Reading

I hope everyone enjoyed their day off.  
On Wednesday your child will be bringing home a Chili's bookmark! 
When your students read 4 books, they write the titles on the bookmark and earn a free kids meal at Chili's.   Who doesn't love free???  You will save the book mark and redeem it either upon their completion or....  
we'll be having a cashola night at Chili's on Tuesday, February 24th.  Kingston will get a % of the check from each Kingston family.  

Today was filled with planning and construction.  I am excited to enter quarter 3.  I can't believe it is quarter 3!   We will be learning about shadows, measurement (coins, time, measuring with non-standard units), extending our sentences, and retelling, retelling, and more retelling, and reading fluency.  
Our class is really lucky to be getting a new white board!!! I am over the moon.  This will be an interactive word wall white board! 
The folks came in today and began construction. It looks a little messy right now, but man will it be sparkling when it is up! 

Enjoy your day off tomorrow, and I can't wait to see my kindergarten friends on Wednesday!

Parents here are some helpful ideas to encourage reading fluency at home. 

How can we foster reading fluency?

Parents can help their child develop reading fluency through a few simple and fun activities.

Paired or "Buddy" Reading

The easiest and best way to help your child develop fluency is to sit with your child and read! Read together every day, which is often called paired or buddy reading. To use paired reading, simply take turns reading aloud. You go first, as your reading provides a model of what good fluent reading sounds like. Then, ask your child to re-read the same page you just read. You'll notice that your child's reading will start to sound more and more like yours. Do this for several pages. Once your child is comfortable enough, and familiar enough with the book, take turns reading page for page.

Reread Favorite Books

Another way parents can help develop fluency is to build a tall stack of books that your child can read quickly and easily. Encourage your child to reread favorite books over and over again. With each reading, you may notice your child reading a bit easier, a bit faster, and with a bit more confidence and expression.

Record It

Another fun way to practice reading and build fluency is to have your child create her own audio books. This can be done simply with a tape recorder or audio recording feature or app (like Audioboo) on your phone. Or, use something more sophisticated like StoryKit, where a user can create an electronic storybook and record audio to accompany it. Regardless of the method you choose, your child will be practicing what they want to record and that reading practice is critical. Sharing your audio recordings with family and friends is a great motivator too!
These activities are easy and require very few materials. Doing these activities with your child will help build fluency — a skill that will last a lifetime.