Home Reading Program
As we all know, daily reading plays an integral part in the progress of young readers. The students will either use the online reading program Raz Kids as a way to engage with books at their reading level or take out leveled readers from the library. Students may occasionally need some support at home however, they should be able to read independently. Reading comprehension is also key to anything we read and includes the following: predicting what might happen next, retelling the book’s content in their own words and relating the book to their own experience. This can be done in both French and English, the language may be different but the process is the same. I like the fact that Raz Kids offers a quiz that students can complete to monitor their comprehension.
The way in which I would like the home reading to proceed is as follows:
- Each child will take out a leveled reader from the library or log into RazKids. Here your child will click Kid's Login, and type in ecolestgerard for the teacher's name. Your child will see their name to click. They will need to put in their 4 digit password; this is the last 4 digits of your primary phone number. The Kids A-Z Apple App or Kids A-Z Android App may be useful for students to do their reading on a tablet.
- To assist learning a second language it is a good idea for kids to read aloud so that they may also hear themselves. The students can use the record feature while reading so that I can listen to and monitor their reading, especially in French.
- Here is a link to a short video I made walking you through the process: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PQcN5LAMYWCdx2HN38jhDxBPBM6dVFtU/view?usp=sharing
- The scribbler your child brought home is where they will be responsible to write in it after s/he has read his/her book. The first half is for French reading and the second half is for English reading. In each child’s scribbler, there is an example of what s/he is expected to do (we will be discussing this and practicing this in class). As a loose paper in the bag, there are a variety of sentence starters your child may choose from. There are also two personal dictionaries to assist them with their spelling; one in English and one in French. Throughout the months of September and October, I would like to see the students write one simple connection daily. As the students grow as writers and understand the process more, I would like to see more complex responses.
- Once they have finished their written response, they are to take a picture of the response using the ClassDojo app and post it to their portfolio.
As your child begins to read longer books, homework time can become long. Your child is encouraged to alternate days for reading in French and English. Their homework should take about 30 minutes a night and this should include the reading and the writing. Please use your discretion with this and communicate with me so that I can assist in setting up the best plan for you. I will be contacting you if I am not seeing that your child is practicing their reading regularly.
I have prepared a questionnaire for you to fill out to help give me an idea of what your plan is for your child's home reading books. CLICK HERE
I believe that the reading program will be an asset to your child’s growth as a reader and a writer. If at anytime you would like to discuss your child’s reading, please send me a text message through ClassDojo or an email.