Reading to your child is one of the most important
activities you can do.
Choose books that will appeal to your child’s interests,
that have rich vocabulary, and that are a little bit harder than what your
child can read independently.
As you read with your young child, point out the structure
of a book. All books have a front cover, a beginning and an end. Books have
pages and each page has a top and a bottom. Show your child that you turn one
page at a time to follow the story and that you read a story from left to right
of a page.
Emphasize certain words and vary your voice for more
dramatic read aloud sessions. Show your child the pictures in the book.
With children of all ages, encourage them to make connections between the
read-aloud story and their own life. Read a chunk of the story and ask your child open ended
questions. It is helpful to give your child a minute to think about the
question. This will encourage your child to think more deeply about the story.
Your questions can also help your child to elaborate and expand their ideas. Ask
your child to retell the story and perhaps even act out parts of the story. This
same strategy is equally effective when you play audio books in the car with your
children. Stopping the audio book and having a brief discussion will deepen
your child’s comprehension.
When explaining the meaning of vocabulary, use a child
friendly definition. This kind of definition uses everyday language and
connects to how the word is used in the story.
Most importantly, treasure this time to read wonderful
children’s literature with your child!
On Monday, the second graders wrote their first edition of "Weekend News." This piece of writing happens each week all year long, and is an opportunity for the students to share a bit about their weekend adventures. As the year goes on, the children will be coached to add even greater detail to their writing and to practice their spelling and handwriting skills. Stop by our classroom and you can read their work!
This year we started off Library/Technology just a little differently. In addition to reading books together, sharing what we read over the summer and checking out some new reading, we made some library reminder magnets. Each student is bringing home a magnet of their own design to share relevant library information. The magnets answer such questions as: 
Today was the first day of school here at AFS and we dove right into science with Kindergarten and 2nd grade. In Kindergarten, the students first had a chance to explore the science room a bit and meet all of the science room pets. Next we started a seed germination experiment. Why study seeds in the fall? Well, that's when all of the plants are producing their seeds for the following spring. It's the best tie of year to get outside and observe and collect seeds. Today, the students made "seed viewers" and they will be able to observe the stages of growth of their plants over the coming weeks. They quickly became experts with beakers and pipettes!
