Reading Skills

The end of the first quarter is upon us and our first graders have made great growth in their reading skills! At this point in the school year, we have reviewed all the short vowel sounds students were introduced to in kindergarten. Your child should now be easily sounding and blending three letter words with a vowel in the middle (cat, rug, van, etc.) In addition to phonics skills, we have also been working on boosting students' reading comprehension. Great readers need to understand and make sense out of what they read. Following are the comprehension strategies students have been introduced to already this year.

• Sequencing
• Making Predictions
• Summarizing
• Compare and Contrast
• Cause and Effect
• Noting Details
• Questioning
• Fantasy vs. Realism
• Story Structure
• Topic and Main Idea
• Categorizing and Classifying

These skills have been taught and reinforced through a variety of literacy activities in the classroom. Whole group reading instruction allows for new concepts to be introduced to students. Guided reading in small groups and independent work during centers provide students time for practice new skills! All three settings are a part of our daily reading instruction.