Wasmer Weekly Update
September 21, 2025
Wildcat Families,
This week, our teachers spent their Tuesday PLC (Professional Learning Communities) centered around ELA (English Language Arts) instruction! This week we collaborated on ways for grade levels to boost the current reading abilities for all students. Below is a snapshot of what we discussed!
Kindergarten: phoneme segmenting--having students hear a word and then be able to tell you the sounds (phonemes) that make up the word
1st Grade: increasing awareness of letter names. As our students continue to learn letter sounds, our 1st grade teachers will be including as many opportunities as possible for students to know and recognize letter names.
2nd Grade: decoding words--when a student is given a word, we will continue to build the skill of decoding (being able to sound the word out and then blend together to read the entire word). For now, we will practice reading the word sound-by-sound out loud, but the goal would be for students to be able to sound these words out in their heads and then read the whole word out loud.
3rd Grade: in addition to reading longer passages in class, 3rd graders are also working on decoding words. As the words are getting longer and have more spelling patterns, our teachers will continue to build on the skill of decoding while reading and in spelling.
4th Grade: these students will continue to build their oral reading fluency (can the student read like they talk?) In order to build this skill, our 4th grade PLC made intentional partner reading groups to practice, practice, practice, reading fluently!
5th Grade: the 5th grade students are also building on their oral reading fluency. As they continue to read more fluently, their comprehension (ability to answer questions about what they read) will improve!
As a parent or guardian, do you see any ways you can help your child boost their current reading abilities given any of these focus areas?
Click here to see the September breakfast and lunch menu.
