A Great Start for the Travilah’s First Grade Team!
Dear Parents,
The first grade team has gotten off to a terrific start.
Students are excited to be back and so are we. As a part
of efforts to maintain an open line of communication, we
are pleased to present our team newsletter. This
newsletter is designed to keep you informed and connected
to what your children are learning in their reading and
language arts blocks.
Throughout the year, new reading strategies will be
shared. Use these strategies as a way to help your
children practice their reading and build strong reading
behavior. It is important to remember that reading comes
with exposure to books. The more you read with your
children, the better readers they will become. Reading is
like sports; it requires practice and strength training in
many skills to become the best.
Attendance is also a key factor in helping
your child excel. Please make sure that
your child is at school everyday, unless he/she
is ill. Trips and vacations are considered unexcused appendences. Unexcused absences make
learning very difficult for children. Absences
from school interfere with a child's ability to
learn and absorb, and internalize skills and
material. We want your children here so that
we can help them achieve their potential!
Important Dates to
Remember
No School
9/7
No School
9/14
No School
9/23
We look forward to a great year. Please
feel free to contact us if you have any concerns or questions.
Sincerely,
The First Grade Team
To provide an
afternoon snack
for your child!
How Can You Help Your Child
Develop as a Reader?
Ways to Help Your Child
 Read every night to your child.
 Have your child read to you.
The First Grade weekly homework is designed to support the skills that
students need in order to be successful in first grade. You can help your child
by making sure that he/she is completing the weekly assignments.
What are the weekly assignments?
 Make it a goal to join the Read
with Me Club!
Reading builds brain
power!

Practice handwriting and proper formation of the letters. Have your
child compete a home journal entry once a week and return it to school.

Read at least 10 minutes every night and sign the “Read With Me” Club recording sheet. Students
will turn them in for certificates.

Encourage your child to write in his/her home journal and bring to school each Friday to share with
the class.
High Frequency Words
High Frequency Words are words that appear frequently in texts
that you read. Many times these words do not follow any kind of
spelling pattern. Therefore, it is best to be able to know these
words by sight. Students will be learning 5 new high frequency
words per week. We practice saying these words, spelling them,
and writing them .The quicker your child can recall these words,
the more fluently he/she will be able to read.
 Practice Word Wall words daily.
 Try to avoid unexcused absences.
What are some strategies that I can use to help my child learn the word
wall words?

Make flashcards.

Play games with the words.

Practice writing them daily.

Make a word wall at home.

Chant and Chant—Clap and say the letters in the word over and over again.

Look, Say, Cover, Write, Check- Look at the word, say it out loud,
cover the word, write the word, then check to see if it is spelled correctly.

Mix and Fix—Use letter tiles to make the words, mix them up, then fix
them. Mix and fix again and again.
Before Reading Strategies
How can I help my child preview
the text?
Good Readers begin to understand
a story before they read the first
word inside the book. You can
help your child become a better
reader by encouraging them to
preview the text before they begin
reading.
Ask your child questions before he/
she reads. Try these:
How do I preview a story?

Look at the title.

Look through all the pictures.



What do you think the book is
about based on the title?
Look at the table of contents.

Make predictions based on the title,
pictures, and chapter headings.
What is happening in the first
picture? The second picture?

How do you think the book is
going to end?

What do the chapter headings
tell you about the story?
During Reading Strategies
Good readers always monitor their comprehension as
they are reading to make sure that the story makes
sense to them.
Have your child
use
use the pictures to help identify tricky words and clarify
confusing parts of a story.
What do I do as I read?

Stop and retell what is happening in the story.


Make connections to things that are happening in the
story.
Have your child segment unknown words into beginning,
middle and ending sounds.


Reread any part of the story that doesn’t make sense or
is confusing.
Look for little words inside the big words to help your child
break the words into parts.

Use word fix-up strategies when words don’t make sense.
How can I help my child use during reading stratgies?

After each page ask, “ What is happening in the story?”

As your child is reading, ask your child, “Have you ever
felt the same way as that character? Can you remember
a time when that happened to you? How did it make you
feel?”

Good readers use strategies as they read to help make sure they are
understanding what they read.
Have your child re-read sentences with difficult words.
After Reading Strategies
Good readers are able to
remember, think about and respond
to their reading after they finish
reading. Written responses help a
reader demonstrate his/her
understanding of a story.
Have your child:
good written response has many
 read the question out loud.
components. First, it is written in
complete sentences. Second, it includes  tell you what the question is asking
details from the text as evidence of
him/her to do.
understanding. Finally, it answers the
 talk about how he/she might answer
question accurately.
the question.
How do I use after reading strategies?

Retell the story after I read.

Sequence the events in the story.

Draw pictures about the story.

Discuss the connections, events, and
inferences about the story with
someone else.

Complete a brief constructed
response (BCR).
What makes a strong written response?
What makes a strong written response? A
How can I help my child write a
strong written response?
Good readers cite relevant information
from the text to support their written
responses.

sticky note examples in the story
that prove the answer.

use words from the question in his/
her answer.

write details from the story to prove
his/her thinking

Use trigger words like “In the story...so I think that means…”
“
“The story says...that proves…”