Sight Words: A Key Benchmark for Kindergarten Curriculums

Last night, our school held a kindergarten curriculum information session. The session provided parents with great ideas for supporting reading at home. They provided us with the tools to both determine and improve a child’s reading level.

Pre readers (Level 1 – 3) These children are learning their sight words and enjoy reading books. If your child is a pre reader, they recommend performing the following activities at home:

Read every day (a recurring theme in this post)

Read with expressions and make it fun

Practice sight words

The ability to instantly recognize sight words greatly assists a child in getting to the next reading level as well as reading comprehension. Our teachers recommended creating a wall word at home. Print the 25 sight words noted below and put it on a wall. Look for sight words in books and environmental print. In addition, a child needs to make a connection between sight words and sentences. Some children know all these words but do not recognize them when reading.

a	is	in	me	at	go	we
and	you	can	this	like	here	I
it	to	my	up	on	am	the
see	said	look	come

Personally, I have found a balanced approach that combines both obtaining a sight word vocabulary via wall word, fun games (hint: Erudition) and reading to your child every day for at least 20 minutes provides the desired results.

Beginner Readers (level 4-6) These children can read simple sentences and books that contain many sight words and picture support. They know all of the above 25 kindergarten sight words and possess the ability to apply some reading strategies.

If your child is a beginner reader, they recommend doing the following activities at home:

Read every day

Discuss elements of books -beginning, middle, ending, setting, characters, problem and solution

Point out the endings to sight words – look, looks, looked

Practice spelling and writing sight words

Work with the sight words on List A & B noted below

List A

going	down	not	yes	went	with	one
for	day	little	he	they	big	got
have	where	are	from	run	of	his
out	she	will	was

List B

her	get	after	eat	why	away	who
home	then	night	first	saw	did	mother
because	father	again	has	want	what	make
came	could	do	there

Readers (level 7-9) These children can read many of the words in a picture book independently. They possess the ability to apply strategies to figure out new words; they read fluently with expression.

If your child is a reader, they recommend doing the following activities at home:

Implementing a “you read to me I read to you” strategy; a child reads one page and another person reads the other page. Some children tire easily; so alternating between pages is a great strategy. Mary Ann Hoberman and Michael Emberley wrote a series of excellent books that promote this concept.

Reread books to practice fluency. A great book to reread is Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do you See? My daughter could recite this entire book without turning a page; it is filled with repetition and rhymes. Each sentence is eight words or less and incorporates many sight words (I, see, a, you, do, what).

Model reading with fluency - read books to your child that is above his/her reading level

Ask comprehension questions - ask the “wh” questions (who, what, where, when & why)


Fluent readers (level 10 & up) These children read independently with confidence. They possess the ability to reflect on what they read. In addition, they use text features to aid in comprehension.

If your child is a fluent reader, they recommend doing the following activities at home:

Keep reading (they mentioned this several times)

Be a good listener when your child is reading

Allow them to make mistakes

They provided fabulous advice. They told us to listen to our children read and allow them to make mistakes so they can self correct. When reading with my children, I instinctively correct them when they misspeak rather than providing the opportunity to correct themselves. Allowing children to self correct ultimately creates a more positive reading environment. If you listen while they read and are not quick in pointing out their mistakes they may correct themselves as they read on – great advice!

Celebrating Dr. Seuss

If your family is like mine, you love celebrations. In honor of Dr. Seuss we created a cookie cake in the shape of the famous red and white hat from his legendary book, The Cat in the Hat. We honored Dr. Seuss by reading his books and eating cookie cake – the perfect after school activity to celebrate Dr. Seuss’ birthday.

This activity takes approximately 30 minutes and requires the following ingredients: Betty Crocker’s sugar cookie mix, a stick of butter, an egg, vanilla frosting and red food coloring. Make sugar cookie mix as directed. Using wax paper, shape the cookie dough into a hat and place it on a cookie sheet. Bake the cookie until the edges are light golden brown. Cool completely. Place half of the vanilla frosting into a bowl and add red food coloring. Frost and decorate as desired. A healthy alternative is to make a pizza, using mozzerella cheese and tomato sauce to create the red and white stripes.

Dr. Seuss’ Story

Courtesy of the
Montgomery County
Library
Theodor Seuss Geisel (1904–1991), a voracious reader and distinguished drawer, was born on March 2, 1904 in Springfield, Massachusetts. He has received numerous prestigious awards including the Pulitzer Prize. Theodor Geisel’s literary works impacted the world; he sold over 200 million copies of his books worldwide.

His popularity grew exponentially from his literary works as Dr. Seuss. Geisel was saving his real name for serious endeavors. He created his pseudonym using his middle name and the doctor salutation. Ironically, his father wanted him to obtain a doctorate. Geisel once joked that he saved him thousands of dollars.

Geisel graduated from Dartmouth and did pursue a doctorate in English literature at Oxford University. He quickly changed his mind and returned to the states after a fellow student encouraged him to leave academia and pursue cartooning. He not only listened to her advice; he married her too.

In 1937, he published his first childrens book, And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street. Over the next two decades, Dr. Seuss published 12 more children books (e.g. Horton Hears a Who!) In 1957, Dr. Seuss published both The Cat in the Hat and How the Grinch Stole Christmas (one of his favorite books). Over the next few decades, he continued writing children books, publishing over 30 books in this period. My favorite Dr. Seuss book, Oh, the Places You’ll Go! , was the last book published in his lifetime.

Geisel strived to create children books that were both easy and entertaining. He restricted the vocabulary, used repetition and rhyming, and kept it simple so very young children could read his books; he revolutionized children books. His early literary works established him as a reputable writer but his reputation soared in1957 when he published The Cat in the Hat.
Dr. Seuss wrote four out of the ten bestselling hardcover children books of all time. They are as follows: The Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs and Ham, One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish, and Hop on Pop.

Gerald Harrison, president of Random House’s merchandise division, in Publisher’s Weekly, stated “… he was basically an educator. He helped teach kids that reading was a joy and not a chore…. For those of us who worked with him, he taught us to strive for excellence in all the books we published.”

Source: “Seuss, Dr.” Authors and Artists for Young Adults, Volume 48. Gale Group, 2003.
Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Gale, 2010. http://proxy.montgomerylibrary.org:2071/servlet/BioRC

Report Cards Reflect More Than Just Grades

Yesterday, both of my children ran toward me screaming in excitement. They could barely contain themselves as they snatched their report cards out of their backpack while in route to our home. As we collectively reviewed their progress for the first semester, I was overwhelmed with a plethora of pride, admiration and utter joy at their accomplishments. At that moment, I fought back tears (of joy of course). I did not think my children would comprehend my emotional state; they can trigger extraordinary emotions within me.

Here’s what their teachers said about them.

“Emma Leigh is having a wonderful year in kindergarten. She has exceeded the kindergarten benchmark and is reading level 16 texts. She can read and write all 25 of the kindergarten sight words and most of the first grade words too. During small group reading time, her group has been practicing strategies to decode unfamiliar words using phonetic “rules,” reading with expression, and self-monitoring (knowing there is an error). They have also been working on comprehension, and constructing written responses to questions using supporting details from the story. Emma Leigh is very proud of her reading ability and enjoys reading independently and with friends. In writing, Emma has done a wonderful job of learning to write independently. She draws detailed pictures and consistently writes two or more sentences about her picture. Emma enjoys writing and uses many strategies, such as a dictionary and phonetic rules to write unfamiliar words. We will now focus on re-reading and editing her work to produce a top quality piece of writing. She is becoming a great writer!”

In the book, Problems in Reading, Edward William Dolch, Ph.D. wrote “A child’s language development is, next to his character, the most important part of his school experience.” While I am extremely proud of my children’s academic sucess, it is the following comments about their character that almost brought me to tears.

My daughter’s report card when on to state: “Emma Leigh is a caring little girl who is a joy to have in the class. She is kind and respectful to her teachers and classmates and is always there to offer assistance and/or words of encouragement to others.” She’s just like her mother (just to be clear, this was not included in the report card)!. “She enjoys school and always tries her best. She is eager to participate in our classroom discussions and enjoys sharing her ideas and opinions. She is a quiet leader and a great role model for the rest of the class. Emma Leigh had a terrific first semester of kindergarten, and I look forward to an equally great second semester.”

The portion of my son’s report card addressing his character stated: “Connor is conscientious and a capable young learner. He is highly motivated in his literacy endeavors and has excellent study habits.” Just like his mother (see earlier disclaimer)! “Connor is a kind and considerate classmate; he brings such a positive presence to our learning community. It is such a pleasure working with him this year.”

My son also brought home a magnificent report card, making the superintendent’s list, the highest honor. My husband and I are extremely proud of our children for their acedemic accomplishments but we are most proud of the report on their character traits.

Both of our children are excelling in school. I cannot pinpoint one particular activity that led to this success but I can write that playing the board game, Erudition , greatly assists in their ability to read and write.

Happy Belated Groundhog Day

Yesterday, the furry forecaster, Punxsutawney Phil, saw his shadow. According to folklore, we can expect six more weeks of winter. The educated woman, that I am, does not put much merit in a little rodent predicting the weather for the next six weeks. Although, I did wake up to four inches of snow, school closings and the possibility of another storm system in a couple of days that may deliver significant amounts of snow.

The folklore occurs in between the winter solstice in December and the vernal equinox in March, or the midpoint of winter which has been designated as February 2nd. On this day, a marmota monax more commonly referred to as a groundhog predicts the type of weather for the next six weeks.

Winter will last six more weeks, if the groundhog sees its shadow.

Spring will arrive early, if the groundhog does not see its shadow.

Fun Kindergarten Facts about Groundhogs

It has big teeth to assist it in eating flowers and nuts.

It has long claws to assist in digging a burrow.

It has thick fur to keep it warm in the winter.

It is also called a woodchuck or marmots.

It is the largest member of the squirrel family.


Sources:
Scholastic Science, February 2010
Issn 0024-1261 Vol. 44 No. 5
The Christian Science Monitor (http://www.csmonitor.com)
The National Geographic Website (http://animals.nationalgeographic.com)

Kindergarten Homework - 2nd Marking Period

As stated in my previous post, homework serves to reinforce concepts learned in the classroom. A child should do their best and be proud of their accomplishments. During the second marking period, our kindergarten curriculum required the completion of the following tasks:

Monday - write the assigned sight words 5-10 times in your journal.
Tuesday - complete the sentence by drawing a picture. If possible, label your drawing. We do this five times.
Wednesday – sort objects
Thursday - math related assignment (worksheets reinforcing positional words, ordering numbers 1 through 20)
Everyday - read for 20 minutes

Week 10:
They did not have any sight word related homework. They did have a math worksheet that focused on positional words. Click here for a PDF.

Week 11:
Family fun week: Disguise Tom Turkey

Click here for a PDF of Tom Turkey. Using items found at home, disguise Tom Turkey (i.e. sheep, cat, pilgrim etc.) to avoid his capture and subsequent use for a Thanksgiving feast.

Week 12:
Sight words: to, like
Sentence: I like to go to the _____.
Sort: Beginning sounds sort - Rr and Pp. Pictures (e.g. rain, ring, ruler) with the beginning sound /r/ from pictures (e.g. pen, pizza, pig) that begin with the /p/ sound.

Week 13:
No homework this week since it’s the week of Thanksgiving.

Week 14:
Sight word: said
Sentence: I said I can see the _____.
Sort: Beginning sounds sort - Ll and Nn. Pictures (e.g. lion, light bulb, leaf) with the beginning sound /l/ from pictures (e.g. nest, nail, net) that begin with the /n/ sound.

Week 15:
Family Fun Week: Decorate a Gingerbread Man

Click here for a PDF of a gingerbread man. Write a list of the materials used to decorate the gingerbread man. Similar to the story, The Gingerbread Man, our masterpiece will run away from school. Via US mail, each gingerbread man will surprisingly end up in our home. Each parent is instructed to secretly send in an addressed envelope with postage.

Week 16:
Sight word: you, is
Sentence: You said I can see the _____ is ______.
Sort: Beginning sounds sort - Ff and Gg. Pictures (e.g. fish, fire, frog) with the beginning sound /f/ from pictures (e.g. girl, grapes, glove) that begin with the /g/ sound.

Week 17 and 18:
No homework - Winter break and snow days prevent school from opening for two weeks

Week 19:
Sight word: it, here
Sentence: Here is a _____. It is ______.
Sort: Ending sounds sort - Tt and Ss. Pictures (e.g. cat, net, hat) with the ending sound /t/ from pictures (e.g. bus, dress, eggs) that end with the /s/ sound.

Week 20:
Sight word: come, up
Sentence: Can you come to my ___? Do you see the ____ up in the sky.
Sort: Ending sounds sort - Pp and Kk. Pictures (e.g. stop, lip, lamp) with the ending sound /p/ from pictures (e.g.snake, bike, duck) that end with the /k/ sound.

Week 21:
Sight word review

Review the 25 kindergarten sight words. Pick six words that your child could not identify and write them 5 times. If your child knows all the 25 kindergarten sight words, proceed to the next 25 sight words. For a list of the kindergarten sight words, please visit a previous post, High Frequency (Sight Words).

Play sight word memory. Pick six words that were difficult to read. Write each word in two different squares on the sight word memory paper. Color the back of the card or use a thicker paper. Cut out the word cards. Play the memory game with these cards. When you turn over a card, use must read the word. Play this several times.

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