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Grades & Growth

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School & Family Partnership

K2 - 2nd grade

Grades & Growth Rotations

02

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Early Literacy

Understanding Student Data

Sleep,Technology,

& Play

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Learn about how your child is learning how to read, the researched based practices being used, and ways to support them at home!

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Learn about the importance of sleep, the impact of technology, and ways to encourage and support play at home.

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Learn about the school wide assessments that are used and understand your child’s math and literacy data.

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Early Literacy

The Reading Brain

Many parts of the brain and used to read.

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The left hemisphere does most of the heavy lifting—it processes the sounds of language, word meanings, and grammar.�

The right hemisphere helps with the bigger picture—understanding context, tone, visual aspects of words (like recognizing whole word shapes), and making sense of stories.

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Early literacy skills

What does this look like?

In K2:

In Grade 1:

In Grade 2:

• Recognize letters and their sounds
• Decode simple words
• Learn phonics patterns and sight words
• Understand how print works (left to right, spaces between words)
• Retell and talk about stories
• Read early literacy books with growing independence

• Build on kindergarten reading skills
• Decode words with more complex phonics patterns
• Read books with more challenging words and longer sentences
• Recognize and use a larger set of sight words
• Read with greater fluency and expression
• Talk and write about what they read to show understanding

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• Read books with more text and fewer pictures
• Use strategies to understand longer and more complex sentences
• Build deeper comprehension skills (summarizing, predicting, making connections)
• Read with greater accuracy, fluency, and expression
• Expand vocabulary through reading and discussion
• Write and respond to text to show understanding

These words follow a scope and sequence based on research

These phonics and spelling patterns are taught through Fundations. The patterns get progressively more difficult and build off one another.

We call these “heart words” or “trick words”. These words have to be memorized.

There are 3 kinds of words students can encounter when they are reading:

Words they know

Words they don’t know yet

Words that don’t follow a predictable pattern

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Early K2 Example

Notice:

• Students pointing to each word, understanding what makes a sentence.
• Making a connection to writing
• “Does the picture match what the words say?”
• Discussing language
• “How did they describe the bears nose?”

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Early 1st Example

Notice:

• Repetition of practice
• Words, RAN charts, book
• Having the student fix their own mistake
• NOT telling the students the word

Notice:

• Tapping words out as they are introduced
• Discussion of learned skills
• S meaning 2 at the end of a noun
• Student noticing the digraph /ck/

Questions

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Sleep, Technology & Play

Ages 3-5

Ages 6-10

Sleep Recommendations

(from the American Academy of Sleep)

Kids ages 3-5 should get between 10 and 13 hours of sleep. This includes naps.

Kids ages 6-12 should get between 9 and 12 hours of sleep.

Sleep Tips

Create a Routine

Set a Bedtime

Turn screens off EARLY

Avoid Scary Content

Make a sleepy bedroom

Routines help prevent bedtime fights and transition woes.

Having a consistent bedtime will help set a child's biological clock

Screens stimulate the brain and make it difficult for kids to settle down.

Even kids who love scary content tend to stay awake worrying about what they’ve seen!

Begin dimming lights, turning down noise, and make sure there are no screens available

Kids and Tech

Why Limit Tech?

Too much screen time can lead to:

• Obesity
• Irregular sleep
• Behavioral problems
• Impaired academic performance
• Exposure to violence/scary content
• Less time for play!

3 Simple Tips

1. Eliminate background TV
2. Keep screens OUT of the bedroom
3. Don’t eat in front of a TV or screen

Ways to Reduce Screen Time

Trim down your child’s screen time!

• Be accountable
• Set time limits and clear expectations. Don’t waiver!
• Be realistic
• If your child spends a lot of time on screens, reduce the time gradually, not all at once.
• Put your own device away!
• They’re watching us! Make time to be engaged with your child in a screen-free environment.
• Watch what they’re watching
• Know what your child is doing on a device. Kids can gain access to wild content when we’re not careful!
• Let them be bored!
• Boredom leads to creativity! Children need to learn to stimulate their own imagination, not let screens do it for them!

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“Elementary students who spend more than two hours a day watching TV, playing video games or using a computer or smartphone are more likely to have emotional, social and attention problems.” -Mayo Clinic, 2021

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Why Should I Play?

Play teaches kids to:

• Learn new skills
• Share with others
• Express their feelings
• Make decisions
• Learn about the world
• Work through difficult or scary feelings in a safe way

Play is crucial for early brain development! Many children do not have unstructured play time away from screens. Kids with more play time score higher on tests and show less aggression toward others.

How Should I Play?

Ways to play include

• Language play (silly games and stories)
• Construction play
• Sensory play
• Make-believe play
• Rough and tumble and climbing play
• Mastery play (learning to do new things)

Play should be open-ended, independent, and child-directed. Parents can join in play when a child requests a play partner, but should follow the child’s lead!

Outside of school you can…

Questions

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Understanding Student Data

All about Data

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Dibels: (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills) is a series of short, one-minute assessments used to screen and monitor students’ early literacy and reading skills from K2 through 8th grade.

i-Ready: An a Nationally normed online educational program developed by Curriculum Associates that assesses students’ current skill levels in an adaptive, individualized way in both reading and math. The diagnostic assessment adjusts the difficulty of questions based on student responses to pinpoint their current performance level compared to grade-level standards.

DIBELS

Dibels measures:

• Letter names (LNF)
• Phonemic Awareness (PSF)
• Letter Sounds (NWF)
• Decoding (NWF)
• Word Reading (WRF)
• Reading Accuracy (ORF)
• Reading Fluency (ORF)
• Comprehension (MAZE) *2nd grade

What does this data mean?

• Letter Names: At benchmark (42 letters)

What does this data mean?

• Phonemic Awareness: Above benchmark (48 sounds)

/f/ - /u/ - /n/

What sounds do you hear in the word fun?

What does this data mean?

• Decoding: At benchmark (39 sounds; 10 words)

What does this data mean?

• Accurate and Fluent Reading:

Word Reading: At Benchmark

Reading with Accuracy: Below Benchmark

Reading with Fluency: At Benchmark

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What does this data mean?

• MAZE: This assessment starts in 2nd grade.

Reading Comprehension: On grade level (10)

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“The bus was running ______, so I had to be driven to school.”

(early, late, traffic)

i-Ready reading

I-Ready reading measures:

• Phonological Awareness
• Phonics
• High-Frequency Words
• Vocabulary
• Comprehension of Literature
• Comprehension of Informational Texts

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What does this data mean?

Stretch Growth: An ambitious, but attainable, level of growth that puts students who are not yet proficient on a path toward proficiency and helps students who are already on track for proficiency to achieve or maintain advanced proficiency levels.

Typical Growth: The average annual growth for a student at this grade and placement level on their baseline Diagnostic.

i-Ready math

I-Ready math measures:

• Numbers and Operations
• Measurement and Data
• Geometry
• Algebra and Algebraic Thinking

What does this data mean?

Typical Growth: The average annual growth for a student at this grade and placement level on their baseline Diagnostic.

Stretch Growth: An ambitious, but attainable, level of growth that puts students who are not yet proficient on a path toward proficiency and helps students who are already on track for proficiency to achieve or maintain advanced proficiency levels.

Questions

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