Mohonasen Central School District
Bradt Primary School
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Kindergarten Reading Services

                                                                            
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KINDERGARTEN OVERVIEW
Kindergarten Services for 2005-2006
A.M.  8:30-9:30
P.M.  1:40-2:35

Each thirty minute session is  comprised of students from either one or two  classrooms within the kindergarten wing.  Kindergarten students are serviced three times a week for 30 minutes each time.  Times may vary due to specific situations on an individual basis. 
 
I would like to thank Mrs. Laurenzo, Miss Kennedy, Mrs. Baumann, and Mrs. Coman for their support.  It is truly a pleasure to work with such fun and creative teachers!  Kindergarten teachers are special people!

 

Balanced  Approach to Reading

 

ABC's

 

 Kindergarten students in remedial reading are exposed to letter, sounds, and words in the same order that they are introduced in the kindergarten classroom.  We work on letter identification, letter formation, sound identification, and sound production.  We do this through various activities including:  sorting, tracing, writing, games, and repetition.
 

GUIDED
READING

 

I formally introduce this aspect of reading in January (if not before).  At this point in the year, students have a strong grasp on enough letters that they can attempt to use basic reading strategies.  I utilize multiple copies of leveled books beginning at level aa and moving up to a, b, etc.  The goal for the end of kindergarten is that each child can read and understand a level B book.  Students will often bring paper copies of books home.  Be sure to listen to your child read these books!  We work on the following reading strategies:  tracking print from left to right, one-to-one correspondence, picture clues, and matching the first letter to the picture.  We will also start to sound out simple three letter words.
 

INDEPENDENT
READING

 

 During the independent reading portion of our sessions, students are asked to read familiar texts and attempt new texts.  Students read in quiet spots in our room while I roam around and listen in.  This provides me with valuable input on each child's ability to use strategies.  I like to encourage readers to problem solve on their own and then share their strategies with the group.
 

COMPREHENSION

 

 This may be the most important aspect of reading!  Although I may be able to read a book on Economics...do I actually understand what I read?  Probably not!  Have you ever read a novel and realized after a page or two that you are not paying attention?  I'm sure that you go back and re-read the parts that you missed.  This is an example of how we as adults assess our own comprehension.  In reading groups, I ask the children comprehension questions following each story.  Students are asked to recall events and  details, discuss predictions, sequence events, form opinions, and discuss what was read.  I encourage students to 'think aloud' while reading.  This strategy, along with looking at the pictures before reading, can help a student with comprehension.  It is important to note that if a child does not comprehend at a certain level they cannot move on to the next level.  
 

SIGHT WORDS

 

 We spend a lot of time in the reading room reviewing our sight-words.  I believe that this skill can help children progress quickly in their reading.  When students know all of the simple words in a story they can spend more time trying to decode difficult words.  This greatly improves fluency as well.  All kindergarten students are expected to learn sight word list #1.  
Click on this link for sight-word list #1from Mrs. Pace's Website!
 

PROJECT READ

 

Project Read is a phonics program that we utilize at Bradt School.  It has amazing kinestetic elements that can help struggling readers make sense of letters and sounds!  We use some aspects of this program in kindergarten.
Click on this link for Ms. Varley's Project Read Page.
 

WRITING

 

 In the reading room, kindergarten students are encouraged to write sound that they hear in words (inventive spelling).  Give this type of spelling a chance!  It encourages students to independently write words and begin to create their writing voice.  I will introduce the students to the process of writing a sentence correctly.  We will also begin to learn how to finger spell a word to hear each sound!


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Maintained according to Mohonasen Central School District Web Publishing Regulations 
by Sharon Berschwinger,  Reading Specialist, Bradt Primary School,
2719 Hamburg Street, Schenectady, NY 12303 (518)356-8400
©2006 Mohonasen Central School District-All rights reserved.
Last modified on 12/13/06