Sunday, September 14, 2008

Reading and Writing

We are moving quickly now into Reading and Writing.  In Reading, we are working on beginning sounds and looking at the pictures to tell the story.  We are still reviewing the alphabet and will begin to work on the process of applying their knowledge of letter sounds to reading and sounding out words.  In Writing, we are working on using "Turtle Talk": 1.  Say the word you that you are thinking,  2.  Listen to the sounds you hear,  3.  Think of the letters that make that sound,  4.  Write the letters.  There are different phases of beginning writing.  Some students are still solely using pictures to tell the story, some are writing random letter strings, some are using the beginning letter for each word and some are using words they know and phonetic spelling.  As you have your child do their homework, have them verbally tell you the story, draw a picture and try to write at least one word to go with that story.  If they are frustrated, don't push it, we don't want to place a mental block toward writing.  It will come.

If you have any questions, I am always available!  
Ms. Baker
davis-bakm@duvalschools.org

Sunday, September 7, 2008

Make Up Weather Days

Makeup Days for Duval County Public Schools’ Students are Set

Tropical Storm Fay caused Duval County Public Schools’ students to miss three days of school at the beginning of this school year.  The District currently has five days built into our school calendar in order to makeup any days missed due to weather. 

Makeup days for students due to Tropical Storm Fay will be on November 10 and December 18 and 19.  The storm also required us to move the end of the first quarter, changing the date for Teacher Planning Day from October 20 to October 24.  Students will need to now attend school on October 20, not on Teacher Planning Day, October 24.

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

More "In-Action" Pics