1Fayette County Public Schools

Grade 1

Learning Guide for Families

A summary of what children should know and be able to do and ways for families

to increase learning at home.

“We believe families are our partners. They are the first and most powerful

educators of children. Together we will ensure success for all students.”

- Superintendent Emmanuel Caulk, Fayette County Public Schools

Grade 12

About our learning guides:

This guide represents some of the most essential things your child should knowand be able to do by the END of the school year in English Language Arts (ELA)and Math. Learning goals help families and teachers know when students mayneed extra support and when they need to be challenged even more.

What can families do?

There is a lot you can do to support your child’s learning and help prepare them fortheir future. Here are a few things that will help students succeed: 1. Share with your child how important education is to you. Tell them education

matters, that it’s the foundation for success. 2. Make school a priority by getting your child to school on time every day. 3. Attend parent-teacher conferences and other school events whenever

possible. 4. Work collaboratively with the school to build mutual respect. 5. Encourage independence; allow your children to make mistakes and accept

responsibility for their choices. 6. Discuss with your child about what is happening in school. 7. Communicate consistently with your child’s teacher to make sure your child

is making progress throughout the year. 8. You have a right to know how your child is doing; don’t hesitate to contact

his/her teacher if you have questions.

Talking with your child’s teacher

It’s important to communicate with your child’s teacher and school regularly aboutyour child’s progress toward learning goals. Here are some sample questions to ask: ■ Where is my child strong and where does he/she need to improve? ■ How is my child’s progress being measured throughout the year? ■ Can I see examples of my child’s work? How do they meet or do not

meet learning goals? ■ Is my child on track to meet grade-level learning goals? If not, what

supports will the school offer? What can I do at home? ■ Is my child at or above learning expectations? If so, what else does the

school offer? What can I do at home? ■ Have you read my child’s IEP? What accommodations are being made

for my child? ■ My child is an English language learner. How is my child’s language

development supported at school?

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Talking with your child

Does this sound familiar?

“How was school today?” “Fine” “What did you do?” “Nothing”

That’s okay, keep asking!

Students whose parents talk with them about school do better academically inschool. Here are some ways you can engage with your child and support theirsuccess:

■ Designate a time of day every day to talk with your child about school. ■ Ask your child to tell you one thing they learned today. What does your

child think is most interesting? What seems hard? ■ Review papers and projects your child brings home from school. Ask your

child: How do you know that? What do you think? What do you notice? Whydidyoudoitthatway?Isthereanotherwaytofindthatanswer?

■ Praise your child for hard work and effort, not just “right answers”. ■ Ask questions about what your child is thinking: How do you know that?

What do you think? What do you notice? Why did you do it that way? Is thereanotherwaytofindthatanswer?

Supporting learning away from school

Learning doesn’t stop when students leave school. Here are some ways you can support learning outside of the classroom:

■ Read to your child, read with your child, and encourage family reading time - in the language you are most comfortable.

■ Set up a quiet and comfortable place and establish a regular schedule for your student to do homework or other learning activities.

■ Be sure you and your child have a library card and participate in reading activities for the whole family

■ Try to establish a regular schedule for doing homework or other learning activities.

■ Use this guide to focus on a few learning goals, try some of the suggestions for learning at home.

Grade 14

What your student should know and be able to do inEnglish Language Arts (ELA)

Foundational Skills/Language

□ Follow rules for discussions, such as listening to others, speaking one at a time, and asking questions to understand what someone else has said.

□ Sort words by categories, such as opposites (happy/sad) and living things (dog, cat, tree).

□ Identify the correct meaning for a word with multiple meanings, based on the sentence or paragraph in which the word is used (e.g., deciding whether the word batmeansaflyingmammalorclubusedinbaseball).

Reading and Literature

□ Usephonicsandotherskillstofigureoutunfamiliarwordswhenreading,suchaspictures, known words within the word, and other context clues.

□ Identifythemainideaandimportantdetailsinnonfictionbookssuchas“SimpleMachines”byAllanFowlerorthelessonofthestoryinfictionbookssuchas“Frog and Toad Are Friends” by Arnold Lobel.

□ Identify the different story elements: characters, setting, plot, problem/solution and the sequence of story events.

□ Predict what will happen next in a story and tell whether or not the predictions were correct.

□ Read grade-level books aloud correctly (no mistakes), quickly, and smoothly.

Writing

□ Write and illustrate stories that have a beginning, middle, and an end and use accurate sentence structures, capital letters, spaces, and punctuation.

□ Try to write words he/she doesn’t know using knowledge of the sounds of letters.□ Write about a topic, supply some facts, and provide some sense of closure.

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Ways to encourage ELA learning at home

□ Read aloud to your child every day.□ Create flash cards with words your child is learning at school. Use the cards to

play games like Go Fish or Memory. Replace cards with new words as your child learns the old ones.

□ When reading stories, stop and ask your child what will happen next.□ Act out stories with your child with puppets or stuffed animals using different

voices for different characters.□ After reading nonfiction books or articles, talk about what you have learned.□ Encourage your child to bring home books from school and read them aloud.

Help him/her figure out difficult words and suggest re-reading to gain fluency (reading quickly, correctly, and smoothly).

□ Ask your child to write about a special experience, such as a birthday party.

Please also connect with your child’s teacher and ask about home learning resourcesassociated with your school’s specific reading and writing programs.

Grade 16

What your student should know and be able to do in Math:

□ Solve addition and subtraction word problems in situations of adding to or taking from.

□ Solve problems by thinking about connections between numbers. For example: 5 + 5 = 10, so 6 + 5 = 11.

□ Use objects, drawings, and writings to show strategies and solutions.

□ Mentally add or subtract within 10. For example: “If I have five and I want 8, how many more do I need?”

□ Describe and compare shapes.

□ Break apart a shape to create new ones. For example: when using pattern blocks, notice that six triangles can make a hexagon.

□ Within 120, count forwards and backwards by ones and tens starting at any number.

□ Tell and write time using a digital and analog clock to the hour and half hour.

□ Measure the length of an object by using a shorter object as a unit of length (paperclips, pennies).

□ Collect, show, and describe data. For example: make a picture, chart, or graph that shows how many animals are in a cup of animal crackers.

□ Use a calendar to identify dates, months, and days of the week.

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Ways to encourage Math learning at home

□ Count and compare collections of objects with your child. For example: count coins, groups of animals or cars, or pictures in books. Ask which groups of objects have more, which have less.

□ Hang a calendar where your child can see and use it easily. Mark important dates for your family, such as birthdays or family trips. Discuss with your child what is happening on today’s date and ask, “What was yesterday’s date?” or “How many days until we go to the store on Saturday?”

□ Playgamestoreinforceadditionandsubtractionfluency.Forexample:HiHoCherry-o, Uno, Dominoes, Chutes & Ladders, Snap It Up, Concentration/Memory, Go Fish, Blink

□ Measure distances and sizes of things in your home using objects such as paper clips or Popsicle sticks. Before measuring, ask your child to estimate, “How many paper clips long do you think this edge of the table will be?”

□ Together, look around your house to identify different shapes. Have your child describe the shapes by their characteristics. For example: ask questions such as, “How many sides does this rectangular picture frame have?”

Please also connect with your child’s teacher and ask about home learning resourcesassociated with your school’s specific reading and writing programs.

FAYETTE COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS1126 Russell Cave RoadLexington, KY 40505

859-381-4100 www.fcps.net

This brochure was published by the Fayette County Public Schools.

Created Fall 2016