Your Home Language
¿Qué pasa si el inglés no es mi primera lengua?
What If English Is Not My First Language?
ماذا لو لم تكن اللغة الإنجليزية هي لغتك الأساسية؟
Super Reading
My Child Only Wants To Reread Books
What If My Child Sees Reading As A Chore?
What If I Don’t Know What A Word Means?
¿Qué pasa si mi hijo considera la lectura como una tarea ardua?
What If My Child Is Behind In Their Reading Level?
What If I Don’t Have Time To Read Aloud To My Child?
What If I Don't Feel Confident In My Own Reading?
¿Qué pasa si no me siento seguro de mi propia lectura?
Super Writing
Your Budding Storyteller
Your Child is Overwhelmed by Writing
How To Support Your Creative Writer
Writing In Everyday Activities
¿Cómo ayudo a mi hijo con la escritura en las actividades cotidianas?
Your Remarkable Child
Your Astonishing Reader
Your Astonishing Writer
Family FAQ
Families like you wonder the same thing. Our team of experts answers your questions in ways that make sense for families everywhere.
How can I get my questions about reading, writing, and PALS Town answered?
Email us at palstown@deweycommunity.com or connect with us on Facebook, Instagram, X, or BlueSky! Your questions are probably the same as other parents, and we will get back to you personally and share the answer on our platforms.
My child just came home with a PALS Town Family Engagement Pack, what do I do?
Finding us here on the PALS Town portal is a great start! Explore this site and choose videos, stories, and play in the destinations. Start with what interests you and your child the most. If you are interested in boosting your child’s learning even more, talk with your child’s teacher or connect with us for some ideas on what skills your child would benefit from the most.
What should I know about reading and writing to be able to help my child be successful?
This helpful words and ideas list is written for you to know the meaning of important school words about reading and writing. Save this list to your device or print it, if you’d like. These words will help you in conferences with teachers, communicating your questions with the teacher, and understanding school report cards. Have you heard a word being said or written that is not on this list? Send it along and we will add it! (Available in Spanish and Arabic, too!)
What are some terms used with this program?
Literacy: Being able to read, write, speak and listen successfully.
Standards: The list of what a child should know and be able to do at each grade.
Assessment: A tool (test, project, assignment) that the school or teacher can use to see what skills your child has and needs to learn.
Progress Monitor: A way to check in between larger assessments to see how your child is learning from what the teacher is teaching.
Phonics: The knowledge that letters represent the sounds of spoken language and that there is an organized, logical, and predictable relationship between written letters and spoken sounds.
Phonological Awareness: An important pre-reading skill that involves a variety of activities that are done orally such as being able to identify words that rhyme, counting the number of syllables in their name and words, recognizing alliteration which is recognizing the same sound at the beginning of words and breaking a sentence down into words.
Phonemic Awareness: The ability to notice, think about, and work with the individual sounds which are called phonemes in spoken words. It involves being able to use those sounds to blend, stretch, create words and change words. Recognizing which words in a set of words begin with the same sound,identifying and saying the first or last sound in a word, blending the separate sounds in a word to say a whole word, breaking a word into its separate sounds.and changing a sound to make a new word are all important phonemic awareness skills.
Alphabet Knowledge: Knowing that certain letters are used to represent certain sounds.
Foundational Skills: The skills and concepts that set young readers and writers up for success. They include phonics, vocabulary, comprehension, fluency, alphabetic knowledge, print awareness and motivation.
Oral Reading: To read aloud.
Decoding: When a reader uses their knowledge of letter-sound relationships to sound out words that are new to them.
Encoding: When a writer breaks down a spoken word into its individual sounds and matches those sounds to letters to spell and write.
Fluency: A fluent reader recognizes words automatically, reads aloud effortlessly and with expression. Their reading sounds natural, as if they are speaking. A fluent writer uses their knowledge of letter formation, spelling patterns, idea generating and their ability to transfer spoken language to print.
What If I Can’t Read The Book As A Parent/Caregiver?
How Should I Read These Books With My Child?
What Are The 4 Keys Tips?
LET’S START READING!
Choose your favorite book and explore the world of PALS Town together
“Reading is breathing in and writing is breathing out” - Pam Allyn & Ernest Morrell
