Raising a writer: Writing development is extremely important to prepare students for state testing. Here are some ideas for you to try at home.
Be your child's number one fan! Ask your child to read aloud what he or she has written for school. Hang your child's writing in a special frame on the refrigerator. Its important to focus on the content more than the grammar of your child's writing. For ever mistake your child makes, there are dozen things they did right! Use colored pencils or mechanical pencils to motivate students to write.
Have a family message board to write notes back and forth.
Write grocery lists.
Have your child write a review of your cooking :)
Write recipe with step by step instructions.
Write postcards from vacations and trips.
Write a letter to a favorite cartoon character.
Write thank you notes to friends and relatives*
Cut a picture from a magazine and write a story about it.
Take turns writing a sentence ( You write one sentence and then they write one sentence).
Teach your monster to read has a great phonics based activities for students who are struggling with decoding. Its free!!!
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC EXPLORER National Geographic explorer has magazines that can be read aloud to students as they follow the highlighted text.
Spelling Resources:
Try having your child practice writing their words in different ways.
With a chalk on sidewalk or patio.
With dry erase markers on a mirror.
Type
Combine it with physical activity. Have your child do jumping jacks saying one letter per jump, or practice while working up and down the stairs, saying on letter per step. Your child could also practice while dribbling a basketball, saying one letter per bounce. We do this at recess!!!
Play hangman with your child using the weekly spelling words!
Math resources:
Fact fluency is extremely important and will allow students to problem solve more easily.