Hahn's Happenings
2010 - 2011  
To teach our students their letters and sounds, we are using a research based reading program called FUNDATIONS. Thus far we have learned these letters & sounds with much repetition: f, t, b, m, n, r, a, c,
If your child has flashcards for the above letters in their STAR Notebook Pencil Pouch, then please practice these nightly by having your child say the letter, picture on card, and the sound of the letter. ex: f-fun-/f/ All students should also practice writing these letters correctly on their laminated Handwriting Mat in their STAR notebook. Directions for forming the letters correctly can be found in your child's STAR notebook.
It would be helpful to all students if they took a few minutes several times a week to read the Fundations chart in their STAR notebook. 
1. Please remember to check your childs S.T.A.R. notebook DAILY for notes and other important information. Also please check your childs agenda on the corresponding day for their daily behavior & initial beside it. 2. Please remind your child to place their S.T.A.R. notebook in their bookbag each night. Your child is responsible for bringing their notebook to school each day and taking out any notes or money that I need to see in the morning. After all, their S.T.A.R. notebook stands for Students Taking Active Responsibility. 2. Please remember to read with your child each night, even if I do not send home a specific book for you to read together. Also ask your child questions about the story to make sure they are comprehending what they are reading. 3. Don't forget to send lunch money with your child each day or weekly, or monthly. The cafeteria will send home a notice when your child has run out of money on their account and have to charge. Here's The 
Upcoming Important Dates!
September 29 - Early Release
September 30 - NO School
October 4 - Progress Reports
October 7 - Patterson Farm Trip
October 20 - Fall Pictures
October 28 - Early Release
Pumpkin Carving
October 31 - NO School
What is your child learning about??? 
*Letter sounds/Fundations *Book and Print Awareness *Numeral Recognition and Formation 0-10
*Counting one-to-one correspondence *Rote counting 1-30 *Writing numerals 1 - 10
*Color words *Learning classmates' names *Days of the Week *Months of the Year *Sorting and telling the rule *Same & Different
*reading Color Words
*creating patterns
Happy Birthday
September
Book and Print Awareness Before we begin our guided reading we check the children on how aware they are of the fundamentals of the reading process. These are the elements we feel they need to know as pre-reading skills: *identify front and back of a book *point to the title of a book *tell what an author and illustrator do *show where to begin reading on a page and where to go at the end of the first line of words *distinguish between letters and words *find the first and last words on a page *point to one/two words *point to one/two letters *identify by name or what it means- .(period) !(exclamation mark) ?(question mark) " "(quotation marks) *voice to print match- be able to point to each word as teacher reads *distinguish between capital and lowercase letters *identify some letters by name
READ! READ! READ!
A child can never be over exposed to books!
Ask your child questions after reading to help build comprehension!
Here are some great questions to ask:
Who are the characters in the story?
Where is the setting or where is the story taking place?
What happened at the beggining, middle and end of story?
What was your favorite part and why?
What was the problem in the story and how was it solved?
What does this story make you think of?
Is this book like another book you've read?
10 Reasons to Read
Aloud to Children
Children will:
1. Hear new words;
2. Develop sentence sense and an ear for rhythm;
3. Enjoy and compare diverse writing styles;
4. Create common connections to ideas (as a class);
5. Use reading as a springboard to discussion and writing;
6. Gain new knowledge and understanding;
7. Hear standard forms of English;
8. Learn about a variety of writing genres;
9. Feel things they've never felt before;
10. Share a wonderful time with you and your favorite read-aloud books!
Writing Workshop
In our beginning writing, we are helping the children understand that they are illustrators and authors. It is a working process in which the children draw the stories that they have to tell. We have them talk about and then draw a small moment that they have experienced. It could be something funny that happened to them that morning, a time they had fun with a friend, something they like to do with their family, and so on. We give them the writing prompt, they talk about it, draw it, and then write about it. We explain to them that we don't expect them to know how to write all of those words with correct spelling right now. Some children will draw squiggly lines, random marks or letters, others will copy words from around the room to stand for what they want to say. We conference with them to see what "their writing" says and then show them what it actually looks like. The next step is having them label what they drew. For example, depending on their progress some will write a single letter, a beginning and end letter sound, or attempt to put all the sounds they hear. In other words, if they were attempting to write the word friend it might look like f or fd or frnd. This is what we call sound spelling. Sound spelling is acceptable until they learn the correct spelling of words. They begin correctly spelling by using words from the word wall or in our class we have a "word caterpillar". At this time, we have their names and the color words on there. Later, as the high frequency words and other familiar words are introduced they will be added. All of this helps your child to become a more creative writer and less inhibited by the formality of "correctly" spelling words. Once they realize that they have much to write about we work on writing sentences with first letter capital, spaces between words and end punctuation.
HOW CAN PARENTS HELP WITH THIS AT HOME
*Let your child help you write the grocery list.
*Have your child draw and write instead of "telling" you about their day.
*When your child draws encourage them to add details to their characters and settings.
The following words are the 25 high frequency words that your child will learn to read AND spell this year:
of and a to is me you that
it he was for on are as with
his they I at be this have
from has
Ways you can help your child at home!
*Talk to your child about what he/she is learning in school.
* READ! READ! READ!
* Let your child help you write the grocery list. This gives them more practice with writing, and we can never get enough practice.
* Have your child write you a letter instead of always "telling" you about their day. Again, this gives them more practice with writing.
* Have your child count various objects in your house. (1-30)
* Have your child sort things by color, shape, size, and by their own rule (such as, things you wear, eat, play with, etc.)
* Find patterns in your home and let your child help you. Also, see if your child can continue/extend a pattern that you create.
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