Dear parents/ guardians,
We are about to begin a more structured reading programme
with the senior infants. These books are decodable, so the children should be
able to figure out most of the words by blending their Jolly Phonics sounds
together. We have assessed the children and placed them on the level which we
feel is appropriate for them. When the children complete all books on one
level, they’ll move up to the next level. The books are a mixture of fiction
and non-fiction.
On a Monday, each child will receive a new story in their
homework folder. We would ask that you date it on their reading log. Please
practice reading every night for 5 – 7 minutes and sign once the child can read
the whole book fluently, as well as comprehend what they are reading. This
means that their reading flows with ease. On Wednesdays, we ask that all the children have their book and
reading log in with them. We will be listening to their reading. If their
reading log is signed to say that the book is complete, the child will be able
to swap their book to another book on their current level. Similarly, on a Friday all children should have their
homework folders in their schoolbag. Again, we will listen to their reading and
swap the book for next week’s homework. Please note that every child progresses
at their own pace. Encourage your child, and ensure that reading is a positive
experience. Not every child will be ready to swap their book on a Wednesday.
Many will need the week to complete it. Please email us if you have any
concerns or questions. Below are a few tips to help with difficult words.
1.
If your child struggles with a word for more
than 4 seconds help him/ her sound it out. In class we put dots under single
sounds, and a line under the diagraphs (double sounds like ‘ch’) to help with
blending the sounds. The children are very familiar with this process.
2.
If the word is quite long, and difficult to
blend all the individual sounds together, chunking may help. This strategy involves your child breaking words into
manageable ‘chunks’ to sound out, rather than sounding out each individual
letter. For example, ‘panda’
could be chunked into ‘pan-da’. Sometimes physically covering parts of the long
word with your finger can help.
3.
Finally, some words just need to be learned off
so they’re recognised instantly! These are our Tricky words – high frequency
words. Please regulary practice the words in the Tricky Words folder, and
revise over the list from Junior Infants too.
We hope this helps! Once again, any questions you have/
issues you would like to discuss please send us an email. No doubt each child
will make great progress with their reading this year.
Kind regards,
Julie and Becky
