Using

Reading
in the classroom
and at home

September Literacy in Your Childs Life

Components of
Learning to Read
1 Phonics- sound it out
2 Phonemic Awareness-
Identify sounds from
spoken words
3 Vocabulary Development
4 Fluency- reading quickly &
accurately
Dear Parents/Guardians,
I am sending this newsletter home with your child to
inform you of the focus on reading that will occur in
our class. I am a firm believer of the importance of
literacy both in and beyond the classroom. As you
know, we encounter reading everywhere in our every
day lives, in fact, youre using literacy skills right
now! Reading develops your childs language skills, is
essential for interacting with technology, and its just
plain fun! For that reason my aim is to help each
student develop his or her literacy skills and discover
a passion for reading. So I come to you, I can only
help your child develop their reading skills for 6
hours a day, I need your help! If you can encourage
reading in your home, your
childs literacy will develop even
faster and they can discover a
passion for reading.

5 Comprehension
Regards,

Ms. Sommerfeld
 Lorem
Grade Ipsum Dolor
6 Literacy Newsletter September
[Issue]2015
:: [Date]

Literacy in the
Classroom

Examples of texts
How will literacy be that will be available:
promoted in our classroom? o George by Alex Gino-
LGBTQ
1 Daily reading and access to the library. o The Imaginary written by
Establishing routines for students to engage in A.F. Harrold- Fantasy
reading daily will develop skills and expose children o Night on Fire by Ronald
to an array of literature. Kidd- Historical Fiction
o The Rest of Us Just Live
2 Book talks and Book Club. Here by Patrick Ness-
Students can read and get excited about literature, Supernatural
they can then share their enthusiasm with literacy o The Six by Mark Alpert-
Sci-Fi
groups.
o We Are All Made of
3 Illustrate a story Molecules by Susin
Students can choose a significant part of a book to Nielson- LGBTQ
illustrate, this will be done as a full class activity. o Space Dumplins by Craig
Thompson- Sci-Fi
4 Personal dictionary o The Book Thief by Markus
An ongoing project where students document words Zusak- Historical Fiction
they dont know, define them, use them in a sentence, o Elsewhere by Gabrielle
and create and illustrate to depict the word. Zelvin- Magic Realism
o Etiquette & Espionage by
5 Current Events Gail Carriger- Steampunk
Each day a couple student volunteers will pick a Historical Fiction
news article and summarize it for the class. o Swim the Fly by Don
Calame- Comedy
6 Readers Theatre
In groups, students will read aloud from a script that
is based on a popular text.

7 Cross Curricular
Books and texts relating to each subject will be
available, and reading will be incorporated into each
class.
2
Lorem
Grade Ipsum Dolor
6 Literacy Newsletter September
Issue [#] ::2015
[Date]

Reading Strategies
for at home and in the
classroom
Summarizing
Ask your child to summarize what theyve read, ask them
what they think the beginning, middle, and end are.
Visualizing
Ask your child what they think a character or setting
looks like, this can include an art activity!
Read Aloud
Encourage your child to read aloud to you or to an
object. Speaking will help your childs understanding

Rights of of phonics develop, as well as fluency.

Make Predictions
the Reader: Ask your child to make predictions about what
theyre reading, this will help engage students in the
text.
The right not to read.
Activate Their Prior Knowledge
The right to skip pages.
Choose texts that relate your childs interests and
The right not to finish.
hobbies. As your reading, ask them questions like
The right to re-read.
how is this similar to
The right to read anything.
Text Structure
The right to escapism.
Ask your child what kind of text it is (graphic novel,
The right to read anywhere.
picture book, etc.) try and expose your child to a
The right to browse. range to literature.
The right to read aloud.
Guiding Questions
The right not to defend your
tastes. Ask your child guiding
questions: Who, What,
When, Where, Why,
It is important to acknowledge How.
and respect these rights in order
to foster lifelong readers and a
positive/safe learning
environment.