All Star Readers

All the first graders at Hamilton Elementary participate in "All Star Reading" time four times a week for 30 minutes each time!  They are placed in groups according to specific needs and talents.  The three first grade teachers, our reading interventionist, Mrs. Lynn Bosch, and several paraprofessionals work with the first graders.   The pictures above show the activity we worked on in our classroom today.  The children practiced reading 'sense' and 'nonsense' words to a partner.  One partner's job was to be the timer/checker and the other partner was a reader.  For one minute, the reader read the words aloud while the timer/checker verified the words read were sounded out correctly.  After one minute, the number of words correct were counted and recorded.  The partners then switched roles.  Their goal was to increase the number of correct words read in each of the three attempts.   This activity helps the children learn to use their phonics skills to sound out words correctly even if the word is not a real word.  As they practice, they depend less on breaking up the word into individual sounds and trust in their ability to read the word as a whole word.   They will also gain the confidence needed to be successful when taking the DIBELS test again in January.