Accelerated Reader!

Several students took an AR test today.  They didn't all make 100, but that's okay.  They are learning how to log in and how to get to the place to type in the name of their book.  They are learning to use the keyboard.  They are learning how to answer questions or finish a sentence by finding the correct answer.  They are learning that you need to look at all the answer choices before choosing an answer. They are learning to ask when they don't know a word.  They are learning how to take a test.  (:

If your child is taking a test, remind him/her to take the AR Folder out of their binder and put it on my desk in the front of the classroom when they unpack and turn in their binders.  Today I was careless and didn't check to be sure that all logs in the basket had been initialed.  So I, too, am learning that I have to do my part and check the AR Folders.  (:  You will notice on the Log that each child has a goal to meet. To be able to reach that goal, your child will need to take about 2 tests a week.  The children have 7 weeks this nine weeks to test.  If they made 100 every time, they could only earn 7 points in 7 weeks taking 2 tests a week.  (Those making 100, earn 0.5 points, 80...0.4 pts., 60... 0.3 pts.)   

While on the subject of reading, I would like to mention the decodable books that the children are bringing home daily.  I did say something about them in a note on the homework paper this week. The worth of these little books is that they review daily the spelling and sound that is introduced during class as well as high frequency words.  We look at the punctuation and talk about how that sentence should be read.  With the limited vocabulary that most children beginning first grade are able to read, we have to not only read the text but look at the pictures and make connections from the text to the pictures, and vice versa.  Then we retell the story, simple as it might be, in our own words.  Please do this each night with your child.  Later, the children will be asked to write, using complete sentences, answers to simple questions about the story.  This will help the children to understand what is meant by answering a question with a complete sentence.