiration. skills while searching for Ladybug • Make your child the star. in pictures full of colorful details. Young kids love recalling • I Am Not a Copycat! by Ann the crazy things they’ve Bonwill (Atheneum). Hugo the done, so turn your child’s Hippo wants to be unique. But happy exploits into a story. how can he be one-of-a-kind when Bella the bird keeps copying him?

: I haven’t really pushed my child to read. But now that Building Readers® he’s in preschool, is it time to buckle down? How Families Can Help Children Get Ready to Read Q Publisher: Doris McLaughlin. : Learning to read is a process, and it takes time. Publisher Emeritus: John H. Wherry, Ed.D. A Still, you can do some things now to get the ball Editor: Rebecca Hasty Miyares. rolling. Point out familiar words, like stop, the and Copyright © 2020, The Parent Institute (a division of PaperClip Media, Inc.) end, your child’s name, and the words in the title P.0. Box 7474, Fairfax Station, VA 22039-7474 of his favorite book. Expose him to different types of reading 1-800-756-5525, ISSN: 1531-48981533-3299 material and be sure to read together every day. www.parent-institute.com X02369220 Copyright © 2020, The Parent Institute®, a division of PaperClip Media, Inc., www.parent-institute.com Reading At Home… Can Make A HUGE Difference!

Make Reading A Part Of Your Family Time! Family time is so important… Why not make reading part of this valuable time with your kids? Here are some tips for integrating reading into our daily family Choose Books That Are activities: At An Appropriate - Read bedtime stories Reading Level - Play a board game - Visit your local library For Your Child - Read a recipe and cook - Use the five finger rule. something yummy together! Open the book to any - Create a comfy reading space page and ask your child in your home. to read. Put up a finger - Put your child in charge of every time your child reading the grocery list at the does not know a word. If store. you have put up more than five fingers before Keep plenty of reading the end of the page, materials in your home: - this book is too hard for books, magazines, your child. newspapers, and comic - Choose books that match books. Children enjoy your child’s likes and having a variety of interests. reading materials! @ All Students Can SHINE 2014 Check For 15-20 Understanding minutes is  Start the book by making plenty for predictions. What do you a beginning think will happen in this story? reader!  Ask questions and make comments during the reading process. How To Read With A  After reading a book, have Beginning Reader: your child tell you the events • Encourage your child to use from the story in the correct his/her finger to point to each order. word.  What was the problem in this • Read a sentence and have your story? child repeat it.  How did the character feel • Take turns reading a sentence when…? each or a page each.  Encourage your child to make • Talk about the story as you connections. Does this story read it. What do you think will remind you of another book happen next? What does this you read, an event in your life, story remind you of? How do a movie? you think this character feels? • Don’t be afraid to read the same book again! Repeated reading helps build reading fluency! Read Books Online! There are many fun and interactive websites for literacy. Here are a few FREE online resources: www.starfall.com www.speakaboos.com www.spellingcity.com www.wegivebooks.org

@ All Students Can SHINE 2014 http://interactivesites.weebly.com