NWEA

Our final round of NWEA Testing starts this week.  Click here for district information on the test.  You may find the Parent Toolkit helpful.  This test will be one indicator of your child's growth since January. Our first test will be Wednesday, May 1st at 10:30 AM and it will be our first session of reading.  We will continue to take one half-hour session per week for 3 additional weeks.  Please do your best to make sure your child is in school this day and ready for the test with a hearty breakfast.  Here are some points you can discuss:
1.  Listen to and think carefully about the questions.
2.  Do your best to choose the best answer.
3.  Take your time.


On Friday, we celebrated the 175th Anniversary of Carpenter.  Mrs. Tabaka created a wonderful video for the occasion and here it is!


School of Choice
The School of Choice window for non-resident student enrollment is open.  For those of you who do not live in the district (or if you have moved out of the district), you must fill this out in order for your child to attend Carpenter next year.  If you know someone who may be interested in this process, please pass the information along.  The window closes May 7th.  Click here for more information.


I have updated many of our important dates and events.  Check it out --->
Field Day is a day that requires many parent volunteers.  If you are interested, contact Mrs. Cope.

Carpenter Turns 175!

On Friday, we will be celebrating Carpenter's 175th Anniversary!  WOW!  Friday afternoon, we will have a celebration ceremony as a whole school.  At 1:15, we meet at the front of the school for a short procession to the multi-purpose room.  We will have some special speakers and songs.  The assembly is scheduled to end at 2:45.  On Friday, we are encouraging all students to wear their Carpenter Spirit Wear in celebration.


Other notes...
April Scholastic Book Orders are due this week.  I am extending the deadline until Friday, for any extra orders.  Remember, you can order easily online here with our classroom code: HHRCH.  And don't forget to check out our Classroom Wishlist!

Supplies
We are in need of a few supplies.  If you can donate, it it much appreciated!
* Tissues
* Classroom snacks: crackers, pretzels, raisins, etc.
* Electric pencil sharpener
* Sandwich-size Ziploc bags
* Thin dry-erase markers

Home-Reading Book Envelopes
Keep up the reading at home!  Remember, each book should be read multiple times to build fluency, comprehension, and reading accuracy.  Send the packages back when your child has had that opportunity with each book (there is no set due date).
When working on writing, please encourage your child to do his/her best.  Add color to the illustrations, etc.  Here is a great example of writing about a question about the book:

For Word Work, consider writing words from the book or words from our sight word lists on index cards.  Read through these daily with your child as well - this builds automaticity.

Lastly, if you would like additional reading logs, click on our "Home Learning" page at the top of this webpage.  You will find a copy of the log that you can download and print.  Or click here.

HAPPY READING!

April is Poetry Month!

April is National Poetry Month, so... we have become poets ourselves!  How do you become a poet?  (1) read lots and lots and lots of poems, and (2) use different tools you learn from other poets to write your own poems!
We have learned that a poet's "toolkit" might include:
* carefully chosen words, like descriptive words and onomatopoeia (sound words like pop, zoom, oink, etc.)
* repetition (repeating special words or phrases)
* line breaks
* rhyme

So, we started out by studying a poem about popcorn, ate some popcorn to brainstorm our own carefully chosen words in a word web, and wrote our own poems about popcorn!

 Yum in my tum

so sweet

and neat

good to eat

Mmm!

Out of the pot

Hot, hot, hot!

Buttery and salty

It is sweet

Yum yum yum

I want more please

I love popcorn!

In Kindergarten, it is difficult to understand line breaks.  We may start my writing just like a story - that is when we get to the end of the line, we go down to the next line.  However, in poetry, the lines have to be just right.  So, we took our poems and cut them up to make sure the lines went together just right!

We also learned that poets write poems about people, places and things that inspire them.  So, we each chose a topic, brainstormed some words, and wrote a poem about something special to us!  Here are a few:

 Roar roar!

Go to the zoo!

(monkey sounds)

(sigh sound)  the zoo.

(The sigh is because a long day at the zoo is tiring!)

Apple trees, apple tress

Sweet apples up in the trees

Mmmm

Crunch

I am always amazed and thrilled about the poetry that comes out of Kindergarteners!  And the kiddos really attach to the "sound" of poetry.  Reading poetry also builds fluency in young readers.

So, what can you do at home to inspire poetry?!  Read lots and lots and lots of poetry together! :)  If your child comes across a poem he or she just loves, send it in and we will read it together! :)  So often kids will take "tools" from poems they have read and apply them in their own poems.  Go ahead and write some poems together too! :)  Support your child in making the appropriate lines break.

Here are some sites to visit together to find some poems:

Shel Silverstein

Poetry4Kids

gigglepoetry

Storylit

ThePoetryFoundation

PBSKids

Enjoy!

Home Reading Procedures

The Kindergarteners were all sooo excited to get their book packages today!  Seeing their excitement around reading sure made me smile today!

Alrighty, so how does this all work?

1.  Each time you read together, record it on the reading log.  For this assignment, YOUR CHILD is doing the reading, not you.  You are there to observe, listen, prompt, and guide your child.

For the "Comments" section, consider comments related to reading accuracy and comprehension.  If your child needed a lot of prompting, jot that down!

(I realize you may need more space on the log.  Feel free to expand beyond the box and I will adjust the log for the future.)

Reading Strategy Bookmark:

This book mark is in the package to remind you of the prompts you may use to support your child.  You may keep it out during reading and your child may reference it as well.

Keep this out as well while your child reads.  These are prompts you can use when your child gets stuck or makes a mistake while reading.  These prompts help your child learn how to be more independent and strategic readers.

2.  Read every day together!  Your child should be reading all of the books within the package multiple times, but not necessarily every book every day.  Re-readings are important for all reading skills!  Your child will have at least one book within the package that he/she has never read before.  Plan to spend at least 20 minutes on reading per day (including the word work or writing along with it).

3.  TALK, TALK, TALK about the book together!  (see workshop notes)

4.  Do some word work together and/or write about one of the books! (see workshop notes)

5.  Keep the package in a safe place.  All of the contents should remain inside when not in use.  You do NOT need to return the package to school everyday, but if you prefer you may keep in within your child's backpack.

6.  When you feel like your child is reading all of the books solidly (after multiple readings and several days of practice), return the package to school for new books.  There will not be an assigned day of the week for this, but instead do what is best for your child.  I will be checking the log for evidence that each book has been read many times.  Make sure your child understands when he/she is turning it in for new books.  This should be about once a week.

7.  Enjoy this time together! :)  This is not meant to be a stressful time, so make it work for you and your child.  If your child is too tired/unfocused at night, consider reading together in the morning instead.  And continue to read together over the weekend.

Keep in mind that when you return it to school, you may not get it back right away.  I will try my best to get it filled with new books that day.

I look forward to seeing the confidence and progress that your children will make in reading with this assignment.  Please let me know if you have further questions!

Home Reading Contract

Thank you to everyone who made it to our workshop today!  I hope it was informative and useful, and I enjoyed sharing with you.  For those of you who were not able to attend, I will be including the handouts and presentation notes in your child's home reading package, which will begin next week.

Before I send your child's home reading package, I am asking that you read and sign a family reading contract.  I will send this home tomorrow and please return it to school on Monday, so that your child may take his or her package home.  More details on contents and procedure of the package to come!

Thank you!

Reading Workshop for Parents!

Welcome back families, and I hope your Spring Breaks were enjoyable!

I hope you have seen one of the flyers I have sent home for our Parent Workshop this Thursday, April 11th from 5:00-6:00 PM in our classroom (Room 120).  My goal for this workshop is to share with you some strategies and prompts you can use at home, when reading to and with your child.  These strategies will support your child's reading accuracy, word-solving skills, and comprehension skills.
Next week, we will begin take-home reading books.  Your child will get an envelope that contains a few books at his/her reading level.  Your child should read from the envelope each evening or morning at home.  Our goal is for each child to be reading at a Level C by the end of the school year. (Click here for information on Leveled Books)

This may include books your child has read before in Guided Reading and new books.  Re-readings (reading a book multiple times) support many reading components: confidence, fluency, accuracy, and comprehension.  So reading all of the books in the envelope multiple times at home will be important.  New readings give your child a chance to word-solve.  Simply telling your child a word is not the best strategy for developing his or her skills as a reader.  We will talk more about how to support your child in managing all the aspects of the reading process at our workshop.

This is a training workshop for YOU, so your child does not need to attend.  I hope at least one parent may attend and I look forward to seeing you!


P.S.
There will be no bagel or popcorn sales this Friday, April 12th.