Books to Enhance Vocabulary in the Government Unit

Books to Enhance Vocabulary in the Government Unit

Vocabulary for the new unit can be difficult! Below are some great read alouds that you can read with your child to reinforce vocabulary that is being worked on in school.

Some important words to focus on include:

• vote
• citizen
• democracy
• separation of powers
• legislative
• executive
• judicial
• rights and responsibilities

 

How Can I Use My Child's Lexile Score?

What is a Lexile?

According to Lexile.com, "A Lexile measure is a valuable piece of information about either an individual's reading ability or the difficulty of a text, like a book or magazine article. The Lexile measure is shown as a number with an "L" after it — 880L is 880 Lexile."

When IHES took the MAP Assessment, it assigned every child a Lexile range based on how he or she performed on the assessment.  You can find that range on your child's MAP data report.  

At what level does the "average" fourth grader read?

The chart below explains two things. 

• Column 1 of the chart shows a sample Lexile level of an average student at the middle of the year.  Please note that this is a range, and that there is overlap from grade level to grade level.  
• Teachers use many factors in deciding what is appropriate to use to teach lessons.  For instance, for familiar concept, teachers may choose a more challenging text, but for a new concept, they might use a lower level text to introduce the skill.  
• It is important to note that the Lexile measure of a book refers to its text difficulty only. A Lexile measure does not address the content or quality of the book. Lexile measures are based on two well-established predictors of how difficult a text is to comprehend: word frequency and sentence length. Many other factors affect the relationship between a reader and a book, including its content, the age and interests of the reader, and the design of the actual book. The Lexile measure is a good starting point in your book-selection process, but you should always consider these other factors when making a decision about which book to choose. 
• Column 2 represents the demand of text that students should be reading to be college and career ready by the end of grade 12.  

Grade	Average Reader, Mid-Year	2012 CCSS Text Measures*
1	Up to 300L	190L to 530L
2	140L to 500L	420L to 650L
3	330L to 700L	520L to 820L
4	445L to 810L	740L to 940L
5	565L to 910L	830L to 1010L
6	665L to 1000L	925L to 1070L
7	735L to 1065L	970L to 1120L
8	805L to 1100L	1010L to 1185L
9	855L to 1165L	1050L to 1260L
10	905L to 1195L	1080L to 1335L
11 and 12	940L to 1210L	1185L to 1385L

How Can I Use this information?

You can use the information to help guide your child into books that are just right for them. If you visit the following website, Lexile.com you are able to enter in your child's Lexile range and find a list of books that would be suitable for them to read independently. 

Evidence Based Terms

Learn How To Better Support Your Thinking!

As readers grow, it is important for them to be able to support their thinking with evidence from the text!  What better way to do this than with Evidence Based Terms.

Evidence Based Terms are sentence starters that your reader can use to explain his or her thinking. When your child's teacher says, "support your answer with evidence from the text", your child should show his or her support by using evidence based terms.

Getting to the Plot

Every fictional story has different elements.  We have been focusing on these elements the past couple of weeks to reinforce plot.  From the story map below, we have focused on character, setting, problem (kick-off), climax (attempt before the  solution), conclusion (direct consequence), and resolution.  The students have been using the symbols from the story map below to demonstrate comprehension.  When working with your child, asking him or her to tell you the different story elements is a quick way to check to see if they understand what they are reading.

Student Learning Goals:

I can read and understand stories at my grade level.             (4.RL.10)

  
I can describe a character, setting, or event in a story or drama based on specific details. (4.RL.3)

Welcome Back!

We are so excited to be back in school! The students had their first day of school today, and the teachers could not be more excited to get to know this new group of students.  To start the year, students will be learning procedures for Reading Workshop, ways we choose good books, and how to quietly confer with teachers.  Since daily reading is so important, we will be starting weekly reading calendars soon!  The best way to become a better reader is to READ! It is never to early to begin (or continue) nightly reading.