Literacy

Reading

//**As children begin school our focus for reading is:**// //***relating the picture to the print**// //***pointing to each word as they read**// //***listening to a grown up read a story each day**// //***handling books correctly**// //***relating own experiences to the story**// //***anticipating what may happen next**//

__//Bookbags and books must come back to school every day.//__ As your child is reading to you and you are reading to them, the above pointers need to be used.

//** Your child may come home with a book he has already read. Please encourage expression and use of punctuation. Practising these things are much easier to do when you already know the story. **//

__//** OUR FOCUS - What we have/are doing at school**//__ What is a letter? What is a word? Learning to recognise rhyming words in stories and poems. Listening to stories and guessing what might happen next. Children begin to understand the meaning of Key Competencies. Draw a picture and follow on with a sentence about the picture. Read the sentence back to me and take home for home reading. Topics were: Key Competency: Thinking Own choice

Home Readers go home each night. These will be books the children have read at school. They are consolidating their reading when they read it again. This is when they begin to retain learnt words and learn to use expression. t Please hear your child read. If they are too tired maybe they could read to you in the morning. If they are reluctant - read it to them, read a page each, read it to them and encourage them to find letters, words and talk about the story.

Nursery Rhyme of the week: Hickory, Dickory, Dock Letters Aa and Ss - focus - poems, songs, words.
 * __Week 2 and 3__**

__**Week 4**__ Most children are reading their books at home. Well done. Children are beginning to show good results in letter and sound knowledge. Our letters are Pp and Nn. The Nursery Rhyme is Sing a Song of Sixpence. If you bring your child into the classroom during the week please encourage them to read the Nursery Rhyme to you, pointing to each word as they go. Our big Book story is: I'm the King of the mountain.

Nursery Rhyme:Yankee Doodle Letters Cc and Ee
 * __Week 5__**

__Week 6__
Letters Mm and Hh

Letters Kk and Rr
 * __Week 7__**

Letters Dd and Gg Big Book: Horace We are learning as many of our basic words as we can. When we have learnt most of the words we will be able to move from the first reading level to the next.
 * __Week 8__**

__**Week 9**__ Letters Oo and Ll Big Book: The Kings Sock.
 * //Wow Rm 3. You are all learning your words really well and some of you have moved up a level. Every-one else..... keep practicing those words and you will be moving up a group very soon.// **

__**Week 10**__ Letters Ff and Bb Big Book: I'm the King of the Mountain.

__**Week 11**__ Letters Uu ans Zz

Writing
 * Our focus for writing this term is:**
 * describe and recall an interesting event**
 * draw a picture about my writing**
 * copy neatly**
 * read my writing to a buddy as I point to the words**
 * remember my ideas long enough to write them down**
 * start writing independently in the correct place**
 * write the first/last letter of the words I am writing**
 * put spaces between words**
 * start with a capital letter**
 * put a full stop at the end of my sentence**
 * use high frequency words in my writing**
 * sound out and write some words on my own**

__**Week 1-4**__ Focus on writing at child's own ability to become familiar with my expectations and for them to experiment. Children wrote about things they have done and Key competency - thinking

__**Week 5**__ Focus on Goals and key competencies.

__**Week 6**__ The little digger came in this week and spread the wood chips over our playing areas. The children are so excited as they can play on the slide again. Lathym went to Auckland and visited Thomas the Tank engine. He brought along some photo's of his trip. This will be great for writing.

Writing about things that start with our letters of the week.
 * __Week 7__**

__**Week 8**__ We will be writing about our big book 'Horace', and about our letters of the week using words from our basic word list.
 * Great thinking Rm 3. We wrote about how we feel when Kindergarten comes to visit and we visit them and about what we do when we are with our Kindergarten friends. **

__**Week 9**__
 * A great week of writing. We wrote about our news, What Pooh Bear was doing (in the picture), The Kings Sock, Things 'I like....' **

__** Week 10 **__ We will be writing about our news, things beginning with letters Ff and Bb. =Today (Friday 8th April) some senior children came to our room. Nikita read us a story and then they all helped us to make a frog.=