My name is Patti Cook. I have taught at Pine Tree Primary in the kindergarten classroom for 18 years. I am happy to be working with children in the Literacy Lab this year. I look forward to working with your child on developing literacy skills that will enable them to be successful throughout their school years and throughout their life. You are a vital part of their success and I look forward to working with you to develop a lifelong reader.

Kindergarten students attend Literacy Lab for thirty minutes daily to practice many reading skills in a small group setting. These skills include letter/sound identification, phonemic awareness skills, reading strategies, and writing skills. These skills are
crucial to your child's future reading success.

When your child comes home with a literacy book bag, you are in for a treat! This activity should take no more than 5-10 minutes of your time and will reinforce what your child is learning at school. The best way to get better at anything is to practice, practice, practice! Please listen to your child read the book three times, giving lots of encouragement and praise. Please remember to sign the slip, and return it along with the book in the book bag the next day so that another child can read it.

Each week three new Star Words (sight words) will be introduced to your child. These words are selected because they occur frequently in books your child will soon read. Help your child read these words on homemade flashcards or in print (magazines, newspapers, or children's books.) You can also have your child build these words with magnetic letters (have the flashcard available to copy in the beginning!).

If you would like additional information on how to help your child, please call me at (903) 295-5095 or email me at pcook@ptisd.org . I will be happy to help!