Parent Literacy Meeting Grades K-2 September 25, 2012 Lovett Library Presented By: Heather Gaines

Welcome Parents, please sign in at the Library desk. Put your name on a slip of paper and place it in the container next to the slips of paper for door prizes. Please take a hand out.

Agenda Introduction Goals What Reading looks like at Lovett Whole Group/Shared Reading Small Group Instruction/Guided Reading Workstations Read Aloud DEAR Time/Independent Reading What reading looks like in each grade level? -Kindergarten -First Grade -Second Grade What is Guided Reading ? Reading Focuses and Strategies -Fluency -Vocabulary -Phonics -Phonemic Awareness -Comprehension

Agenda Cont... Strategies to use at home if your child gets stuck on a word? Grade Level Expectations -Kindergarten -First Grade -Second Grade Testing Procedures What is the DRA? -Independent Level -Instructional Level -Frustrational Level Student Expectations Parent Expectations Teacher Expectations Door Prizes

Goals At Lovett, we feel that we should meet every child’s instructional needs. We do this by pulling small groups for reading instruction, guided reading. Our goal is for every child to at least meet end of the year reading expectations or to make at least a years growth. For example, if a student in Kindergarten begins the school year on a level 8 (which is above grade level expectations) we would expect them to end the school year on a minimum of a level 16 to 18.

What Reading Looks Like at Lovett Whole Group Instruction/Shared Reading Small Group Instruction (Guided Reading) Workstations Read Aloud DEAR Time/Independent Reading

Whole Group/Shared Reading Everyday during your child’s reading block 10 to 20 minutes will be spent in whole group. The teacher will be reading aloud a text to the students. The text being read will usually tie into what the students are learning in Social Studies or Science. The teacher and students will think aloud about the text, have discussions and unknown vocabulary will be discussed.

Small Group Instruction/ Guided Reading Small groups of children will be reading together based on their shared, instructional reading level The classroom teacher will pull 2 to 3 small groups a day and focus on specific reading strategies or letter/sound work Classroom teachers will pull groups at least 4 times a week doing running records on the 5th day

Workstations Workstations are literacy based activities that students rotate through Students will be partnered with another student Together students will complete activities in each workstation from an “I Can” list For example: At the Spelling WS students could make their spelling words using magnetic letters, give one another a spelling test, use flash cards to read spelling words, circle spelling words in a poem or chart, etc…)

Read Aloud Read aloud is a strategy used by teachers to engage students in the reading process. In an interactive read aloud, the teacher reads a book or short text stopping at predetermined points to ask students questions. Read aloud is done every day for about 10 minutes.

DEAR Time/ Independent Reading DEAR stands for “Drop Everything and Read” Students read silently for 5 to 15 minutes a day The teacher walks around and conferences with students about what they are reading

Kindergarten In Kindergarten students need to be able to: -identify the letters and sounds of the alphabet -use one to one correspondence -understand and apply concepts about print -sound out words -identify and produce rhyming words -read Kindergarten sight words -read pattern sentences -read longer texts with sight words

First Grade In First grade students need to be able to: -use one to one correspondence -sound out words -produce blends (such as bl, ch, sh…) -identify and produce rhyming words -read Kindergarten and First grade sight words -use reading strategies to figure out unknown words -read pattern sentences -read longer texts with sight words -read with fluency -have adequate comprehension (should be able to retell a story using characters, setting, beginning, middle and end)

Second Grade In Second grade students need to be able to: -sound out words -produce blends, digraphs and endings (such as bl, ch, sh, ed, ing, es…) -identify and produce rhyming words -use context clues to define new vocabulary words -read Kindergarten, First and Second grade sight words -use reading strategies to figure out unknown words -read longer texts with sight words -read with fluency -have adequate comprehension (should be able to retell a story using characters, setting, beginning, middle and end and recall details from the text) -make text to text, text to self and text to world connections

What is Guided Reading? Guided Reading is a program where students will work in small groups with the teacher to improve their reading abilities based on their current reading level. Groups will change throughout the year based on individual student’s progress. Our focus during small group instruction will be reading strategies such as comprehension, vocabulary, phonics, phonemic awareness and fluency.

Reading Focuses and Strategies -Fluency -Vocabulary -Phonics -Phonemic Awareness -Comprehension

Fluency Can decode unknown words quickly Uses intonation and expression while reading Knows HF words Can dialogue about text Uses punctuation correctly (stops at a period, pauses at a comma) Adjusts reading rate (doesn’t read too fast or too slow) Reads in phrases

Vocabulary Identifies unknown words and figures out meaning Uses word parts (such as prefixes and suffixes) to figure out unknown words Uses pictures or meaning from text to discover new words Can identify and apply features of non fiction text Uses words with multiple meanings correctly Uses new words correctly Uses book language and idioms correctly (For example say “The moon climbed higher in the sky” instead of “The moon is way up in the sky.”) (“Don’t let the cat out of the bag.”)

Phonics Uses initials letters/sounds Can identify and uses long vowel sounds Can produce final letters Can use vowels + r (ar, er, ir, or, ur, and our) Can identify and use short vowel sounds Can identify and produce “funky chunks” (oo, oy, oi, ow, ou, ough, augh) Can blend CVC words (consonant, vowel, consonant) to read new words such as cat, pig, lip…. Can read longer words, by breaking words into syllables to decode

Phonemic Awareness Can identify and produce rhyming words Can segment a sentence (count the number of words in a sentence) Can blend and segment syllables (clap the number of syllables in a word) Can identify and match sounds Can count the phonemes in a word (children hold up a finger for each sound they hear in a word) Can blend phonemes to make a word (\c\a\t\ would read cat) Can isolate the beginning phoneme in a word (such as \b\ in big) Can isolate the ending phoneme in a word (such as \g\ in big) Can isolate the medial phoneme in a word (such as \i\ in big) Can substitute one phoneme for another, either the initial, medial or ending phoneme (changing the \b\ in big to a \d\ to read dig)

Comprehension Monitor the meaning of text Summarize (can retell a story including all important details, beginning, middle and end, setting and characters) Uses schema/prior knowledge to understand a text Understands text structure (fiction/non-fiction) Asks questions Can use a graphic organizer Visualizes a story (creates a picture in their head) Uses deeper meaning (text to text, text to self and text to world connections)

Uses one to one correspondence (points to each word as reading) Strategies to use at home if your child gets stuck on a word What Good Readers Do Uses one to one correspondence (points to each word as reading) Uses the pictures to figure out unknown words ASKS: “Does it make sense?” or “What would make sense?” Looks for chunks in the word that one knows (instead) Gets their mouth ready and sounds out the word Makes connections between words you know and words that are similar (look, hook, took…) Rereads the sentence Reads ahead and then rereads the sentence

Grade Level Expectations Kindergarten Minimum DRA Expectations: Beginning of the Year: Level A/1 Middle of the Year: Levels 1/2 End of the Year: Levels 3/4 preferably 4 or higher First Grade Minimum DRA Expectations: Beginning of the Year: Levels 3/4 Middle of the Year: Levels 8/10 End of the Year: Levels 16/18 Second Grade Minimum DRA Expectations: Beginning of the Year: Levels 16/18 Middle of the Year: Levels 22/24 End of the Year: Levels 28/30

Testing Procedures How do we find your child’s reading level? DRA (Developmental Reading Assessment) - a reading assessment that gives teachers your child’s instructional reading level, given 3 times a year (beginning of the year, middle of the year and end of the year) STAR Test – given at the end of the year in first grade, 3 times year in second grade (BOY, MOY and EOY) in the computer lab, which gives us your child’s AR range, a range of library books that meet your child’s instructional reading level Lexile Level – a reading score based on your child’s Stanford reading scores

What is the DRA? The DRA (Developmental Reading Assessment) is an assessment tool that teachers use to find your child’s instructional reading level, their accuracy rate, fluency rate and their comprehension score.

Independent Level? An independent reading level is when a child can read a text with an accuracy rate of 95% or higher and with good comprehension, a score of 18 or higher. Meaning the child does not need the teachers or parents help to read the text.

Instructional Level? An instructional reading level is when a child can read a text with an accuracy rate of 90 to 94% and with good comprehension, a score of 16 or higher. This is where we want your children to be for instructional small groups. Meaning the child will need some reading help from the teacher or parent to read the text (approximately 10 errors per 100 words).

Frustrational Level? A frustrational reading level is when a child can not read a text with an accuracy rate of 89% or higher and with comprehension score of 16 or lower. Meaning the child will need a lot of the teachers or parents help to read the text. This text is too hard.

Student Expectations Read 10 to 20 minutes a night Find a quiet, cozy spot at home to read Read to a parent nightly and discuss text Bring home Guided Reading bag or envelope daily Work on High Frequency Words Discuss pages or chapters read with a parent (if applicable) Read with-in their AR range/which is their instructional level (if applicable) Become a life-long reader

Parent Expectations Find a quiet, cozy spot in your home for your child to read to you, 10 to 20 minutes a night Read the book in your child’s reading bag Sign the parent log nightly that the book has been read and discussed Have discussions with your child about what they have read to you Monitor their reading progress Stay in touch with your child’s reading teacher

Teacher Expectations Pull small groups everyday (2 to 3 groups a day) Have students reading in small groups based upon their instructional reading level Have open discussions about what students are reading in their small groups Focus on specific strategies based on level and need Keep in touch with parents to inform them of students progress Send reading bag or envelope home nightly with text to be read

Thank you for coming! Enjoy your day! Keep in touch with your child’s teacher Email any questions or concerns to hgaines@houstonisd.org Read, Read, Read!