We are sending a “Practice At Home” paper today that can be returned next Friday (Sept. 20) as an incentive for students to practice new skills at home. They can earn “super stars” when returned with a parent’s signatures which helps them earn a trip to the treasure chest!

(I just discovered a typo on the page. It says Friday, Sept. 19 but it should say Friday, Sept. 20)

We are also sending your child home with two decodable texts. We are reading decodable texts several times throughout the day: together as a class, whisper reading to ourselves, in small groups, and with a partner. I can’t stress enough the importance of decodable texts. Students feel like readers and can be successful because all the words can either be sounded out or are high frequency words (“power words”) that we’ll be learning and reviewing in class. They’ll be exposed to the power words and letter sounds many times. If they are unable to read the decodable texts, please practice the power words and letter sounds consistently. Most kids need 4-40 repetitions to learn something new, but struggling readers may need to see it 40-200 times before it becomes automatic. Please continue to read to them at home and have them start reading the decodable texts to you. I hope they’ll soon be excited to show off their new reading skills to you, grandparents, siblings, or anyone that will listen! 🙂