Mrs. Pellin's Post
May 31st to June 7th

I would like to express my sincere thanks to District 66, the IDE family, the parents, and my wonderful students for the best ten years that any teacher ask for. It has been very rewarding to watch the growth that each of my students have made and the effort they have put forth. I hope to keep in touch with all of you and I look forward to being a substitute teacher starting January 2012. THANK YOU!

Kindergarten: The students will be learning how to write the capital letters "U," "V," "W," "X," "Y," and "Z" correctly. We will continue to review the letter sounds.


I will be administering all of the end of the year assessments with my students.

I will also be using an intervention called "GATE (Group and Tutoring Edition)" with the first grade students. This intervention extends the Read Naturally strategy to improve phonics and fluency skills in small group situations. The fluency skills are improved by the following: 1. Developing phonemic awareness of the letter sounds in words. 2. Developing the phonemic awareness of blending sounds in words. 3. Strengthening the proficiency with the sounds of the letters. 4. Teaching to decode short, phonetically regular words. 5. Building fluency in decoding. 6. Spelling short, phonetically regular words. By combining phonics instruction with the fluency building GATE for Phonics accelerates the reading achievement of beginning readers.
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
May 23rd to May 27th

The RTI program applies interventions carefully designed to meet the specific needs of each student. Each week I will reinforce the reading and writing skills taught in the first and second grade core curriculum. We will focus on vocabulary, comprehension, high-frequency words and phonics skills associated with the stories that are read in the students' classrooms.

Kindergarten: The students will be learning how to write the capital letters "P," "Q," "R," "S," and "T" correctly. We will continue to review the letter sounds.

First Grade: The students will be reading a story about a boy and a girl in a family who want to buy scooters. We will write about and discuss how the parents think the children should do jobs around the house to earn the scooters.

I will also be using an intervention called "GATE (Group and Tutoring Edition)" with the first grade students. This intervention extends the Read Naturally strategy to improve phonics and fluency skills in small group situations. The fluency skills are improved by the following: 1. Developing phonemic awareness of the letter sounds in words. 2. Developing the phonemic awareness of blending sounds in words. 3. Strengthening the proficiency with the sounds of the letters. 4. Teaching to decode short, phonetically regular words. 5. Building fluency in decoding. 6. Spelling short, phonetically regular words. By combining phonics instruction with the fluency building GATE for Phonics accelerates the reading achievement of beginning readers.


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
May 16th to May 20th

The RTI program applies interventions carefully designed to meet the specific needs of each student. Each week I will reinforce the reading and writing skills taught in the first and second grade core curriculum. We will focus on vocabulary, comprehension, high-frequency words and phonics skills associated with the stories that are read in the students' classrooms.

Kindergarten: The students will be learning how to write the capital letters "G," "H," "I," "J," "K," "M," and "N" correctly. We will continue to review the letter sounds.


First Grade: The students will be reading a story about a boy and a girl having a hard time making a decision about what kind of birthday present to buy their friends. The children will discuss the sequence of events in the story and write and describe the decision that the boy and girl made.

I will also be using an intervention called "GATE (Group and Tutoring Edition)" with the first grade students. This intervention extends the Read Naturally strategy to improve phonics and fluency skills in small group situations. The fluency skills are improved by the following: 1. Developing phonemic awareness of the letter sounds in words. 2. Developing the phonemic awareness of blending sounds in words. 3. Strengthening the proficiency with the sounds of the letters. 4. Teaching to decode short, phonetically regular words. 5. Building fluency in decoding. 6. Spelling short, phonetically regular words. By combining phonics instruction with the fluency building GATE for Phonics accelerates the reading achievement of beginning readers.

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
May 9th to May 13th

The RTI program applies interventions carefully designed to meet the specific needs of each student. Each week I will reinforce the reading and writing skills taught in the first and second grade core curriculum. We will focus on vocabulary, comprehension, high-frequency words and phonics skills associated with the stories that are read in the students' classrooms.

Kindergarten: The students will be reviewing letter recognition and letter sounds for the entire alphabet. Students will be asked to view a picture card and then say the letter name and associated letter sound.
First Grade: The students will be reading a story about a dog who runs away and is very sad when he can't find his home again. We will discuss the problem and solution of this story. Then we will write about how the dog is reunited with his family.

I will also be using an intervention called "GATE (Group and Tutoring Edition)" with the first grade students. This intervention extends the Read Naturally strategy to improve phonics and fluency skills in small group situations. The fluency skills are improved by the following: 1. Developing phonemic awareness of the letter sounds in words. 2. Developing the phonemic awareness of blending sounds in words. 3. Strengthening the proficiency with the sounds of the letters. 4. Teaching to decode short, phonetically regular words. 5. Building fluency in decoding. 6. Spelling short, phonetically regular words. By combining phonics instruction with the fluency building GATE for Phonics accelerates the reading achievement of beginning readers.


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
May 2nd to May 6th

The RTI program applies interventions carefully designed to meet the specific needs of each student. Each week I will reinforce the reading and writing skills taught in the first and second grade core curriculum. We will focus on vocabulary, comprehension, high-frequency words and phonics skills associated with the stories that are read in the students' classrooms.

Kindergarten: The students will be reviewing letter recognition and letter sounds for the entire alphabet. Students will be asked to view a picture card and then say the letter name and associated letter sound.

First Grade: The students will be reading a story about a family moving into a new house. We will discuss how the family makes new friends in their new neighborhood. We will write about how each of us can make a new student feel welcome in our school. We will continue to work on both sight and vocabulary words.

I will also be using an intervention called "GATE (Group and Tutoring Edition)" with the first grade students. This intervention extends the Read Naturally strategy to improve phonics and fluency skills in small group situations. The fluency skills are improved by the following: 1. Developing phonemic awareness of the letter sounds in words. 2. Developing the phonemic awareness of blending sounds in words. 3. Strengthening the proficiency with the sounds of the letters. 4. Teaching to decode short, phonetically regular words. 5. Building fluency in decoding. 6. Spelling short, phonetically regular words. By combining phonics instruction with the fluency building GATE for Phonics accelerates the reading achievement of beginning readers.

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
April 25th to April 29th

Open House will be Thursday night, April 28th. The children are excited to show you their reading binders and special projects that they have completed.

The RTI program applies interventions carefully designed to meet the specific needs of each student. Each week I will reinforce the reading and writing skills taught in the first and second grade core curriculum. We will focus on vocabulary, comprehension, high-frequency words and phonics skills associated with the stories that are read in the students' classrooms.

The RTI team will be benchmarking the kindergarden students and first grade students this week.

I will also be using an intervention called "GATE (Group and Tutoring Edition)" with the first grade students. This intervention extends the Read Naturally strategy to improve phonics and fluency skills in small group situations. The fluency skills are improved by the following: 1. Developing phonemic awareness of the letter sounds in words. 2. Developing the phonemic awareness of blending sounds in words. 3. Strengthening the proficiency with the sounds of the letters. 4. Teaching to decode short, phonetically regular words. 5. Building fluency in decoding. 6. Spelling short, phonetically regular words. By combining phonics instruction with the fluency building GATE for Phonics accelerates the reading achievement of beginning readers.

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

April 18th to April 21st

The RTI program applies interventions carefully designed to meet the specific needs of each student. Each week I will reinforce the reading and writing skills taught in the first and second grade core curriculum. We will focus on vocabulary, comprehension, high-frequency words and phonics skills associated with the stories that are read in the students' classrooms.

Kindergarten: Kindergarten students continue doing a reading intervention called "Wilson Fundations" this week. We are working on letter recognition, letter sounds, and learning how to write each letter. This week we will concentrate on the vowels "x"and "y." First grade: This week the lesson will continue to reinforce the baby chick unit being taught in the first grade classrooms. We will be making complete sentences from word lists that describe facts about baby chicks. We will read and discuss the many parts of a chicken's egg.

I will also be using an intervention called "GATE (Group and Tutoring Edition)" with the first grade students. This intervention extends the Read Naturally strategy to improve phonics and fluency skills in small group situations. The fluency skills are improved by the following: 1. Developing phonemic awareness of the letter sounds in words. 2. Developing the phonemic awareness of blending sounds in words. 3. Strengthening the proficiency with the sounds of the letters. 4. Teaching to decode short, phonetically regular words. 5. Building fluency in decoding. 6. Spelling short, phonetically regular words. By combining phonics instruction with the fluency building GATE for Phonics accelerates the reading achievement of beginning readers. 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

April 11th to April 15th

The RTI program applies interventions carefully designed to meet the specific needs of each student. Each week I will reinforce the reading and writing skills taught in the first and second grade core curriculum. We will focus on vocabulary, comprehension, high-frequency words and phonics skills associated with the stories that are read in the students' classrooms.

Kindergarten: Kindergarten students continue doing a reading intervention called "Wilson Fundations" this week. We are working on letter recognition, letter sounds, and learning how to write each letter. This week we will concentrate on the vowels "qu"and "z." First grade: This week the lesson will continue to reinforce the baby chick unit being taught in the first grade classrooms. We will be making complete sentences from word lists that describe facts about baby chicks. We will read and discuss the many parts of a chicken's egg.

I will also be using an intervention called "GATE (Group and Tutoring Edition)" with the first grade students. This intervention extends the Read Naturally strategy to improve phonics and fluency skills in small group situations. The fluency skills are improved by the following: 1. Developing phonemic awareness of the letter sounds in words. 2. Developing the phonemic awareness of blending sounds in words. 3. Strengthening the proficiency with the sounds of the letters. 4. Teaching to decode short, phonetically regular words. 5. Building fluency in decoding. 6. Spelling short, phonetically regular words. By combining phonics instruction with the fluency building GATE for Phonics accelerates the reading achievement of beginning readers. 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
April 4th to April 8th

The RTI program applies interventions carefully designed to meet the specific needs of each student. Each week I will reinforce the reading and writing skills taught in the first and second grade core curriculum. We will focus on vocabulary, comprehension, high-frequency words and phonics skills associated with the stories that are read in the students' classrooms.
Kindergarten: Kindergarten students continue doing a reading intervention called "Wilson Fundations" this week. We are working on letter recognition, letter sounds, and learning how to write each letter. This week we will concentrate on the vowels "V"and "W."
First grade: This week the lesson will reinforce the baby chick unit being taught in the first grade classrooms. We will be reading a poem called Egg Me On! The students will also work on the chick spelling words. The students will write about the birth stages of a baby chick.

I will also be using an intervention called "GATE (Group and Tutoring Edition)" with the first grade students. This intervention extends the Read Naturally strategy to improve phonics and fluency skills in small group situations. The fluency skills are improved by the following:

1. Developing phonemic awareness of the letter sounds in words.
2. Developing the phonemic awareness of blending sounds in words.
3. Strengthening the proficiency with the sounds of the letters.
4. Teaching to decode short, phonetically regular words.
5. Building fluency in decoding.
6. Spelling short, phonetically regular words.

By combining phonics instruction with the fluency building GATE for Phonics accelerates the reading achievement of beginning readers.

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
March 21st to March 25th

The RTI program applies interventions carefully designed to meet the specific needs of each student. Each week I will reinforce the reading and writing skills taught in the first and second grade core curriculum. We will focus on vocabulary, comprehension, high-frequency words and phonics skills associated with the stories that are read in the students' classrooms.

Kindergarten: Kindergarten students continue doing a reading intervention called "Wilson Fundations" this week. We are working on letter recognition, letter sounds, and learning how to write each letter. This week we will concentrate on the vowels "P"and "J."

First grade: The first grade students will be reading a story about Johnny Appleseed. The children will discuss and write about Johnny's adventures as he travelled west planting apple trees. The children will learn the steps involved in planting a tree.

I will also be using an intervention called "GATE (Group and Tutoring Edition)" with the first grade students. This intervention extends the Read Naturally strategy to improve phonics and fluency skills in small group situations. The fluency skills are improved by the following:

1. Developing phonemic awareness of the letter sounds in words.
2. Developing the phonemic awareness of blending sounds in words.
3. Strengthening the proficiency with the sounds of the letters.
4. Teaching to decode short, phonetically regular words.
5. Building fluency in decoding.
6. Spelling short, phonetically regular words.

By combining phonics instruction with the fluency building GATE for Phonics accelerates the reading achievement of beginning readers.

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
March 14th to March 18th

The RTI program applies interventions carefully designed to meet the specific needs of each student. Each week I will reinforce the reading and writing skills taught in the first and second grade core curriculum. We will focus on vocabulary, comprehension, high-frequency words and phonics skills associated with the stories that are read in the students' classrooms.

Kindergarten: Kindergarten students continue doing a reading intervention called "Wilson Fundations" this week. We are working on letter recognition, letter sounds, and learning how to write each letter. This week we will concentrate on the vowels "L," "H," and "K."

First grade: The first grade students will be reading a story called Butterfly. The children will discuss and write about thelifecycle of the butterfly.

I will also be using an intervention called "GATE (Group and Tutoring Edition)" with the first grade students. This intervention extends the Read Naturally strategy to improve phonics and fluency skills in small group situations. The fluency skills are improved by the following:

1. Developing phonemic awareness of the letter sounds in words.
2. Developing the phonemic awareness of blending sounds in words.
3. Strengthening the proficiency with the sounds of the letters.
4. Teaching to decode short, phonetically regular words.
5. Building fluency in decoding.
6. Spelling short, phonetically regular words.

By combining phonics instruction with the fluency building GATE for Phonics accelerates the reading achievement of beginning readers.

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
March 8th to March 11th

The RTI program applies interventions carefully designed to meet the specific needs of each student. Each week I will reinforce the reading and writing skills taught in the first and second grade core curriculum. We will focus on vocabulary, comprehension, high-frequency words and phonics skills associated with the stories that are read in the students' classrooms.

Kindergarten: Kindergarten students continue doing a reading intervention called "Wilson Fundations" this week. We are working on letter recognition, letter sounds, and learning how to write each letter. This week we will concentrate on the vowels "E" and "U."

First grade: The first grade students will be reading a story called Hello Little Chick. The children will discuss and write about the stages of a chicks birth. This correlates with a major first grade baby chick project that will take place in their classroom.

I will also be using an intervention called "GATE (Group and Tutoring Edition)" with the first grade students. This intervention extends the Read Naturally strategy to improve phonics and fluency skills in small group situations. The fluency skills are improved by the following:

1. Developing phonemic awareness of the letter sounds in words.
2. Developing the phonemic awareness of blending sounds in words.
3. Strengthening the proficiency with the sounds of the letters.
4. Teaching to decode short, phonetically regular words.
5. Building fluency in decoding.
6. Spelling short, phonetically regular words.

By combining phonics instruction with the fluency building GATE for Phonics accelerates the reading achievement of beginning readers.

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
February 28th to March 3rd

The RTI program applies interventions carefully designed to meet the specific needs of each student. Each week I will reinforce the reading and writing skills taught in the first and second grade core curriculum. We will focus on vocabulary, comprehension, high-frequency words and phonics skills associated with the stories that are read in the students' classrooms.

Kindergarten: Kindergarten students continue doing a reading intervention called "Wilson Fundations" this week. We are working on letter recognition, letter sounds, and learning how to write each letter. This week we will concentrate on the vowels "E" and "U."

First grade: The first grade students will be reading a story called Planting Beans and Beets. The children will discuss and write about the steps needed to plant these vegetables.

I will also be using an intervention called "GATE (Group and Tutoring Edition)" with the first grade students. This intervention extends the Read Naturally strategy to improve phonics and fluency skills in small group situations. The fluency skills are improved by the following:

1. Developing phonemic awareness of the letter sounds in words.
2. Developing the phonemic awareness of blending sounds in words.
3. Strengthening the proficiency with the sounds of the letters.
4. Teaching to decode short, phonetically regular words.
5. Building fluency in decoding.
6. Spelling short, phonetically regular words.

By combining phonics instruction with the fluency building GATE for Phonics accelerates the reading achievement of beginning readers.

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
February 22nd to February 25th

The RTI program applies interventions carefully designed to meet the specific needs of each student. Each week I will reinforce the reading and writing skills taught in the first and second grade core curriculum. We will focus on vocabulary, comprehension, high-frequency words and phonics skills associated with the stories that are read in the students' classrooms.

Kindergarten: Kindergarten students continue doing a reading intervention called "Wilson Fundations" this week. We are working on letter recognition, letter sounds, and learning how to write each letter. This week we will concentrate on the letters "D" and "S."

First grade: The first grade students will be reading a story called If You Give a Pig a Pancake. The children will discuss how one event leads to a sequence of many events. Then the children will write about all the things that happened to the pig after he was given a pancake.

I will also be using an intervention called "GATE (Group and Tutoring Edition)" with the first grade students. This intervention extends the Read Naturally strategy to improve phonics and fluency skills in small group situations. The fluency skills are improved by the following:

1. Developing phonemic awareness of the letter sounds in words.
2. Developing the phonemic awareness of blending sounds in words.
3. Strengthening the proficiency with the sounds of the letters.
4. Teaching to decode short, phonetically regular words.
5. Building fluency in decoding.
6. Spelling short, phonetically regular words.

By combining phonics instruction with the fluency building GATE for Phonics accelerates the reading achievement of beginning readers.

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
February 14th to February 18th

Happy Valentines Day!

The RTI program applies interventions carefully designed to meet the specific needs of each student. Each week I will reinforce the reading and writing skills taught in the first and second grade core curriculum. We will focus on vocabulary, comprehension, high-frequency words and phonics skills associated with the stories that are read in the students' classrooms.

Kindergarten: Kindergarten students continue doing a reading intervention called "Wilson Fundations" this week. We are working on letter recognition, letter sounds, and learning how to write each letter. This week we will concentrate on the letters "O" and "G."

First grade: The first grade students will be reading a story called Cupcakes. They will learn how a family makes delicious cupcakes in a bakery. The children will write about their favorite dessert that they like to make at home.

I will also be using an intervention called "GATE (Group and Tutoring Edition)" with the first grade students. This intervention extends the Read Naturally strategy to improve phonics and fluency skills in small group situations. The fluency skills are improved by the following:

1. Developing phonemic awareness of the letter sounds in words.
2. Developing the phonemic awareness of blending sounds in words.
3. Strengthening the proficiency with the sounds of the letters.
4. Teaching to decode short, phonetically regular words.
5. Building fluency in decoding.
6. Spelling short, phonetically regular words.

By combining phonics instruction with the fluency building GATE for Phonics accelerates the reading achievement of beginning readers.

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
February 7th to February 11th

The RTI program applies interventions carefully designed to meet the specific needs of each student. Each week I will reinforce the reading and writing skills taught in the first and second grade Houghton Mifflin core curriculum. We will focus on vocabulary, comprehension, high-frequency words and phonics skills associated with the stories that are read in the students' classrooms.


Kindergarten: Kindergarten students continue doing a reading intervention called "Wilson Fundations" this week. We are working on letter recognition, letter sounds, and learning how to write each letter. This week we will concentrate on the letters "I" and "R."

First grade: The first grade students will be reading a story called The Bike Trip. In this story a girl helps her friend who encounters a problem while riding his bike. The students will discuss and write about the problem in the story and how it is solved.

I will also be using an intervention called "GATE (Group and Tutoring Edition)" with the first grade students. This intervention extends the Read Naturally strategy to improve phonics and fluency skills in small group situations. The fluency skills are improved by the following:

1. Developing phonemic awareness of the letter sounds in words.
2. Developing the phonemic awareness of blending sounds in words.
3. Strengthening the proficiency with the sounds of the letters.
4. Teaching to decode short, phonetically regular words.
5. Building fluency in decoding.
6. Spelling short, phonetically regular words.

By combining phonics instruction with the fluency building GATE for Phonics accelerates the reading achievement of beginning readers.



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
January 31st to February 4th

The RTI program applies interventions carefully designed to meet the specific needs of each student. Each week I will reinforce the reading and writing skills taught in the first and second grade Houghton Mifflin core curriculum. We will focus on vocabulary, comprehension, high-frequency words and phonics skills associated with the stories that are read in the students' classrooms.

Kindergarten: Kindergarten students are doing a reading intervention called "Wilson Fundations" this week. We are working on letter recognition, letter sounds, and learning how to write each letter. This week we will concentrate on the letters "C" and "A."

First grade: The first grade students will be reading a story called Looking for Frogs. The students will make predictions about where they think frogs might live. After we read the story, the students will write about their favorite place to find frogs. We will also discuss what non-fiction books are and we will read about rain forest facts including information about the red eyed tree frog.

I will also be using an intervention called "GATE (Group and Tutoring Edition)" with the first and second grade students. This intervention extends the Read Naturally strategy to improve phonics and fluency skills in small group situations. The fluency skills are improved by the following:

1. Developing phonemic awareness of the letter sounds in words.
2. Developing the phonemic awareness of blending sounds in words.
3. Strengthening the proficiency with the sounds of the letters.
4. Teaching to decode short, phonetically regular words.
5. Building fluency in decoding.
6. Spelling short, phonetically regular words.

By combining phonics instruction with the fluency building GATE for Phonics accelerates the reading achievement of beginning readers.



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.