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Frequently Asked Questions: This page contains answers to common questions of students and parents.
- What is Reading First?
- What are some ways that I can help at home in reading?
What is Reading First? Reading First
Weakley County again received over $200,000 for Greenfield School in 2005-06
for Reading First in grades K-3. Reading First is a sub-grant from the
State of Tennessee through a federal initiative authorized by the No Child
Left Behind Act.
At Greenfield School, we are already seeing excellent results from the
initiative. Teachers, the Literacy Leader, the principal, and educational
assistants have undergone numerous hours of professional development in
scientifically based reading instruction, assessment, and materials.
Students receive at least 90 minutes daily of intensive, uninterrupted
reading instruction in all aspects of reading: phonemic awareness, phonics,
vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension. All children undergo rigorous and
frequent assessments to help determine the best instructional plans for
each. In addition, struggling readers have daily intervention in small
groups to help address their individual needs.
Visitors to our classrooms can see new classroom libraries and other
materials to aid in reading instruction and enjoyment. Our book room is
filled to capacity with both fiction and nonfiction books at all reading
levels.
We continue to enjoy assistance from several high school students who
volunteer during their study halls to help teachers so that they can focus
on their students. We truly appreciate these fine high school helpers.
Our work at Reading First is far from finished, but we are making great
strides.
What are some ways that I can help at home in reading? 1. Encourage your child to use his or her finger to point to the words
when reading.
2. Allow your child �wait time� of 5 � 10 seconds when he or she has
trouble with a word. Some prompts you can use after the wait time
are: �What would make sense there?� �Go back to the beginning and try
again.� �Use the picture to help you.� �Look at how the word begins. What
sound does that letter make?� �What do you think the word might be?�
3. Another strategy is the help your child see �chunks� in a word.
These include endings, compound words, rhyming words, prefixes, and little
words within words. For example, if your child has trouble with playing,
cover up the ing chunk and he might recognize play. If the word is into,
cover up in or to and have her read each chunk. If he misses the word hay,
say, �That word has /ay/ in it, just like the word may.� If she can�t get
wagon, show her wag.
4. If these options don�t work and you have waited, tell the child the
word and go on.
5. When your child has had trouble with a word or words, be sure to
have the child go back to the beginning of the sentence and reread the
entire sentence.
6. To help your child�s reading sound fluent (like talking), have him
or her read the same book or passage several times. For example, say, �Read
that sentence again as that character might say it.�
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