Kindergarteners..Vroom, vroom! Is your motor running??

What is my child talking about when she says she should read with her motor running??

When we practice blending words, we connect and elongate the sounds.  This helps our students hear the whole word together and not just the individual sounds. I practice this with my students by having them touch their throat as they speak to feel the vibration, or their motor running.  We talk about keeping that motor running as we blend the sounds in words.  If we leave our motor running, we say the whole word.  If we forget and turn our motor off, we just say the sounds individually. 

You can practice this at home by having your child "hold their motor" and blend words.

  

For example:
cat would sound like caaaaaat,
 instead of  c (pause) a (pause) t

Reaching for Level J

CES is building talented readers and we could not do it without your support at home.  It is clear, from the monthly reading calendars, that you are all working very hard with us to help your child reach and exceed their reading goals. First grade end of year reading level is level J. Most of our students have reached or are close to reaching this level already, with over 7 weeks of school still to go! Here are some more ideas to keep the progress going:

Ask your child

• Tell why (title of book) is a good title for this story.  Use parts of the book to support your answer.
• Does this story teach a lesson?  If so, what lesson does (name of character) learn?  Use details from the story to support your answer.
• What did you notice about the layout of the text (headings, subheadings, illustrations, labels)?  How did these help you understand the text?

Build vocabulary

• What are some new words you learned from this book?  How can you use these words in your everyday life?
• Which words were difficult for you to sound out?  Practice breaking these words apart as you read them on the pages.  (For example: misplacing - mis/plac/ing).

Connect with the world

• Have your child write about about a time that reminds him/her of a similar event that happened in the book.
• How has your mind changed about the topic after reading this book? Or what do you still believe, now that you know more about this topic?

Keep reading every night!  . The lists below are sample level J and K books:

Sample Level J Books
TITLE	AUTHOR	FICTION / NONFICTION
The Boy Who Cried Wolf	Littledale, Freya	Fiction
The Magic Fish	Rylant, Cynthia	Fiction
The Snowy Day	Ezra Jack Keats	Fiction
The Teeny Tiny Woman	Seuling, Barbara	Fiction
Too Much Noise	McGovern, Ann	Fiction
Dig Dig Digging	Mayo, Margaret	Nonfiction
The Gingerbread Man	Aylesworth, Jim	Fiction
Play Ball!	York, Vanessa	Nonfiction
Volcanoes	Alexander, Karen	Nonfiction
Dance! Dance! Dance!	Sarah Mitchell	Nonfiction
Tigers	Kate Riggs	Nonfiction
Sample Level K Books
Title	Author	FICTION / NONFICTION
The Apple Pie Tree	Zoe Hall	Nonfiction
The Blind Mice and the Elephant	Backstein, Karen	Fiction
Bony-Legs	Cole, Joanna	Fiction
The Frog Prince	Tarcov, Edith H.	Fiction
A House Spider's Life	Himmelman, John	Nonfiction
Jack and the Beanstalk	Weisner, David	Fiction
When I First Came to This Land	Ziefert, Harriet	Nonfiction
Endangered Animals	McNulty, Faith	Nonfiction
Ibis:  A True Whale Story	Himmelman, John	Nonfiction