Second Trimester Assessments and How You Can Help at Home

1. Second Trimester Assessments and How You Can Help at Home Ideas to use at home to build literacy and math skills

2. SECOND TRIMESTER LANGUAGE ARTS ASSESSMENTS Phonemic Awareness Segmenting Sounds: When orally given a simple word, the student will segment or separate the word into individual sounds. • Practice by saying a simple word such as “get”. Your child needs to divide the word into the three sounds /g/, /e/, /t/. • Make sure they are making the sounds that are heard in the word and not how it is spelled. • See segmenting in action from Reading Rockets for parents: • http://bcove.me/i9o1wzsc or • For kids, click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pywW8vne3d4 Click here

3. SECOND TRIMESTER LANGUAGE ARTS ASSESSMENTS Phonemic Awareness Read 1-Syllable Words: When shown a simple 3-letter word, the student sounds out each letter and blends the sounds together to read the word. • Practice by writing a simple 3-letter word for your child to read such as “pin”. Your child should say /p/, /i/, /n/ and blend it into “pin”. • Practice by using the word family flashcards sent home with your student. Be sure to mix them up. • See blending 1-syllable words in action by going to the First Step Reading website: • http://www.firststepreading.com/VideoDetails_23.php/3_Letter_Blending_A/1 • http://www.starfall.com/n/level-a/learn-to-read/load.htm?f

4. SECOND TRIMESTER LANGUAGE ARTS ASSESSMENTS Decoding & Word Recognition High Frequency Words: When shown the kindergarten high frequency words, the student must read the word QUICKLY and FLUENTLY. • Practice with flashcards to see how quickly your child can say the words. They should be able to name the word within 3 seconds of seeing the word. • Use the flashcards to play games like “Go Fish” and “Concentration”, using the words. • Please remind your child that these words cannot be “sounded out” but rather memorized. • Watch this Sight Word video for Kids & parents by clicking here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9ch9W0rGks Click here

5. SECOND TRIMESTER LANGUAGE ARTS ASSESSMENTS Decoding & Word Recognition Reads Emergent Reader Texts: When shown a kindergarten level text, the student must read the words QUICKLY and FLUENTLY. • Practice reading the phonics readers that come home each week. Your child should be able to read these books independently and with ease. • Encourage your child to use the following "Good Reader Strategies:" • Look at the pictures • Try to sound out the word • Ask yourself "Does it make sense? • Reread the sentence • Watch this video Parent link from Reading Rockets website: http://bcove.me/p337slqw

6. SECOND TRIMESTER LANGUAGE ARTS ASSESSMENTS Reading: LITERATURE & INFORMATIONAL TEXT Ask and Answer Questions About Key Details in a Text: After listening to a story, the student should be able to ask and answer questions about essential elements of a story such as characters, setting and important events. • Practice by reading stories with your child and then asking questions about the characters, setting, and events in the story or book. • Have your child practice asking you questions about the book. After reading an informational text with your child , he/she should be able to ask and answer questions about the main idea and key facts in the book. • Practice by reading informational texts with your child and then asking questions about the main idea and key facts in the book. (For example after reading a book about spiders, ask “Is a spider an insect? How is the spider different than an insect?”). • Have your child practice asking you questions about the topic. • Another helpful Parent link from Reading Rockets website: http://bcove.me/n0n9i74l

7. SECOND TRIMESTER LANGUAGE ARTS ASSESSMENTS Reading: LITERATURE & INFORMATIONAL TEXT Comprehension Retelling:After listening to a story the student should be able to retell essential elements of the story such as characters, setting and important events. • Practice by reading stories with your child and having him tell you the essential elements of that story. • Be sure to practice retelling the story in correct sequence. • Your child must be able to retell the elements of the story in his own words. • Enjoy this student video on Sequence of Events: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEWitdYB6_Y Click here Sequence of Events

8. SECOND TRIMESTER LANGUAGE ARTS ASSESSMENTS Reading: LITERATURE & INFORMATIONAL TEXT Compares & Contrasts Characters or Topics in Texts: After reading a story or book to your child, he should be able to tell you how the characters or topics are the same and how they are different. Identify Similarities & Differences Between Two Texts: After reading two different books to your child, he should be able to tell you how the two books are the same and how they are different. • Read together every night! • Read aloud a variety of books of different genres. Talk about the books you read together, pointing out differences, comparing and contrasting This is an example of a Venn Diagram used to compare/ contrast stories, characters, and/or topics.

9. SECOND TRIMESTER LANGUAGE ARTS ASSESSMENTS Writing • Composes Opinion Pieces About a Topic or Book: Your child should be able to write about a topic or book in his own words. He should be able to tell a reader the name of a book or the topic he is “writing” about and give an opinion about the topic (e.g., My favorite book is… I like it because...). • Composes Narrative Texts. Tells Events in Order and Provides a Reaction: Your child should also be able to write about a single event or several loosely linked events. He should tell about the events in the order that they occurred, and provide a reaction to what happened. • Guide and assist your child to compose opinion and narrative texts. • Encourage and support daily writing • Allow your child to use a combination of drawings, scribble-writing, letter-like forms, dictating and writing to write about a topic. • Encourage writing and drawing by providing your child with readily available and interesting writing and drawing materials. Watch this video to encourage your child to write! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsTpyFSS3G4

10. SECOND TRIMESTER LANGUAGE ARTS ASSESSMENTS Reading: LITERATURE & INFORMATIONAL TEXT Explores and Uses New Words and Phrases: Your child's vocabulary should show evidence of being able to use new words and phrases acquired through conversations, reading and being read to, and responding to texts. • Practice by providing experiences that encourage the use of new words and phrases from conversations, reading and responding to texts (For example, after reading Where the Wild Things Are (by Maurice Sendak) say, “There is quite a rumpus going on in the play room!”). • Check out this link in making personal connections and new vocabulary: http://bcove.me/g0qhrwso

11. SECOND TRIMESTER MATHEMATICS ASSESSMENTS Operations & Algebraic Thinking Decomposes Numbers Up to 10 For any number up to 10, your child should be able to find all the combinations of numbers that make that number. • Help her understand that numbers can be deconstructed in more than one way. For example, 7 can be 0 + 7, 6 + 1, 5 + 2, 4 + 3, and the number can be moved around – 7 + 0, 1 + 6, 2 + 5, 3 + 4. • Use objects to represent these combinations of numbers. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHhrm0S8f0Q Getting Started with Ten Frames Click here Number bonds to 10 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6RaMGDPfJg Click here

12. SECOND TRIMESTER LANGUAGE ARTS/MATH ASSESSMENTS Additional Resources Websites for Language Arts and/or Math: • www.starfall.com -  a free public service to teach children to read with phonics.  • www.educationcity.com(check with your teacher for user name and password) • www.readingrockets.com - the award-winning national multimedia literacy initiative from WETA Public Broadcasting, has provided parents and educators with information and free resources on how young kids learn to read, why so many struggle, and how caring adults can help. • http://www.startwithabook.org/-To ward off the learning loss that many children experience over the summer, Start with a Book offers adults engaging, research-based ideas for getting kids into books all summer and beyond. Second Trimester Assessments and How You Can Help at Home (document sent with Report Cards)