Thursday, December 17, 2009

Mrs. Pellin's Post
January 4th to January 8th


I hope everyone had a wonderful winter break! Classes resume Monday, January 4th.

This week we will be administering the aimsweb test to the children in kindergarten, first, and second grade. The Response to Intervention program requires that this test be given to all the students in the school three times a year.


I will be using the Michael Heggerty skill based intervention this year with my first grade students. This intervention focuses on Phonemic awareness in its lesson plans. "Phonemic awareness is the understanding that spoken words are made up of individual sounds, which are called phonemes. A child who is phonemically aware is able to isolate sounds, blend, and segment the sounds into spoken and written words." Studies have shown that this awareness is one key to active reading.


This year we will be studying 9 phonemic skills. These are (ranging from the easiest to the most difficult)
1. Increasing Language Awareness
2. Rhyming
3. Identifying Onsets
4. Blending
5. Identifying Final and Medial Phonemes
6. Segmenting
7. Substituting Phonemes
8. Adding Phonemes
9. Deleting Phonemes

Center Cass School District # 66 has implemented an Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) mandate, Response To Intervention (RTI). RTI is an array of procedures that can be used to determine if and how students respond to specific changes in instruction. RTI provides an improved process and instruction for school teams in designing and implementing educational interventions.

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Mrs. Pellin's Post
December 14th to December 18th
Remember winter break begins on Monday, December 21st.

This week we will be learning about words that have "l" blends such as "blue" and "flower." We will talk about many different words that contain the "l" blends and match them to pictures.


I will be using the Michael Heggerty skill based intervention this year with my first grade students. This intervention focuses on Phonemic awareness in its lesson plans. "Phonemic awareness is the understanding that spoken words are made up of individual sounds, which are called phonemes. A child who is phonemically aware is able to isolate sounds, blend, and segment the sounds into spoken and written words." Studies have shown that this awareness is one key to active reading.


This year we will be studying 9 phonemic skills. These are (ranging from the easiest to the most difficult)
1. Increasing Language Awareness
2. Rhyming
3. Identifying Onsets
4. Blending
5. Identifying Final and Medial Phonemes
6. Segmenting
7. Substituting Phonemes
8. Adding Phonemes
9. Deleting Phonemes

Center Cass School District # 66 has implemented an Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) mandate, Response To Intervention (RTI). RTI is an array of procedures that can be used to determine if and how students respond to specific changes in instruction. RTI provides an improved process and instruction for school teams in designing and implementing educational interventions.

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Mrs. Pellin's Post
December 7th to December 11th
Remember there will be no school on Friday, December 4th.

This week we will be learning about words that have the short a sound in the beginning and middle of the word.


I will be using the Michael Heggerty skill based intervention this year with my first grade students. This intervention focuses on Phonemic awareness in its lesson plans. "Phonemic awareness is the understanding that spoken words are made up of individual sounds, which are called phonemes. A child who is phonemically aware is able to isolate sounds, blend, and segment the sounds into spoken and written words." Studies have shown that this awareness is one key to active reading.


This year we will be studying 9 phonemic skills. These are (ranging from the easiest to the most difficult)
1. Increasing Language Awareness
2. Rhyming
3. Identifying Onsets
4. Blending
5. Identifying Final and Medial Phonemes
6. Segmenting
7. Substituting Phonemes
8. Adding Phonemes
9. Deleting Phonemes

Center Cass School District # 66 has implemented an Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) mandate, Response To Intervention (RTI). RTI is an array of procedures that can be used to determine if and how students respond to specific changes in instruction. RTI provides an improved process and instruction for school teams in designing and implementing educational interventions.

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Mrs. Pellin's Post
November 30th to December 4th

I am looking forward to seeing all of you at parent conferences this week. Remember there will be no school on Friday, December 4th.


This week we will be learning about words that have the short e sound in the beginning and middle of the word.

I will be using the Michael Heggerty skill based intervention this year with my first grade students. This intervention focuses on Phonemic awareness in its lesson plans. "Phonemic awareness is the understanding that spoken words are made up of individual sounds, which are called phonemes. A child who is phonemically aware is able to isolate sounds, blend, and segment the sounds into spoken and written words." Studies have shown that this awareness is one key to active reading.



This year we will be studying 9 phonemic skills. These are (ranging from the easiest to the most difficult)
1. Increasing Language Awareness
2. Rhyming
3. Identifying Onsets
4. Blending
5. Identifying Final and Medial Phonemes
6. Segmenting
7. Substituting Phonemes
8. Adding Phonemes
9. Deleting Phonemes

During the next nine weeks I will describe each of the phonemic awareness skills.

9. Deleting Phonemes
a. Deleting words from compound words
b. Deleting syllables from spoken words
c. Deleting initial phonemes (sounds) to spoken words
d. Deleting final phonemes (sounds) to spoken words


Center Cass School District # 66 has implemented an Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) mandate, Response To Intervention (RTI). RTI is an array of procedures that can be used to determine if and how students respond to specific changes in instruction. RTI provides an improved process and instruction for school teams in designing and implementing educational interventions.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Mrs. Pellin's Post
November 23rd to November 28th

Here's wishing all my students a safe and happy Thanksgiving! Remember there will be no school from November 25th through November 27th.

This week we will be learning about words that have the short u sound in the beginning and middle of the word.


I will be using the Michael Heggerty skill based intervention this year with my first grade students. This intervention focuses on Phonemic awareness in its lesson plans. "Phonemic awareness is the understanding that spoken words are made up of individual sounds, which are called phonemes. A child who is phonemically aware is able to isolate sounds, blend, and segment the sounds into spoken and written words." Studies have shown that this awareness is one key to active reading.


This year we will be studying 9 phonemic skills. These are (ranging from the easiest to the most difficult)
1. Increasing Language Awareness
2. Rhyming
3. Identifying Onsets
4. Blending
5. Identifying Final and Medial Phonemes
6. Segmenting
7. Substituting Phonemes
8. Adding Phonemes
9. Deleting Phonemes

During the next nine weeks I will describe each of the phonemic awareness skills.

8. Adding Phonemes
a. Adding words to make compound words
b. Adding syllables to words or word parts
c. Adding initial phonemes (sounds) to spoken words
d. Adding final phonemes (sounds) to spoken words


Center Cass School District # 66 has implemented an Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) mandate, Response To Intervention (RTI). RTI is an array of procedures that can be used to determine if and how students respond to specific changes in instruction. RTI provides an improved process and instruction for school teams in designing and implementing educational interventions.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Mrs. Pellin's Post
November 16th to November 20th

This week we will be learning about words that have the short u sound in the beginning and middle of the word.

I will be using the Michael Heggerty skill based intervention this year with my first grade students. This intervention focuses on Phonemic awareness in its lesson plans. "Phonemic awareness is the understanding that spoken words are made up of individual sounds, which are called phonemes. A child who is phonemically aware is able to isolate sounds, blend, and segment the sounds into spoken and written words." Studies have shown that this awareness is one key to active reading.


This year we will be studying 9 phonemic skills. These are (ranging from the easiest to the most difficult)



  1. Increasing Language Awareness


  2. Rhyming


  3. Identifying Onsets


  4. Blending


  5. Identifying Final and Medial Phonemes


  6. Segmenting


  7. Substituting Phonemes


  8. Adding Phonemes


  9. Deleting Phonemes
During the next nine weeks I will describe each of the phonemic awareness skills.

8. Adding Phonemes



  • Adding words to make compound words


  • Adding syllables to words or word parts


  • Adding initial phonemes (sounds) to spoken words


  • Adding final phonemes (sounds) to spoken words
    Center Cass School District # 66 has implemented an Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) mandate, Response To Intervention (RTI). RTI is an array of procedures that can be used to determine if and how students respond to specific changes in instruction. RTI provides an improved process and instruction for school teams in designing and implementing educational interventions.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Mrs. Pellin's Post
November 9th to November 13th

This week we will be learning about words that have the short o sound in the beginning and middle of the word.

I will be using the Michael Heggerty skill based intervention this year with my first grade students. This intervention focuses on Phonemic awareness in its lesson plans. "Phonemic awareness is the understanding that spoken words are made up of individual sounds, which are called phonemes. A child who is phonemically aware is able to isolate sounds, blend, and segment the sounds into spoken and written words." Studies have shown that this awareness is one key to active reading.


This year we will be studying 9 phonemic skills. These are (ranging from the easiest to the most difficult)


  1. Increasing Language Awareness

  2. Rhyming

  3. Identifying Onsets

  4. Blending

  5. Identifying Final and Medial Phonemes

  6. Segmenting

  7. Substituting Phonemes

  8. Adding Phonemes

  9. Deleting Phonemes


During the next nine weeks I will describe each of the phonemic awareness skills.

7. Substituting Phonemes



  • Substituting the initial phonemes (sounds) in spoken words


  • Substituting the final phonemes (sounds) in spoken words


  • Substituting the medial phonemes (sounds) in spoken words
    Center Cass School District # 66 has implemented an Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) mandate, Response To Intervention (RTI). RTI is an array of procedures that can be used to determine if and how students respond to specific changes in instruction. RTI provides an improved process and instruction for school teams in designing and implementing educational interventions.

Mrs. Pellin's Post
November 2nd to November 6th
This week we will be learning about words that have the short i sound in the beginning and middle of the word.

I will be using the Michael Heggerty skill based intervention this year with my first grade students. This intervention focuses on Phonemic awareness in its lesson plans. "Phonemic awareness is the understanding that spoken words are made up of individual sounds, which are called phonemes. A child who is phonemically aware is able to isolate sounds, blend, and segment the sounds into spoken and written words." Studies have shown that this awareness is one key to active reading.


This year we will be studying 9 phonemic skills. These are (ranging from the easiest to the most difficult)





  1. Increasing Language Awareness


  2. Rhyming


  3. Identifying Onsets


  4. Blending


  5. Identifying Final and Medial Phonemes


  6. Segmenting


  7. Substituting Phonemes


  8. Adding Phonemes


  9. Deleting Phonemes

During the next nine weeks I will describe each of the phonemic awareness skills.

6. Segmenting


  • Segmenting sentence into separate words


  • Segmenting individual words


  • Segmenting syllables in spoken words


  • Segmenting onset and rime in spoken words


  • Segmenting phonemes in spoken words

Center Cass School District # 66 has implemented an Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) mandate, Response To Intervention (RTI). RTI is an array of procedures that can be used to determine if and how students respond to specific changes in instruction. RTI provides an improved process and instruction for school teams in designing and implementing educational interventions.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Mrs. Pellin's Post
October 26th to October 30th
This week we will work on segmenting the sound a.

I will be using the Michael Heggerty skill based intervention this year with my first grade students. This intervention focuses on Phonemic awareness in its lesson plans. "Phonemic awareness is the understanding that spoken words are made up of individual sounds, which are called phonemes. A child who is phonemically aware is able to isolate sounds, blend, and segment the sounds into spoken and written words." Studies have shown that this awareness is one key to active reading.




This year we will be studying 9 phonemic skills. These are (ranging from the easiest to the most difficult):

  1. Increasing Language Awareness
  2. Rhyming
  3. Identifying Onsets
  4. Blending
  5. Identifying Final and Medial Phonemes
  6. Segmenting
  7. Substituting Phonemes
  8. Adding Phonemes
  9. Deleting Phonemes

During the next nine weeks I will describe each of the phonemic awareness skills.

5. Identifying Final and Medial Phonemes
  • Isolating final phonemes (sounds) in spoken words
  • Isolating medial phonemes (sounds) in spoken words
  • Identifying same final phonemes (sounds) in a series of words
  • Identifying same medial phonemes (sounds) in a series of words
Center Cass School District # 66 has implemented an Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) mandate, Response To Intervention (RTI). RTI is an array of procedures that can be used to determine if and how students respond to specific changes in instruction. RTI provides an improved process and instruction for school teams in designing and implementing educational interventions.

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Mrs. Pellin's Post
October 19th to October 23rd
This week we will work on segmenting the sounds f, l, and z.

I will be using the Michael Heggerty skill based intervention this year with my first grade students. This intervention focuses on Phonemic awareness in its lesson plans. "Phonemic awareness is the understanding that spoken words are made up of individual sounds, which are called phonemes. A child who is phonemically aware is able to isolate sounds, blend, and segment the sounds into spoken and written words." Studies have shown that this awareness is one key to active reading.


This year we will be studying 9 phonemic skills. These are (ranging from the easiest to the most difficult):




  1. Increasing Language Awareness

  2. Rhyming

  3. Identifying Onsets

  4. Blending

  5. Identifying Final and Medial Phonemes

  6. Segmenting

  7. Substituting Phonemes

  8. Adding Phonemes

  9. Deleting Phonemes

During the next nine weeks I will describe each of the phonemic awareness skills.

4. Blending



  • Blending individual words into compound words

  • Blending syllables into spoken words

  • Blending onsets with rime into spoken words

  • Blending phonemes (sounds) into spoken words
Center Cass School District # 66 has implemented an Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) mandate, Response To Intervention (RTI). RTI is an array of procedures that can be used to determine if and how students respond to specific changes in instruction. RTI provides an improved process and instruction for school teams in designing and implementing educational interventions.
Mrs. Pellin's Post
October 12th to October 16th



This week we will work on segmenting the sounds c, w, j, and q.


I will be using the Michael Heggerty skill based intervention this year with my first grade students. This intervention focuses on Phonemic awareness in its lesson plans. "Phonemic awareness is the understanding that spoken words are made up of individual sounds, which are called phonemes. A child who is phonemically aware is able to isolate sounds, blend, and segment the sounds into spoken and written words." Studies have shown that this awareness is one key to active reading.


This year we will be studying 9 phonemic skills. These are (ranging from the easiest to the most difficult):

  1. Increasing Language Awareness
  2. Rhyming
  3. Identifying Onsets
  4. Blending
  5. Identifying Final and Medial Phonemes
  6. Segmenting
  7. Substituting Phonemes
  8. Adding Phonemes
  9. Deleting Phonemes


During the next nine weeks I will describe each of the phonemic awareness skills.

3. Identifying Onsets (beginning sounds)

  • Isolating onset phonemes (sounds) in spoken words
  • Identifying same onset phonemes (sounds) in a series of words
Center Cass School District # 66 has implemented an Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) mandate, Response To Intervention (RTI). RTI is an array of procedures that can be used to determine if and how students respond to specific changes in instruction. RTI provides an improved process and instruction for school teams in designing and implementing educational interventions.

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Mrs. Pellin's Post
October 5th to October 9th

This week we will work on segmenting the sounds t,r,h,and x.

I will be using the Michael Heggerty skill based intervention this year with my first grade students. This intervention focuses on Phonemic awareness in its lesson plans. "Phonemic awareness is the understanding that spoken words are made up of individual sounds, which are called phonemes. A child who is phonemically aware is able to isolate sounds, blend, and segment the sounds into spoken and written words." Studies have shown that this awareness is one key to active reading.


This year we will be studying 9 phonemic skills. These are (ranging from the easiest to the most difficult):

  1. Increasing Language Awareness
  2. Rhyming
  3. Identifying Onsets
  4. Blending
  5. Identifying Final and Medial Phonemes
  6. Segmenting
  7. Substituting Phonemes
  8. Adding Phonemes
  9. Deleting Phonemes


During the next nine weeks I will describe each of the phonemic awarenes skills.

2. Rhyming

  • Recognizing rhyming words
  • Repeating rhyming words out of a series of words
  • Isolating the non-rhyming word out of a series of words
  • Producing a rhyming word with a familiar word
Center Cass School District # 66 has implemented an Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) mandate, Response To Intervention (RTI). RTI is an array of procedues that can be used to determine if and how students respond to specific changes in instruction. RTI provides an improved process and instruction for school teams in designing and implementing educational interventions.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Mrs. Pellin's Post
September 28th to October 2nd

This week we will continue working on segmenting the sounds n, f, l, and z.

I will be using the Michael Heggerty skill based intervention this year with my first grade students. This intervention focuses on Phonemic awareness in its lesson plans. "Phonemic awareness is the understanding that spoken words are made up of individual sounds, which are called phonemes. A child who is phonemically aware is able to isolate sounds, blend, and segment the sounds into spoken and written words." Studies have shown that this awareness is one key to active reading.


This year we will be studying 9 phonemic skills. These are (ranging from the easiest to the most difficult):
  1. Increasing Language Awareness
  2. Rhyming
  3. Identifying Onsets
  4. Blending
  5. Identifying Final and Medial Phonemes
  6. Segmenting
  7. Substituting Phonemes
  8. Adding Phonemes
  9. Deleting Phonemes


During the next nine weeks I will describe each of the phonemic awarenes skills.

1. Increasing Language Awareness
  • Repeating a sentence
  • Breaking a sentence into separate, spoken words
  • Clapping words in a sentence
  • Counting words in a sentence


Center Cass School District # 66 has implemented an Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) mandate, Response To Intervention (RTI). RTI is an array of procedues that can be used to determine if and how students respond to specific changes in instruction. RTI provides an improved process and instruction for school teams in designing and implementing educational interventions.






Thursday, September 17, 2009


Mrs. Pellin's Post
September 21st to September 25th

This week we will continue working on segmenting the sounds b, m, and p.

I will be using the Michael Heggerty skill based intervention this year with my first grade students. This intervention focuses on Phonemic awareness in its lesson plans. "Phonemic awareness is the understanding that spoken words are made up of individual sounds, which are called phonemes. A child who is phonemically aware is able to isolate sounds, blend, and segment the sounds into spoken and written words." Studies have shown that this awareness is one key to active reading.


This year we will be studying 9 phonemic skills. These are (ranging from the easiest to the most difficult):
  1. Increasing Language Awareness
  2. Rhyming
  3. Identifying Onsets
  4. Blending
  5. Identifying Final and Medial Phonemes
  6. Segmenting
  7. Substituting Phonemes
  8. Adding Phonemes
  9. Deleting Phonemes

[each skill listed has subskills with increasing difficulty]



Center Cass School District # 66 has implemented an Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) mandate, Response To Intervention (RTI). RTI is an array of procedues that can be used to determine if and how students respond to specific changes in instruction. RTI provides an improved process and instruction for school teams in designing and implementing educational interventions.

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Mrs. Pellin's Post
September 14th to September 18th



I will be using the Michael Heggerty skill based intervention this year with my first grade students. This intervention focuses on Phonemic awareness in its lesson plans. "Phonemic awareness is the understanding that spoken words are made up of individual sounds, which are called phonemes. A child who is phonemically aware is able to isolate sounds, bleand, and segment the sounds into spoken and written words." Studies have shown that this awareness is one key to active reading. For the first week we will be working on segmenting the sounds b, m, and p.


Center Cass School District # 66 has implemented an Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) mandate, Response To Intervention (RTI). RTI is an array of procedues that can be used to determine if and how students respond to specific changes in instruction. RTI provides an improved process and instruction for school teams in designing and implementing educational interventions.

Friday, September 4, 2009

Mrs. Pellin's Post
September 8th to September 11th


We have finished administering the aimsweb test to the children in kindergarten, first, and second grade. We will now work on placing the children in their reading groups. This week we will also continue to work on the RTI schedules and decide which reading interventions will be used for each group. We are still preparing for the beginning of the RTI program which will start Monday, September 14th for the first and second grade students and Wednesday, September 23rd for the kindergarten students at Elizabeth Ide. Center Cass School District # 66 has implemented an Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) mandate, Response To Intervention (RTI). RTI is an array of procedues that can be used to determine if and how students respond to specific changes in instruction. RTI provides an improved process and instruction for school teams in designing and implementing educational interventions.

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Mrs. Pellin's Post
August 31tst to September 4th


I enjoyed welcoming all the students back at the Open House on Monday. This week we will be administering the aimsweb test to the children in kindergarten, first, and second grade. This week we will also continue to work on the RTI schedules for kindergarten, first and second grades. We are still preparing for the beginning of the RTI program which will start Monday, September 14th for the first and second grade students and Wednesday, September 23rd for the kindergarten students at Elizabeth Ide.




Center Cass School District # 66 has implemented an Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) mandate, Response To Intervention (RTI). RTI is an array of procedues that can be used to determine if and how students respond to specific changes in instruction. RTI provides an improved process and instruction for school teams in designing and implementing educational interventions.

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Mrs. Pellin's Post
August 24th to August 28th


This week we will be working on the RTI schedules for kindergarten, first and second grades. We are still preparing for the beginning of the RTI program which will start Monday, September 14th for the first and second grade students and Wednesday, September 23rd for the kindergarten students at Elizabeth Ide.



Center Cass School District # 66 has implemented an Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) mandate, Response To Intervention (RTI). RTI is an array of procedues that can be used to determine if and how students respond to specific changes in instruction. RTI provides an improved process and instruction for school teams in designing and implementing educational interventions.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Mrs. Pellin's Post
June 1st to June 5th


Friday, June 5th is the last day of school. We will have an early dismissal at 10:00 am! Please plan accordingly.
I enjoyed reading with all of my wonderful students this year. Each and every child worked very hard and improved their reading and writing skills a great deal. I encourage everyone to read as many books as possible throughout the summer. This can be done by reading books alone; partner reading with a sibling or parent; or having a book read to them. The more your child reads, the more likely they are to remain at or continue to progress to a higher reading level! I look forward to seeing many students back at Elizabeth Ide next year and I wish those who move on to Prairieview the best of luck. Have a wonderful summer and please be sure to visit my classroom next year!!!

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Mrs. Pellin's Post
May 25th to May 29th



Monday, May 25th is Memorial Day! There will be no school. Please plan accordingly.



This week the first graders will read books about a family of ducks. They will learn and write about how a father duck protects his ducklings from a big dog.



The second grade will read about how a family rescues a surfer on the beach. They will write about the strategies the family used to save the surfer.

Both reading groups will reflect on our favorite memories of the school year. We will discuss our happy memories and we will write about them as well.

Center Cass School District # 66 is in the process of implementing an Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) mandate, Response of Intervention (RTI). RTI is an array of procedures that can be used to determine if and how students respond to specific changes in instruction. RTI provides an improved process and instruction for school teams in designing, implementing, and educational interventions.