CDSD Kindergarten Family Letter
Reading, Writing, Listening, & Speaking
Unit 3: Reading and Writing Informational Texts
Key Learning:
Good nonfiction writers make books to share facts about topics.
SPEAKING AND LISTENING:
- listen when someone is speaking.
- speak clearly and loudly enough to be understood.
- express her thoughts, ideas, and feelings clearly.
- engage in turn-taking in conversations.
- ask questions to get more information and to seek help.
- use age-appropriate grammar when speaking.
HOW YOU CAN HELP AT HOME:
- Give your child simple one to two step directions to follow. Have your child restate the directions before she completes them.
- Play listening games such as, Simon Says.
- Engage your child in conversations about topics she is interested in.
- Provide times when you and your child can share stories.
- Encourage the use of appropriate volume and pacing.
- Let your child see you asking clarifying questions.
- Encourage your child to ask questions when she doesn't understand what is said or how to do something.
- Rephrase her sentence structure or grammar by repeating the sentence properly.
UNDERSTANDING HOW BOOKS WORK:
- handle books appropriately.
- locate the first word on a page.
- look at a book page by page.
HOW YOU CAN HELP AT HOME:
- Provide many opportunities for your child to look at and read books and magazines.
- When reading a book to your child, discuss book handling skills (where to start reading, how to turn one page at a time, etc.).
- When reading a book to your child, have him point to the first word on the page.
- Encourage your child to handle and use books appropriately.
HEARING SOUNDS IN WORDS:
- say two words that rhyme.
- identify the first sound (not the letter name) in a spoken word that begins with a vowel (a, e, i, o, & u).
- identify the middle vowel sound (not the letter name) in a spoken word. (cat = /a/)
- after hearing two or three sounds, put the sounds together to say one word (/b/ + /e/ = be; /b/ + /u/ + /g/ = bug)
- after hearing a word with two or three sounds, break it apart to say each sound. (be = /b/ /e/; bug = /b/ /u/ /g/)
HOW YOU CAN HELP AT HOME:
- Have your child match pictures of rhyming words.
- Read books that have many rhyming words in them. Ask your child to repeat the words that rhyme.
- Read nursery rhymes to your child.
- See the video below.
LETTERS, SOUNDS, AND WORDS:
- when shown an a, make the short a sound
- when a short a sound is made, write an "a."
- read and write three letter short a words (e.g., rag, fan, cab, tax, & ham)
- read these words in a snap: go, an, me, my, is, play, for, from, you
HOW YOU CAN HELP AT HOME:
- Make a several three letter short a words out of magnetic letters or letter tiles. Point to each letter and make its sound and then read the whole word. Make some more three letter words. Point to each letter and have your child say each sound with you. Then, read the whole word with your child. Make several more three letter words. Have your child point to each letter and say its sound. Then, have your child read the whole word.
- Use magnetic letters or letter tiles to make three letter short a words.
- Have your child build the words with magnetic letters or letter tiles.
- Write each word on a different sticky note. Stick the words on the walls in your child's bedroom. Give your child a flashlight and turn off the lights. Say a word or make and have your child shine the light on the word. Let your child tell you a word to find.
- Put some sugar, sand, shaving cream on a cookie sheet or plate. Have your child use his finger to "write" the words. Have him name each letter while he "writes" the word.
- Give your child a cup of water and a paint brush. Have your child use the water and paintbrush to write each word on the sidewalk. He should say each letter as he writes the word.
- See video below.
UNDERSTANDING NONFICTION BOOKS:
- categorize books as fiction (make believe) and nonfiction (real).
- ask "who," "what," "when," and "where" questions when reading nonfiction books.
- describe what she learned from the pictures in a nonfiction book.
- describe what she learned from the words in a nonfiction book.
- with your help, identify the main idea of the whole text.
- with your help, tell the details that support the main idea.
HOW YOU CAN HELP AT HOME:
- Read to your child daily!
- When reading to your child, identify if the book is fiction or nonfiction and explain why.
- Give your child some books and have her sort them into fiction and nonfiction.
- Have your child organize the books on her bookshelf by grouping all the fiction books together and the nonfiction books together.
- When reading to your child, ask questions you want to know about the topic. Encourage your child to ask questions too.
- Before you read a nonfiction book to your child, look at the pictures together. Point to the pictures and tell things you can learn from them. (Frogs eat flies. Frogs can jump high. Frogs are green.) Have your child tell you facts she has learned from looking at the pictures.
- After reading a page in a nonfiction book to your child, stop and share things you learned. Have your child tell you things she has learned.
- After reading a nonfiction book to your child, tell him the main idea of the text. (Many animals live in the ocean.) Have your child tell you details/facts from the text that support the main idea. (Sharks live in the ocean. Octopuses live in the ocean. Whales live in the ocean.)
WRITING NONFICTION (All About... Books):
- choose a topic to teach others about. (All About Dinosaurs!)
- make a sketch of the topic. (Draw a T-Rex.)
- add labels to the sketch to teach about the topic. (sharp teeth, big head, small arms)
- add details and color to turn the sketch into more developed drawing.
HOW YOU CAN HELP AT HOME:
- Read nonfiction books to your child and discuss what facts were learned from the text.
- Encourage your child to take risks when drawing. (Child: "I don't know how to draw a T-Rex." Mom: "Do your best. You can do it!")
- Have your child tell you the words (labels) she wants to write. Ask her to say the sounds in the word one at a time. Have her write one letter for each sound. It's okay if she doesn't write the correct letter. (big head = bg hd) Accept her approximations for words. She may write the first letter for the entire word.
- Ask your child questions that will bring out more details about the topic. Encourage her to add these details to her drawings.
- Provide your child with different materials (crayons, markers, paint, etc.) to create her stories.
WORDS TO KNOW
- audience: the person or people you are writing your story for
- detail: a small bit of information that tells or shows more about a main idea
- fiction: a made up story; sometimes it seems like it could really happen
- illustration: a picture in a book that is drawn by an illustrator
- label: a word that names part of something or something in a picture
- main idea: the most important idea about a topic
- nonfiction: a book that shares facts about a topic
- photograph: a picture taken with a camera; a picture of real things with important details
- question: a sentence that asks something
- sketch: a quick drawing
- space: the empty area between words in a sentence
- text: a fiction or nonfiction book
- topic: what the book or writing is about
- word: a group of letters that are put together in a certain order to mean something
MORE WAYS TO HELP AT HOME
ONLINE RESOURCES
THE BEST APPS FOR IPHONE, IPADS, AND ANDROID DEVICES
Dr. Seuss's ABC
Skill: Phonics, Print Awareness, and Vocabulary
Device: Android, iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch
Price: $3.99
Dr. Seuss's ABC has three levels, "Read to Me," Read It Myself," and "Auto Play," which allows children to grow with this app. Words highlighted are read out loud when tapped, and when narrated, children can follow along with the highlighted text.
Pictello
Skill: Language and Communication, Print Awareness, Storytelling, Writing
Device: iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch
Price: $18.99
Interactive storytelling app that lets kids make social storybooks with their own titles, photos, videos, and captions.
abc PocketPhonics
Skill: Phonics
Device: iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch
Price: $6.99
When kids see a letter, they say it, write it, and then use it in a word.
ABCmouse.com - Early Learning Academy
Skill: Phonics and Spelling
Device: Android, iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch
Price: $3.99
Kids explore different activities in a virtual world. They work through a learning path that features five activities for their level. Kids can learn letter and number skills as well as animal facts through simple games, books, puzzles, and coloring pages.