It is important to keep writing activities fun throughout the summer months.  You definitely do not want to make it seem like a school chore.  Remember that your role as a home writing coach is to have fun and honor your child’s imagination.  Research shows us that it is most important to encourage the communication of ideas rather than criticize/correct all spelling errors. Here are a few fun ways you can incorporate writing into child’s play:·     ...

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As many of you are aware, reading and being read to during the summer are important to a child’s continued educational success. Studies show that children who don’t participate in academically stimulating activities over summer vacation actually can have lower reading and math skills when they return to school in September. To avoid the experience of “summer slide,” we’d like to encourage you and your children to read, read, read throughout the months of June, July,...

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One reading strategy we work on here at HOD is Asking Questions. As readers, we actively engage with a text by asking various types of questions before, during, and after reading. This strategy helps readers monitor their comprehension, stay interested in their reading, and propel them forward in a text. Teachers model this strategy during their read alouds and encourage students to ask and answer questions as they read independently. Readers ask the following kinds of questions:Predicting questions:...

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Snuggle Up With a Good Book is off to a great start at HOD! We know our students are very excited about this program. Not only are they expressing enthusiasm about reading more, they are also having interesting conversations about goal-setting, favorite books they are rediscovering, and the fun they are having reading at home with family members. Thank you for supporting this worthwhile effort to promote the love of reading! Here are some additional tips from the Classroom Connections website...

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We would like to introduce two new staff members to the H. Olive Day School.  Andrea Stafford and Carrie Coughlin are both Speech and Language Pathologists who joined our school family this past month.  Please welcome these new faces to the H.O.D. Helping your Child Develop a Sense of TimeA family calendar can help children develop a sense of time and can help them manage their time as they grow.   Developmentally time is a very abstract concept and can be confusing for many. ...

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We are excited to announce the beginning of our annual reading initiative                 “Snuggle Up with a Good Book.” The program will begin on Tuesday, January 22nd and will end on Friday, March 1st, Read Across America Day.  The purpose of this program is to promote and nurture the love of reading in our H. Olive Day students. Motivating children to read contributes not only to student achievement, but also to creating...

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Happy Holidays from the Reading Center! The topic for this month’s newsletter is fluency. The following article from readingrockets.org provides great information about fluency and also offers tips for parents interested in helping their children become more fluent readers. Fluency is defined as the ability to read with speed, accuracy, and proper expression. In order to understand what they read, children must be able to read fluently whether they are reading aloud or silently. When reading...

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With the approaching holidays, the steadfast routine of reading with your child sometimes falls by the wayside. You want to read with your child, but there is so much to do! Audio books are a great way of fitting in the books you want to read. During the holidays there are many opportunities for adults and children to listen to audio books. You can listen to a great story while cleaning a room, riding around in the family car to complete the holiday shopping, baking dozens and dozens of cookies...

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Greetings from the Reading Center! This month, I would like to explain the Reader’s Workshop model used in the first and second grade classrooms here at HOD. Reader’s Workshop begins with a whole-class focus lesson. Depending on the unit being taught, the topics of these lessons could include decoding strategies, comprehension strategies, fluency tips, new vocabulary work, or information on various genres or authors.  Students then read independently or in small groups with the...

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Welcome back to school from the Reading Center! The first bit of news I would like to share is that Mrs. Faith Tierney and her family welcomed a new baby boy earlier this month! His name is Camden Joseph and he, his brother Brennan, and his parents are all doing quite well. Mrs. Tierney will be taking a leave of absence to stay at home with her children. We are in the process of finding a .6 reading specialist to fill in for her this school year. The focus of this article is the value of creating...

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Helping your Child Think and Talk about BooksHere are some questions you can ask your child about his/her reading: choose a few each night to engage in conversation with your child.Before reading: Look at the title, cover, and illustration/pictures, what do you think will happen in this book? What makes you think that? What characters do you think might be in the book? Do you think there will be a problem in the story? Why? During reading: What has happened in the story so far? Can...

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We would like to take this opportunity to communicate our summer reading expectations for our K-2 students. As many of you are aware, reading and being read to during the summer are important to a child’s continued educational success. Studies show that children who don’t participate in academically stimulating activities over summer vacation actually can have lower reading and math skills when they return to school in September. To avoid the experience of “summer slide,”...

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In addition to the strategy of predicting that was introduced last month, making connections also helps children improve their understanding.  Students connect their background knowledge to the text they are reading. They may have a text-to-text, text-to-self, or text-to-world connection. Purpose of the strategy: Readers comprehend better when they actively think about and apply their knowledge of the book's topic, their own experiences, and the world around them.   How to help...

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During the next few months, we are going to share information with you about the different comprehension strategies we teach students to help them become more active, engaged readers. The following article, from the TeacherVision website, highlights the importance of predicting. What Is It?Effective readers use pictures, titles, headings, and text—as well as personal experiences – to make predictions before they read. Predicting involves thinking ahead while reading and anticipating...

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SIMPLE STRATEGIES FOR CREATING STRONG READERS(Taken from the U.S. Department of Education’s website at:www2.ed.gov/parents/read/resources/readingtips/readingtips.pdf)Without doubt, reading with children spells success for early literacy. Putting a few simple strategies into action will make a significant difference in helping children develop into good readers and writers.Through reading aloud, providing print materials, and promoting positive attitudes about reading and writing, you can...

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Students at the H. Olive Day School read a total of 3,830 books during the first week of our Snuggle Up with a Good Book reading Initiative.  We had our first raffle drawing on Monday, January 30th and the winners were.... Raven Dunn from Mrs. Whitehead's Pre-K class,  Ian McWhinnie from Mrs. Murphy's Kindergarten class,  Alex Cloutier from Mrs. Kealty and Mrs. Raider's Grade 1 class,  Luke Yadisernia from Mrs. Aucella's Grade 2 class.  The Snuggle Up with a Good Book...

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The children have been listening to Winter themed stories. The Biggest, Best Snowman, by Margery Cuyler,The Missing Mitten Mystery, by Steven Kellog, and The Biggest Snowman Ever, by Steven Kroll are some of the children’s favorites.   We have several books on the Presidents of the United States in the biography section of the library. Please feel free to stop by and check them out.  George Washington, by Lola M. Schaefer is an age appropriate non-fiction book K-2 students enjoy...

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Our Snuggle Up with a Good Book reading initiative is well underway here at HOD! On our kick-off day, it was great to see all of our H. Olive Day readers lining the halls, snuggling up with stuffed animals and great books to enjoy some quiet reading time. We hope you are enjoying reading with your children at home too! Some parents believe that once their children become readers, it is no longer necessary or worthwhile to continue reading aloud to them. This, however, is simply not true. We’d...

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We are happy to announce the beginning of our annual reading incentive program, “Snuggle Up with a Good Book.”  This will begin on Monday, January 23, 2012 and will end on Friday, March 2nd.  The purpose of this program is to promote and nurture the love of reading in our H. Olive Day students.  As the children read, or are read to, at home, they will document the amount read on a recording sheet.  They will then receive tickets in school that will be entered into...

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Students who need the most practice reading at home are often the ones who become most easily frustrated doing so. Instead of being an enjoyable, relaxing activity, reading turns into a battle, often involving tears and feelings of incompetence. The following list suggests some ideas to help parents keep their emerging readers excited about books and reading. See a movie that’s based on a book. Then, read the book together. Encourage your child to read for fun by reading entertaining...

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