Sight words, often called "Dolch words" are critical in a child's reading and writing development. They are also often referred to as "high frequency" words as they make up the top percentage of words we use to read and write every day. Words like the, said, my,  and is are not words we can tell a child to "sound out." Kids must practice them, memorize them, and use them in writing to become fluent readers and writers.
Silly Songs for Sight Words is my attempt at making this learning fun yet powerful. In class we are singing sight words and doing fun engaging activities to make the sight words "stick" in students' memories. We are making words out of magnetic letters, making sight word puzzles and writing a sentence after putting our word back together, using bingo dot markers to write our words, and writing in shaving cream to help those kinesthetic learners who haven't quite mastered the use of the pencil.  Above you will see my presentation board from a past teacher conference. On this board you will see examples of these activities. Have fun with sight words at home by trying some hands-on activities. For more ideas, check out my page on Squidoo called: Music and Multiple Modalities Enhance Literacy. http://www.squidoo.com/lensmaster/new_workshop/silly-songs-for-sight-words Playful learning acitivities help your child become more interested and successful in school!

Thank you to all of the parents who were able to attend Back to School Night! It was wonderful to be able to share all of our classroom information, see some new faces and communicate about expectations for the year.  There are a few items that I didn't have a chance to mention.
 As the weeks progress, we will be adding classroom "jobs" to our daily routines. We will be picking jobs such as line leader, group leader, lights helper, office helper and many others. Jobs help kids feel important, included and industrious. When kids feel valued this way they are more able to learn and contribute to a positive environment.  Most of the students understand that everyone will get a turn for every activity and job in the class; if your child has difficulty with this concept, please take some time to talk about the differences between home and school. When there are 20 children it takes awhile for everyone to get a turn!  Kids love to tell us: But my mom or dad doesn't do it that way!  We simply point out the differences between home and school and move on from there. It can be challenging to teach a lesson when a couple of students are still upset about not getting their turn right away. Emotions greatly affect learning so if we can help our students learn to move on from an upset, we can spend more time engaged in learning!
 Thanks again for your support and involvement. Children succeed when parents and teachers work together as a committed and consistent team.  We are off to a wonderful start this year
Have a great weekend!
:-) Mrs. Young

It's been a busy first 2 weeks of school and I am writing to express my gratitude to the wonderful, supportive parents who have helped to make the transition to school smooth for their children.  As children become more adjusted to the morning routine and comfortable in their new environment, the morning drop off time will be less emotional and easier for you!
Thank you all for your contributions to our classroom supplies. We appreciate your help so much.  We will keep you updated about more ways you can help at Back to School Night next week.
As you ask your child about his/her day at school, try asking the following types of questions.

• When did you work hard on something today?
• How did you help your classmates?
• What time of day do you like best?
  

Every day we end our time together with a class meeting where we discuss and celebrate working hard and doing our best. I encourage the kids to come up with their own "unique" answer and to reflect on how they are doing their best.
Thanks again for your support! It's going to be a great day :-)