Many parents have asked me, “How can I help my child at home with their reading?” A large component of the grade 5 curriculum is focused on comprehension. Below are some ideas on how to discuss your child’s reading at home, and support their education!

Ask your child:

• Why is the title a good title for the book/story? If you had to give it a different title, what would you choose?
• Make a predication of what will happen next. Were your predictions correct?
• If there was a problem, did it get solved? How did the characters try to solve the problem?
• What happened because of the problem?
• Did any of the characters change through the story? Who changed, and how did they change?
• Why do you think the author wrote this?
• What is the most important point that the author is trying to make in his/her writing? (the “main idea”)
• What was your favorite part? Why?
• If you could change one part, what would you change?
• If you could ask the author a question, what would you ask?
• Please retell the story in sequential order.
• Is there a character in the story that reminds you of someone you know? If so, who are they like, and why do you think that?
• Does this book remind you of another book you know? Does it remind you of something you’ve experienced in real life?

Fieldcrest has outlined some expectations regarding technology use.

• as soon as students are on school property, their personal technology is expected to be turned off and out of sight;
• if parents wish to contact their child, they must do so through the office, and the same expectation stands for the students – if they wish to contact a parent, they must have permission to use the classroom or office phone. Personal technology is NOT to be a communication method between parents, families, and students during the school day;
• technology is to be used only for instructional purposes and under supervision of a teacher or adult in the classroom;
• if students are caught using technology when they should not be, it will be confiscated.  The technology will be sent to the office and the student will have to collect it in the office at the end of the day.  Continued confiscations will result in a conversation/conference with parents and administration.
• students are never to be taking photos of classmates at school, and under no circumstance should pictures of classmates/schoolmates be posted online in any way. This becomes a privacy issue and is taken very seriously.