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Dawn Morris » Weekly Information

Weekly Information

Good afternoon,
What a wild return from break last week! I've enjoyed catching up with all of the kids about their exciting adventures over break.
 
Thank you to everyone who helped their child remember to put the lime green homework packet back in their backpacks after the break. If your child still has the lime green packet or the tealish one from last week, please have them return those this week. I'm still missing quite a few of both packets. Here is the link to my website where the homework is located if you need to print off a packet that has gone missing.
 
We will be talking about digraphs this week, specifically sh and ch. Here is a Sound Garden video for sh and here is one for ch to listen to at home! 
 
Thank you as always for helping your child work on one lesson per night to reinforce what we did in class that day.
 
Have a great evening!
Happy, Snowy Tuesday!
I hope everyone had a great break! Due to the late start, carline duty and an unexpectedly long meeting, we didn't have our normal BUILD class today. Homework will be coming home tomorrow (Wednesday). I will ask the kids tomorrow to turn in their homework from before break.
Hopefully you have received the most recent middle of the year iReady assessment data from your child's reading teacher. On this paper is your child's 'lexile level' which is one component of how to find a "best fit book" for them. Here is an example of what that looks like on the paper.
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Here are some steps for finding a book that is a good fit.
  •  This website https://bookwizard.scholastic.com/ is a great way to find a best fit book. If you click on the "Build Your Own Collection" you can input your child's lexile level or range and it will generate books within that range. 
  • When they find a book they are interested in, have them hold up 5 fingers. For each word that is missed on a page, put a finger down. If they have reached the end of a page and all 5 fingers are down, this is an indication that the book might be too challenging. 
Have a fantastic evening! If you haven't received your child's iReady information and are in need of their lexile level, please let me know and I will look it up for you :)
Happy Final Monday Before Break!
We are doing some fun short winter reading comprehension passages with a few activities to go with them each day this week. We will also learn about the Poinsettia and do a craft with that to tie in with first grade's Celebrations Around the World.
Homework did go home today, but it isn't due until the students return on January 7th.
Here is an amazing free App!
Have a great break and I look forward to seeing everyone in 2025!
 
Happy Snowy Monday!
This week we are reviewing our current unit learning and will be taking the end of the unit assessment later this week. Next week we will be focusing on reading short passages that are winter related and answering comprehension questions in class. We will also be completing the pretest for our upcoming unit that will start after we return from winter break!
 
As I checked homework today, I noticed some of the handwriting was a little wild :)  Please help your child practice the handwriting correctly so they get in the habit of forming the letters correctly on the lines.
 
Have a great evening and thank you for taking the time to read with your child. It really makes a difference!
 
Welcome Back!
I hope everyone had an amazing Thanksgiving Break. I heard a lot of fun stories and it sounds like a lot of great food was eaten! Thank you for ensuring your child returned their homework packet today, especially after such a long time since it was originally given out.
 
We should be finished introducing and practicing the 26 letters of the alphabet before our Christmas break starts. We are practicing segmenting words into syllables (how many times your mouth opens to say the word).  While you are reading to your child or they are reading to you, stop every so often and ask them how many syllables are in a word. Here is a Scratch Garden Video on syllables. It is really fun to watch :)
 
If you need to print off a previous homework packet, here is the link to my website where they are located.
 
Have a great week and thank you for all of your help at home!
 
Happy Week before Thanksgiving Break!
I hope this finds everyone doing well and ready to have a great last week before break. We will be playing Thanksgiving themed sight word bingo from our curriculum at the end of this week as well as working on reading some passages and answering comprehension questions. We will also be working on the letters U and W, figuring out how many syllables are in a word and using our inferencing skills.
 
I have noticed when we're reading, some students are still struggling to identify the difference between b and d. Here is a b and d video that kids love to watch and sing along to!
 
The homework that was sent home today is due the Monday after Thanksgiving Break. There are two reading passages with comprehension included for Thursday and Friday of this week in the homework packet.
 
Have a fantastic Thanksgiving Break! I look forward to hearing all of the exciting stories when everyone returns on Monday, December 2nd!

Welcome back after our unexpected break! It was wonderful seeing everyone today in small groups, where we shared the fun activities everyone enjoyed during the six-day break.

Today, we also kicked off the second book of our curriculum, which is part of our journey through three great parts of our BUILD curriculum. Since we missed the pretest days at the end of last week, I worked on giving the pretest for our new unit today.

Additionally, we focused on the letter "B" during our lesson today. It was a great start to our next steps! Please review your child's handwriting pages either while they are working on them or after they've completed them to ensure their practice matches the model provided. If the letters don't match the model, please have them practice again. Once they have done so, please have them circle their best letter(s) on each page. Remembering the difference between Bb. and Dd can be challenging so here is a fun video to help kids remember the letter Bb.

Have a great afternoon!

Happy Snowy Monday!

I hope everyone enjoyed the long weekend! This week, we’ll be wrapping up our current unit and preparing for our end-of-unit post-test. We’ll also focus on improving our reading fluency by practicing with sentences. Memorizing instant/sight words is a great way to enhance fluency, and I’ve included a link with some fun activities to help with that.

You’ll notice something new in this week’s homework: for Wednesday and Thursday, I’ve included a short passage for your child to read, along with comprehension questions. Please have your child read each passage aloud to you, and then take some time to discuss and answer the questions together.

Also, if your child wasn't able to turn in their completed homework today, please return it tomorrow in the plastic envelope.

Thank you for your support!

Good Afternoon!

I can hardly believe that the end of October is upon us! I hope everyone enjoyed a lovely weekend, soaking up the beautiful weather. This week, we’re wrapping up our second unit.

 

During our small group sessions, I’ve noticed that some students are still having difficulty with the "instant words" (sight words). These words are located on the first page after the calendar. I encourage you to have your child read through these words once each night; this extra practice is invaluable for helping them recognize these words automatically. Please note that these words will also appear on the post-test this week.

 

If your child was unable to return their homework today in the clear envelope, kindly ensure they do so this week. If you need to print any past homework packets, you can find them on my website using the following link.

Everyone received new homework today, which is due next Monday, November 4th. Additionally, I’ve included a link to some comprehension strategies, complete with videos, to help your child deepen their understanding of what they’re reading at home.

 

Wishing you a fabulous afternoon! As always, if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

 
Good afternoon!
I hope everyone had a refreshing break from daily routines over Fall Break and were able to get out and enjoy the amazing weather we had!
 
The homework for this week has some minor changes, specifically to the handwriting practice with letters Kk and Rr. The way this program teaches the students is not the way they were taught in kindergarten, so I have modified the practice pages to reflect the way they should be used to writing the letters.
 
Please practice the instant words daily. These are also called sight words or super words. These words don't always follow the spelling rules so they are hard to sound out, but by knowing them automatically, it helps us to focus on other words that do follow the rules when reading.
 
If your child wasn't able to turn in their homework in their plastic envelope today, please have them try to return it tomorrow. If the homework got lost over fall break, here is the link to my website where the homework is located for easy download and printing.
 
This week I've included a link with fall books to check out from the local library and a book challenge if you're interested in a fun themed reading activity!
 
Have a great afternoon and please let me know if you have any questions :)
Good afternoon!
The homework this week is on a purple calendar page and will be due the Monday after Fall Break, October 21st. Thank you for helping your child work on the instant words (sight words) every night. This repeated practice helps with automaticity. Please record the books your child is reading to you and you are reading to them on the back of the calendar page. Also, thank you for helping them remember to write the letters the same size as the model.
 
Just a few reminders:
  • Please leave the plastic envelope I gave to each student last week in their backpack. They bring this to class on Monday with their completed homework and I put the new homework in the envelope.
  • If your child's homework has a star on it, please keep this at home. This means I have looked at it and it has been recorded. Please look through the packet for any comments I may have written to help with improvement on the next homework.
Please let me know if you have any questions and have a great afternoon!
Dawn
Good afternoon!
The homework this week is on Neon Orange paper (found in your child's new plastic envelope) and will be due next  Monday. To help keep track of this homework, I have given each student a clear plastic envelope that should only be used to hold their BUILD homework. Hopefully this will help keep track of the homework so the ELA or FL teacher doesn't accidentally collect it with their weekly homework :) The plastic envelope should remain in your child's backpack. Thank you for your help with this new process! (Picture attached in email)
 
Thank you for continuing to work with your child on one lesson each evening this week, using the calendar to help guide this practice. This practice is essential to reinforce what we have been learning in class to help accelerate your child's reading progress. Please check off and initial each evening when you help your child complete the activities as well as recording the books that are read on their reading log (back side of the calendar). Also, thank you for helping to remind your child to write the letters the same size as the model.
 
Please see this link for some helpful tips when working with your child on their reading at home :) 
Have a great afternoon!
Happy Monday!
I hope everyone had a great weekend :) It was great getting to see so many of you at conferences last week. Thank you for helping your child complete their homework from last week (neon green calendar). Our homework schedule as you have seen is Monday to Monday, so the kids are working each evening on what we have worked on in class that day, reinforcing those skills. If your child left their completed homework at home today, please have them return it tomorrow. I will remind them as well when I pick them up for our group.
 
Please make sure you are reading to your child each evening or they are reading to you. Reading at bedtime is a great way to complete this activity and have it count for the reading log as well as the first grade homework reading requirement.
 
Each week I send home a website with suggested reading activities or places in the community with reading related activities. Please see this parent resource for grade level specific family reading ideas :)
 
Our new homework that is coming home today is a neon yellow calendar page. Please let me know if you have any questions and have a great evening!
Hello Parents!
We have started our second week of the BUILD reading program to help your child become a more proficient reader. A packet with a Neon Green calendar went home today. Thank you to everyone who helped their child work on the lessons each day last week. I record who is returning their completed homework and they receive a Cougar Cash as well as a sticker for completing the homework each week. If another packet is needed, I have the homework on my website for easy downloading and printing.
 
This new homework packet will be due next Monday, September 23rd. Please help your child work on the items for 1 lesson per night. The lesson number for each day is listed on the calendar. This lesson number corresponds to the lesson we completed in class that day, so reinforcing the lesson in the evening is so helpful. Please try not to work ahead because then students might be practicing writing the letterd incorrectly.
Record the book(s) your child is reading to you each night or you are reading to them, on the page provided on the back side of the homework calendar. There are definitions for each area that needs to be checked off at the bottom of the calendar.
 
If you are in the building for conferences on Thursday or Friday of this week, I will be in the READ Room, room 12, if you'd like to stop by. If I'm not in the room because I am attending a conference, please check back before you leave :)
 
Here is a link to online practice of some early literacy skills. 
 
Thank you for all of your help at home!

Welcome to the 2024-2025 School Year!

 

 

 

For the past 8 years, I have had the pleasure of teaching first grade and kindergarten at WCA. This is my second year working with students in small groups using the BUILD curriculum, which I'm really excited about! Before joining WCA, I worked across different grade levels as a classroom teacher and specialized in working with students with Dyslexia in a small group setting. I'm looking forward to another fantastic year and am eager to work with your child!

 

The BUILD program has daily practice in the 5 components of reading:
-Phonological awareness (the awareness of and ability to work with sounds in spoken language)

-Phonics (letter-sound correspondence)
 

-Vocabulary (word relationships by direct instruction in the context of reading) 

-Fluency (use of connected text in phrases & sentences)
 

-Comprehension (through listening while working on comprehension monitoring, question generation, story structure, summarizing & inferencing)

 

The BUILD program is designed to provide explicit, structured, sequential instruction that lays a solid foundation for building strong reading skills while also building the student’s confidence as a reader. The intervention will be approximately 30 - 40 minutes per session, 4-5 days a week in a small group (approximately 6 students). There will be homework sent home each week that will have practice in the following areas:

-handwriting
-letter naming
-word reading in columns or sentences
-reading log (this can be the same book/time you are using for homework in first grade)

This homework is crucial as it provides your child with practice on what we are learning each week, helping to reinforce their skills. Please complete only one lesson per evening to ensure a manageable workload.

Each week when your child returns their completed homework packet on Monday (or Tuesday if we don’t have school on Monday), they will earn a Cougar Cash and a sticker. This Cougar Cash can be used to "buy" items from the Cougar Store in their classroom.

 

To keep track of assignments, please refer to the calendar attached to the front of each homework packet. Homework will be sent home on Monday (or Tuesday if necessary) and is due the following Monday. If you need another copy of the homework, I will have it on my website each week for easy download and printing at home.

Thank you for your support in reinforcing our weekly lessons!

 

Please have your child get their teal homework out of their backpack tonight. Each day of the week has a short activity to reinforce what we did in class that day. If you have questions, please let me know :)

 

It’s going to be a great year!!

Dawn Morris