Whole Group Reading will be taught using the Harcourt: Storytown Series in Reading. Our reading series focuses on integrating whole group reading, phonemic awareness, phonics/spelling, vocabulary, writing, listening, and speaking. Through Storytown, the first graders are taught skills and strategies to support them as they read, while building fluency and comprehension.
Guided Reading Groups are used to individualize instruction to meet each learner’s specific needs. Children are placed into small groups according to the level they are reading on. Guided reading books will be sent home most days to be read as homework. These books are based on your child’s instructional reading level. The book will be sent home in a ziploc baggie with your child’s name on. The child will be instructed to read the book to someone. After reading the story, that person will need to sign the post-it note attached to the book so that I know that it was read. If the child loses the post-it note, you can always use a post-it note of your own or a small slip of paper to sign your name on. We have read this book several times in class, so when it comes home it should be read fluently. It would also be helpful for you to have the child try to retell the story after reading it using a beginning, middle, and end so that you are able to tell whether they were able to comprehend the story.