For Your Information

A gentle reminder to you all that next Thursday, September 8th is a half day. All students will leave school at 11:45am. There will be no lunch provided by the cafeteria. Next Friday, September 9th there is also no school for students. Teachers will be working hard on professional development on both these days :-)

Also, please help to remind your child that they need to bring their yellow take home folder and reading logs to school everyday. We will keep them in class every Friday and return them on Monday with new sight/spelling words each week. We use these yellow folders and reading logs everyday in the class to practice their words, so it is really important that we have it at school please.

Thanks for your help and ongoing support.

We have some great news!

Your child has access to a wonderful world of books through www.raz-kids.com

Raz-Kids helps students improve their reading skills as they listen to a book read for modelled fluency. Then, if the computer has a built-in record function, they can record themselves reading the same book. Or, students can read the book to themselves or aloud for practice. If your child has progressed beyond the first level, interactive quizzes are available at the end of each book to check for understanding. It is not necessary for students to record themselves, but if they have the capability at home it is always a great way to improve fluency. Not only that, it’s loads of fun for the children to hear themselves reading the story!

Please see your child’s yellow take home folder for login details

I think the easiest way to use Raz-kids is on the ipad.  You can download the app for free and your child will be able to do the rest! You can also access Raz-kids by home computer by following the steps below.

Here is how to access the website and your child’s reading account from any

computer connected to the Internet:

1. Go to http://www.raz-kids.com/ from your Internet browser and click the log In tab .

2. Type in the teacher username shown on the log in card and click the green GO arrow.

3. Find your name on the chart and click on it.
4. You will then have to put in the password and click the green GO arrow.
5. Please go to “Your Assignment” (with the blue twirling planet).

The books assigned to your child are based on his or her independent reading level. They appear on his or her personal page. Your child should choose to listen, read and then take a quiz by clicking on the symbols below each book.

We encourage the children to follow some steps when working with a book. He or she should:

(1) listen to the book,

(2) read the book, and then

(3) take the quiz (if possible - not all levels have access to the quizzes).

We discourage the children from jumping around and listening to/ reading different stories. Please encourage your child to follow the same steps. They DO NOT have to pick stories in the order they are displayed in their book room. They can choose the story they want to work on, but once they choose the story they should listen, read and then take the quiz (if available) before going on to another story.

We use this website in the classroom on our class Ipads and the children all get the chance to have a turn. They are all very enthusiastic about Raz-kids, as I’m sure you will see.

Thanks so much for all your help and enjoy reading!