Although those numbers were an improvement over prior years, they still fell below state and district averages. Only 26 percent of the school’s third-graders last year were proficient in reading, according to state standardized test results, and 35 percent were proficient in math. Of those, it’s the sole one-star school, a rating that indicates lower-than-average student achievement. (Jeff Scheid/The Nevada Independent)Īnn Lynch Elementary School - home of the Snow Leopards - sits in a northeast valley neighborhood that has five elementary schools in a several-block radius. “How do I get them up there? I’m still learning.” English words are posted on the chalk board in Julieta Perales' first-grade classroom at Ann Lynch Elementary School on Tuesday, Dec. “They’re so behind,” she said, reflecting on the thoughts racing through her head daily. This is Perales’ first year teaching, and she’s doing so in one of the district’s most challenging school environments. It’s a situation that can be daunting for any teacher, let alone a 22-year-old fresh out of college. And, under a law passed during the 2015 legislative session, third-grade students may be held back if they’re not reading proficiently by the end of that school year.īut she’s also working with this reality: Quite a few students entered her first-grade classroom still struggling to learn letter sounds - a far cry from stringing them together and forming words.

Research has shown that if children haven’t mastered basic reading skills by third grade, they face an uphill battle with each passing academic year. Perales knows the stakes are high for her students. “Remember, if you didn’t know your sight words last time, now is a good time to pay attention.” Their teacher, Julieta Perales, gave them a verbal nudge before the activity began: This is a building block to reading - the all-important goal for students in the early elementary grades. They’re simple letter combinations the children should recognize and know automatically, hence their description as sight words. The words roll off the first-graders’ tongues with relative ease, especially when they appear a second time. The chants in Room 17 grow a little louder each time the student helper lifts a homemade flashcard during a morning reading lesson.

Kindergarten sight words list nevada