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)

Dolch List of 220 Sight Words - By Parts of Speech

Edward William Dolch, Ph.D. created a list of 220 sight words which contains conjunctions, prepositions, pronouns, adverbs, adjectives and verbs. He referred to these words as “tool” or “service” words because these words are found in all reading material, regardless of the subject matter. The same cannot be said of nouns; they are directly related to a subject matter. As a result, he created a separate word list which contains 95 nouns.

Early emergent readers should focus on instantly recognizing by sight these 220 words. Dolch’s list of 220 sight words categorized based on parts of speech is listed below.

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