Weekly Update and Many Upcoming Events

Hi Parents,

It's the time of year when the calendar begins to fill up quickly, both at home and at school!  I have many upcoming events to tell you about.  

Fall Party:
I hope to see some of you at our Fall Party on Monday.  It begins at 1:00 in our classroom.  Please sign in at the office and get a visitor pass before coming to our classroom.  Since no costumes are allowed that day, please help your child contribute to our festive atmosphere by dressing in something orange or Halloween themed (a Halloween shirt, hair ribbon, etc.).  

Field Trip:
Our field trip to  Claude Moore Park and the Heritage Farm Museum will be next Wednesday, November 2nd.  We'll enjoy a nature walk through the park while we observe seasonal changes and learn how animals prepare for winter.  We'll attend the apples program at the Museum to learn about different types of apples, play some apple games, and press some apple cider.  Your child should bring a disposable lunch on the field trip.  Watch the weather to decide what to wear; layers are best as the temperature fluctuates while we move in and out of the sun in the park.  I'll send home a few more reminders next week.

Turkey of the Year:
Turkey of the Year voting began today, and will continue for the next few Fridays! Your child must read to vote for the staff member he/she would like to see come to school dressed in a turkey suit.  One hour of reading equals one vote.  Each Friday, please sign and return that week's voting slip, which came home in last week's Thursday folder.  If you lost the voting slips, please write a note to indicate how many hours your child read during the previous week, sign it, and send it to school on Friday. 

Parent Teacher Conferences:
Conferences have begun!  If your conference is in the morning before school, I will meet you at the front door of the school to let you in since our office staff may not yet be here.  You will not need to sign in.  If your conference is after school, please ring the school visitor bell, be prepared to show your photo id to our office staff, and sign in at the office.  You may walk to our classroom after you sign in.  If your conference is on Monday, November 7th, the same procedure applies -- you will need to show your photo id and sign in before coming to our classroom.  

Pinebrook Read-a-Thon:
Monday, November 7th will mark the start of our Pinebrook Read-a-Thon.  All money raised will be used to purchase materials for our new Guided Reading Library.  This is the library we teachers access for resources and materials when we plan our reading instruction. Please refer to the flyer I sent home in yesterday's Thursday folder for more information.  At this point, please concentrate on helping your child create his/her personal fundraising page, which he/she will use to track both reading time and donations.  I will give 5 Puma Paws to any student who creates his/her personal page.

Family Reading Night:
Our Family Reading Night will be Thursday, November 10th at 6:30 at school. Come listen to some stories and to complete some fun family activities!

American Education Week:
Please mark your calendar for our American Education Week celebration on Thursday, November 17th from 9:45 - 10:30 am in our classroom.  Students will present the ABC's of Thanksgiving.  Our lunch is immediately following the ABC's of Thanksgiving; you may stay to have lunch with your child after our event.  More details to follow!

Pink Writing Journal:
I sent each of the kids home with a pink writing journal in last week's Thursday folder.  This is for them to keep at home and use for free writing, word practice, story practice, etc.  It's a great journal to keep in the car as an alternative to screen time, or as a "must do" before screen time.  For example, ask your child to write for 10 minutes in the car before having screen time...you can call out words for him/her to write, you can ask your child to make a pattern, to show a number in various ways, or to simply write 3-5 sentences about a chosen topic.

Focus Areas for the Coming Week:

• Reading:  We will explore cause and effect, prediction, problem and solution, and story retelling with one of my Halloween favorites...Room on the Broom.
• Writing:  We will respond to various writing prompts and self-chosen topics. We will continue to work on letter formation, capital letters, punctuation, and spacing.
• Math:  We will begin our addition unit.  We will learn strategies for quickly solving addition facts.
• Social Studies:  We will learn about Veteran's Day, and make a banner to thank all veterans during our annual Veteran's Day event.

It's our weekend to head to Williamsburg!  The weather looks beautiful, so we're going to visit Busch Gardens and colonial Williamsburg too.  I hope you have a wonderful weekend too.  See you Monday at the party!

It's Turkey Time!

Hi Parents,

Turkey of the Year is back, and better than ever!  Last Thursday, your child received a letter regarding our annual "Turkey of the Year" reading incentive.  Each year, the students vote for the Pinebrook staff member they would like to see dressed in a turkey suit for a day...this person is the "Turkey of the Year."  Students must read to vote...one hour of reading equals one vote.  Voting takes place over a 4 week period, and each week, the field of candidates is narrowed until one staff member is named our Pinebrook Turkey of the Year.

Last year, I made it all the way to the final round of voting!!!!  I was this close to being Turkey of the Year, but lost to my friend, Mrs. Danish (who looked fabulous in the turkey suit!).

People--this is my year!!!  Please help me become the Turkey of the Year by encouraging your child to read, read, and read some more over the next 4 weeks!  At the bottom of the paper your child received last Thursday, there are some slips which you must sign and return each Friday for your child to be eligible to vote.  On the slip, please indicate how many hours your child read that week and sign the slip. When your child brings it to school on Friday, he/she will receive the number of votes equal to the number of hours read.  If you lose the preprinted slips, write a note to state how many hours your child read, and send that instead.  Voting starts this Friday, October 28th.

Please let me know if you have any questions about this super fun reading incentive!

*gobble, gobble*

Weekly Update

Hi Everyone,

Can I tell you a story?  This week, we were doing our pumpkin investigations.  We came to the page that required us to weigh our pumpkins.  I didn't have a small scale, so I brought my bathroom scale from home.  I figured we could set our pumpkins (even the small ones) on that scale and weigh them since the scale displays both pounds and ounces.  #teacherfail  It didn't work.  I had to quickly adjust the plan, which meant, much to my HORROR, using the method where I stood on the scale by myself, then stood on the scale with my pumpkin, then subtracted the two numbers to get the pumpkin's weight.  (No, this is NOT a first grade measurement technique; sometimes you have to be flexible! :) )  Anyway, the point of the story is that this method also required me to weigh myself.  In front of 22 1st graders.  And to say my number.  Out loud.  To the entire class.  Have you done this?  The mere fact that I weigh over 100 pounds (gasp!) just bowled them over.  They looked horrified.  "YOU WEIGH HOW MUCH?"  "MRS. LOMBARDO WEIGHS A HUNDRED POUNDS!"  *GIGGLE, GIGGLE, GIGGLE*  But it was funny too.  Really funny.  Laugh-out-loud-at-the-end-of-a-ridiculously-long-day funny. Have-a-piece-of-chocolate-since-you-already-weigh-over-100-pounds funny.  I love your kids.  

Check Out Our 1st Grade Symbaloo Page:
Our Technology Resource Teacher, Mrs. Clark, compiled a Symbaloo page for us! Symbaloo is a visual bookmarking tool that makes it simple and fun to organize multiple websites.  Our 1st Grade Symbaloo has links to a variety of sites that cover multiple disciplines...everything from Mouse Skills (check out "Bees and Honey"...I played it last night!), to science, to math, and holidays.  Our Symbaloo sites are a perfect "something more" to supplement your child's weekly homework.  You can access the Symbaloo by clicking HERE.  You can access it via the "online resources" page of this blog.  You can also access it by going to the Pinebrook Homepage.  Once there, click "First Grade" under the "Classrooms" tab.  Look to the left under the heading "First Grade".  At the bottom of that list, you'll see "First Grade Symbaloo."  

Field Trip:
Our 1st grade field trip to Claude Moore Park and Heritage Farm Museum will be Wednesday, November 2nd.  If you haven't done so, please return the permission slip and payment as soon as possible.   I'll post some information next week about dress and lunch, and send a reminder or two home before the trip.

Fall Party:
Please mark your calendar for our Fall party on Monday, October 31st from 1 - 2:15 pm in our classroom.  All families are welcome to attend!  (NO costumes, please.)  I sent home a food permission slip in yesterday's Thursday folder.  Please sign and return it as soon as possible.  Your child will not be able to eat any of the party food unless I have his/her signed permission slip.  

Next Friday:
I will be out next Friday (the 28th).  My husband's company is holding its annual offsite in Williamsburg, so we are taking the boys for a long family weekend.  Mrs. Ryan will be in for me.

Focus Areas for the Coming Week:

• Reading:  We will talk about characters in fiction stories.  We will discuss character traits, different types of characters (humans, animals, non-living things), and how characters evolve in stories.
• Writing:  We will respond to various writing prompts and self-chosen topics.  We will continue to work on letter formation, capital letters, punctuation, and spacing.
• Math:  We will finish our patterns and sorting unit.
• Science:  We will finish our pumpkin investigations.

Thank you for all you do!  As always, comments, questions, and feedback are welcome (as long as it's not about my weight!).  

Enjoy the crisp Fall weekend!  (Crisp.  I love that word.)  

Weekly Update

Hi Everyone,

Thank you for the well wishes regarding my son.  He is feeling much better.  He slept in today, and the antibiotics have kicked in.  I will definitely see all the kids on Monday!  In the meantime, here's a weekly update for you, which I am typing in my exercise clothes, seated at my kitchen island, while drinking some coffee.  I suppose a sick kiddo is good for something!  :)

**Daily Work Paper**:
This week, I introduced the kids to a new closing and pack-up routine.  This routine includes the "daily work paper" you saw in your child's homework folder Tuesday and Wednesday; it's the one that reads "Here is one thing I did at school today."  Going forward, each student will complete a daily work paper most days of school.  The daily work paper should show a picture of your child doing something from that day in school.  Your student will also add some writing to explain the picture.  The writing can range from labels on the picture to 2 or 3 sentences, depending upon your own child's writing ability.  Please look at this paper with your child each day!  Your child should be able to read the labels and/or sentence to you each afternoon, and this can serve as a great discussion starter for the "what did you do at school today?" conversation. 

The goal with daily work papers is for your child, you, and me to see strong development in your child's writing ability over time.  Daily work papers provide all of us (again...your child, you, and me!) continual ideas of things to work on.  Those things will be different for each child...finger spaces between words, using lowercase letters (not capitals) in the middle of words, using punctuation, correctly spelling previously learned sight words, using capitals at the beginning of sentences, capitalizing the word "I", including vowels in words...the list goes on and on.  

As the year progresses and we work more on these writing skills, I will expect sentences to become longer and more detailed, as the writing on the daily work paper becomes more important than the picture.  I will continue to expect some picture accompaniment because drawing a picture provides valuable practice in fine motor skill, adding details, and aligning picture representations with written descriptions.  For some students, adding a picture will also remind them of words they need to add to their writing.  

The kids work on their daily work papers during the last minutes of the day.  It's a hectic time, which means I am not able to correct every error every time.  Please know I am monitoring the students as they write, and I am verbally coaching them on many of the writing points outlined above.   I will often write on your child's daily work paper what he/she can work on next time in his/her writing.   That said, if your child seems unfinished or has many mistakes on his/her daily work paper, a great homework "extra" would be to fix and/or finish this paper at home!

Please let me know if you have any questions about the daily work paper. 

Remind:
Thanks to the 19 of you who have signed up for my Remind messaging service.  I'm loving it!  It's so easy to send you a text when I need to send along a quick note.  FYI: You can send me a message via the Remind app too!  When you click on my class, you'll see "Send a message, photo, or voice clip" at the bottom of your screen.  Touch there, type your message, and hit send.  I'll receive the message on my phone (just like a text) and can easily respond.  The only drawback to Remind?  Each message is allowed a limited number of characters, which means I have to choose my words (and emoticons) carefully!  I know you'll be surprised to hear, but brevity in writing has never been my strong point.

Field Trip:
Our 1st grade field trip to Claude Moore Park and Heritage Farm Museum will be Wednesday, November 2nd.  Information letters, permission slips and chaperone interest forms went home in yesterday's Thursday folder.  Please kindly return the permission slip and payment as soon as possible.  If you are interested in chaperoning this trip, please kindly return the chaperone interest form as soon as possible.  Please contact me with any questions.

Pumpkins:
If you haven't yet sent your child's small ("pie-sized") pumpkin for our pumpkin investigation, please send it Monday...we will be using our pumpkins that day.

Fall Party:
Please mark your calendar for our Fall party on Monday, October 31st from 1 - 2:15 pm in our classroom.  All families are welcome to attend!  (NO costumes, please.)  I will send a food permission slip home before the party.  Our awesome team of Room Moms and I thank you for the party donations.  Your funds will be put to good use, as the ladies plan for our class celebrations.  :)

Focus Areas for the Coming Week:

• Reading:  We will explore setting in the books we read.  The setting is where a story takes place.  We will identify settings, and talk about how settings can enhance stories.
• Writing:  We are changing gears in writing.  We will take a break from focusing on one type of writing for several weeks and instead, we will explore grammar, punctuation, and the elements of a top-notch "1st grade" sentence.
• Math:  We will continue our patterns and sorting unit.
• Science:  We will learn the life cycle of a pumpkin, and we will begin our pumpkin investigation.  During our pumpkin investigation, we will observe, measure, and experiment with our pumpkins.

Speaking of pumpkins...we have 6 big old pumpkins on our front porch, just begging to be carved.  If Jonah's feeling up to it, maybe we'll work on 1 or 2 this weekend.  I hope you have something fun planned too!

As always, your support is appreciated and your feedback is welcomed.  Please tell the kids hello for me.  I can't wait to hear about their ready, responsible, and respectful choices while I was out!

Pajama Day and Pumpkins

Hi Parents,

A friendly reminder that tomorrow is our Pajama and Stuffed Animal Day, which is the reward the students earned for filling our marble jar.  Students may wear pajamas to school and bring a stuffed animal friend.  Your child's stuffed animal should fit in his/her backpack.

A friendly reminder to send your child's pumpkin (for our pumpkin investigations) by Friday.

Finally, thanks to those of you who signed up for my Remind.  If you didn't sign up on Sunday, please do so now.  You can find all the information by scrolling to the post below this one, titled "Please sign up for my Remind!"  I gave 5 paws today to all students with a parent who already signed up.

Thank you!
 

Please Sign Up for My Remind!

Hi Everyone,

I'm checking in on a Sunday to let you know that I am going to start using a new communication tool called "Remind".  Some of you are already familiar with this tool.  My older son, Savey, is in 8th grade.  All of his Mercer teachers use Remind, and as a parent, I've found it to be both super convenient and super easy.  It occurred to me I can use it as a teacher too!  :)

Remind is a messaging service which allows me to send you a short, quick group text message any time of the day.  It works with iOS and Android platforms, and it works on multiple devices (phones, computers, tablets).  I plan to use it for messages such as "Don't forget tomorrow is PJ day!" or "Box Tops and Labels for Education are due tomorrow"...quick and easy things where a text is faster for me to send and faster for you to read!  You can download the Remind app for free...search "Remind" in the app store; the icon is a blue background with a white cloud that looks like a speech bubble or a thought bubble. 

When you sign up for my Remind class, you are added to my contact group.  I am the only person who sees your information; members of the group cannot see each other's names, phone numbers, etc. If I send a message to which you reply, I am the only person who sees your response.  When you sign up for my Remind, you can choose whether to receive the messages as a text or as an email. Personally, I receive messages as texts and recommend this delivery method.  When your child leaves my class at the end of the school year, you can remove yourself from my Remind class.

To join my Remind class, please click this link.  You'll need to provide your name and phone number:

https://www.remind.com/join/jlombardo?utm_medium=ios

You can also join my Remind class by texting @jlombardo to 81010.

Please let your child know when you've joined.  I'll give 5 Puma Paws to any kiddo with a parent who joins my Remind.

While I've been using Remind for quite a while as a parent, it's new for me as a teacher.  I apologize in advance for any hiccups as I get this going, and I thank you for your patience with me!

Please let me know if you have any questions.  I hope you're enjoying the long weekend!  Tell the kids hello for me!

Weekly Update

Hi Everyone,

Before we start our long weekend, I'm passing along your weekly update.  Today, I'm going to prove to you that I can write a short weekly update!  :)

Interim Progress Reports:
A friendly reminder that interim progress reports went home on Wednesday.  Not all students received an interim.  If your child did receive an interim, please review the interim, sign the bottom, and return the signed slip to me.  

We Filled Our Marble Jar!
The students have been working hard to be ready, responsible, and respectful.  We filled our class marble jar today and, as a reward, the students voted to wear their pajamas and bring a stuffed animal to school.  We will have our stuffed animal and pajama day on Wednesday, October 12th.  I'll send a reminder home on Tuesday.

Decoding Strategies Series:
This week, we studied the decoding strategies good readers use when they come to tricky words.  I published a short post each day highlighting the strategy learned that day.  If you missed them, please scroll down to see these posts.

Important Information About Written Homework:
Your child completed his/her first written homework sheet this week.  Our written homework will always be the same:  in addition to nightly reading, your child will spend one night practicing writing each of our words of the week 3 times.  He/she will then use each word in a sentence.  There are 5 words of the week.  Please note:  our 5 words of the week are in your child's agenda.  He/she writes those 5 words in the upper right corner of the agenda each Monday.  Those are the words your child should practice writing for written homework.  Those are the words your child should use in a sentence for written homework.  Those are the words posted here on my blog under my picture.  Your child should not be using any of our sound of the week words for written homework.  Those are the words pre-printed on the paper your child glues in the lower right corner of the agenda each Monday.  Please let me know if you need further clarification. 

I also completed the homework this week.  :)  Here's what my completed homework looks like.  I think seeing mine may help you ensure your child is completing his/her homework correctly:

Focus Areas for the Coming Week:

• Reading:  We will examine the differences between fiction and non-fiction texts, and explore ways to determine whether a text is a fiction or non-fiction selection.
• Writing:   We will finish learning the routines and procedures of Writer's Workshop as we explore the idea that "writing is just telling on paper".  We will begin to wind down this first writing unit. 
• Math:  We will begin our patterns and sorting unit.  In this unit, we will talk about ways to sort objects (using attributes like color, size, shape, and thickness).  We will talk about how to extend and grow patterns, how to isolate a pattern unit, and how to label patterns.  We will predict what comes next in repeating patterns, growing patterns, and number patterns.  We will solve word problems with patterns.  This unit will last approximately 2 weeks.  You can help by helping your child identify patterns in the world around us!
• Social Studies:  We will learn about Columbus Day.

Please reach out with questions, comments, or feedback.

I hope you enjoy the long weekend!  We are going to put up the Fall and Halloween decorations.  I.  AM.  SO.  EXCITED.  I may just be as excited as a 6-year old, and that may just be why I always say 1st graders are "my people"!!!

Strategy of the Day: Skip the Tricky Word and Read On, Then Come Back

Hi Parents!

It's the last installment of the Decoding Strategy of the Day series.  

Decoding Strategy of the Day:  Skip the Tricky Word and Read On, Then Come Back
This strategy is similar to using context clues to figure out the definition of an unknown word.  It will help your child figure out a tricky word by using words around it.  If your child is reading and comes to an unknown word, you can prompt your child by saying, "Skip the word and read on."  Have your child read to the end of the sentence.  By reading to the end of the sentence, your child will hear the other words in the sentence, and may get a context for the unknown word.

The strategy in action:
In this example, pretend your child is trying to read the sentence, "Billy found his lost dog."  Your child comes to the word "found", but can't decode it.  Prompt him/her by saying, "Skip the tricky word and read on."  After "found", your child will read "his lost dog."  Now your child knows the dog was "lost".  Go back to the tricky word.  Tell your child to look at the first letter and get his/her mouth ready (read about that strategy HERE).  Tell your child to go back to the beginning of the sentence.  Now, he/she knows 2 things to help decode the tricky word, namely, that the dog was lost, and that the unknown word starts with "f".  These 2 clues will very likely help your child read "found" independently!

Thank you for reading my posts this week.  If you have any questions about any strategies I've described, please contact me! 

Strategy of the Day: Look at the Last Letter

Hi Everyone!

We're closing in on the end of the Decoding Strategy of the Day series.  I hope you are learning some valuable information to help your child during his/her at-home reading!

Decoding Strategy of the Day:  Look at the Last Letter!
Looking at the last letter can seem counterintuitive to decoding an unknown word...how can looking at the very last letter in the word help your child read the word?  If he/she can't read any of the parts that come before the last letter, what good will it do to look at the end of the word?  Well......

Do you remember when I started this series on Monday?  I wrote that all good reader strategies are predicated on the idea that good readers constantly monitor what they're reading.  They ask themselves, "Does it look right?", "Does it sound right?", "Does it make sense?".  This strategy -- look at the last letter -- is a prime example of a "monitoring strategy".  Simply put, it's a strategy you can use when your child reads something incorrectly but doesn't seem to notice he/she is wrong.

The strategy in action:
Follow along while your child reads out loud.  When your child incorrectly reads a word with an ending, stop him/her.  Prompt your child by saying, "Look at the last letter.  Does that look right?"  For example, pretend the sentence reads, "Billy looked for his cat."  Your child reads, "Billy looks for his cat."  It doesn't matter which sentence your child reads...the words make sense to his/her ears whether he/she says "looked" or "looks".  However, when you stop your child and say, "Look at the last letter.  Does that look right?", you will prompt your child to monitor his/her reading.  Your child should recognize that he/she said "looks" (which ends in "s"), even though the word is "looked" (which ends in "ed").  The 2 endings have completely different sounds!  When your child thinks about making an "s" sound for a word that ends with a "d" sound, he/she should recognize, "No!  That doesn't look right," therefore, "No! That doesn't make sense!".  Your child should look at the last letter, go back, and reread the sentence with the tricky word.

I'll close this series tomorrow with the last strategy:  Skip the tricky word and read on, then come back.

Thank you!

Strategy of the Day: Look at the First Letter and Get Your Mouth Ready

Hi Everyone!

Here's your mid-week edition of the Decoding Strategy of the Day.

Decoding Strategy of the Day:  Look at the First Letter and Get Your Mouth Ready!
Sometimes, when a new reader is decoding a tricky word, a simple but effective strategy is to prompt him/her by saying, "Look at the first letter and get your mouth ready!"  The first letter of the word is (obviously) a powerful clue in decoding the unknown word.  When a child gets his/her mouth ready to say the first sound, it often leads to him/her saying the entire word.  It's sort of like being "on a roll".  

The strategy in action:
When your child comes to an unknown word, you can prompt him/her by saying, "Look at the first letter and get your mouth ready."  Review the first sound in the word to be sure your child knows it.  Is it one letter?  Review the letter's sound.  Is it a chunk?  Prompt your child by saying, "Look at the beginning of the word.  Look for chunks you know."  Encourage your child to reread the sentence that contains the tricky word so when the word comes, he/she will be ready with the first sound. Rereading the sentence will also give your child a context for the unknown word, which often leads to correctly decoding the word.  Combine this with the "Check the Picture" strategy to further increase your child's chance for success!

Decoding strategies can be used in isolation, or can be combined with other strategies.  Remember -- strategies increase your child's chance for reading independence!

Thank you!  See you tonight at Math Night!

Strategy of the Day: Look for Chunks You Know

Hi Everyone!

Welcome to Tuesday's edition of the Strategy of the Day!

Decoding Strategy of the Day:  Look for Chunks You Know!
We use the term "chunks" in school a lot!  Chunks are 2 or 3 letters that blend together to make a sound.  Chunks can be made entirely of consonants (some examples: "br", "ch", "sh", "fl"); entirely of vowels (some examples: "oo", "ea", "ou"); or a combination of the two (some examples:  "ed", "ing", "ack").  Many chunks are also small words hiding in big words (some examples:  "in", "an", "at", "and").   At school, we "chant the chunk charts" each day.  We practice saying the letters in the various chunks, along with the chunk's sound, over and over and over and over and over.....and over again!  The kids become very familiar with these chunks over the course of the year. 

The strategy in action:
When your child is reading a book and comes to a tricky word, you can prompt him/her by asking, "Do you see any chunks?" or by saying, "Look for chunks you know."  If YOU see the chunk before your child does, wait to see if he/she notices it. If your child needs help to locate the chunk, you can use your fingers to frame it, or you can cover up the rest of the word to isolate the chunk. (Chunks can be found at the beginning, in the middle, or at the end of words.)  If you notice the chunk is a little word inside a bigger word, you can say, "I see a small word hiding in this big word."  

Learning to read can be challenging!  Remember to praise your child's effort.  Slow and steady wins the race.

See you tomorrow for another Strategy of the Day!

Strategy of the Day: Check the Picture!

Hi Parents!

Welcome to a little mini-series I'm calling "Strategy of the Day."  This first post will be a bit longer than the others since I'd like to give you a bit of background information today.  

This week, our class is studying the various strategies good readers use to decode (or read) "tricky" words.  We call these "decoding strategies".  Each day, I'm going to highlight the decoding strategy learned that day so you can use it at home to help your child when he/she encounters a tricky word.  I know it's hard to resist, but please do not simply tell your child the word he/she is trying to decode.  This only creates dependence on you!  Instead, it's important for new readers to have decoding strategies to problem solve difficult words.  When you know the strategies your child has learned, you can encourage his/her use of these strategies, instead of simply telling him/her the word.  

A couple of other things to note:

1.  Employing decoding strategies doesn't make new readers dependent on the strategies, nor does it stifle their reading growth!  Rather, employing decoding strategies encourages independence, promotes reading growth, and increases young readers' confidence.   As their reading ability grows, they naturally dispense with the strategies they no longer need.  Just think....when was the last time you used a calculator to solve 2 + 2?  You can't remember!  Why?  Since you don't need the "calculator strategy" to get the answer, you simply don't use it!  Reading is the same way....once new readers no longer need the strategy, they stop using it.

2.  All decoding strategies begin with the idea that good readers continuously monitor their own reading.  They listen to what they're reading.  If something doesn't look or sound "right", or if something doesn't make sense to their own "good reader" ears, they stop, go back, and try again.  "Trying again" often means using a decoding strategy.

With that, let's get started.

Decoding Strategy of the Day:  Check the Picture!

Pictures do more than simply decorate the pages of the book!  When your child comes to a tricky word, encourage him/her to check the picture for information to help decode the word.  It's that simple!

The strategy in action:
Pretend the book your child is reading shows the characters drinking milk and eating cookies.  The accompanying text says, "Billy ate the cookie!"  Your child comes to the word "cookie" and can't decode it.  Prompt your child by saying "check the picture".  Since your child just read "Billy ate all the", he/she will be prompted to look at the picture of Billy to see what's in Billy's hand.  He/she will see that Billy is eating a cookie.  Your child will (ideally) finish the sentence by correctly saying the word "cookie".  You can even ask your child, "Does that make sense?"  (Remember: good readers are always monitoring their own reading to ensure what they're reading makes sense!)  Don't forget to praise your child for decoding the tricky word!  

Please let me know if you have any questions about this strategy, or any of the information you read in this series.  I truly welcome your feedback.

Please check back tomorrow for the next Strategy of the Day.