Fortis 1st Grade (T/Th)

1st Grade T/Th- Week 28- April 1-7

1st Grade Week 28	Tue, Apr 1	Wed, Apr 2	Thu, Apr 3	Fri, Apr 4	Mon, Apr 7	Co-Teacher Notes
Virtue	Charity- "If I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so that I can move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing." -1 Cor. 13:2
Bible	Resurrection eggs (donkey, silver coins)	Kids of Integrity - Easter -Kick off Craft and Picnic 1: A Passover Picnic pg 4-6	Resurrection eggs (cup, praying hands)	Kids of Integrity - Easter - Picnic 2: A Sad Day for Jesus pg 6-8	Kids of Integrity - Easter - Picnic 3: Meek doesn't mean weak! pg 8-10	Use this link to reach the Kids of Integrity website. Click on Download Lesson PDF to see the lessons for your home days
Math	HIG pg 62-64; TB pg 62-63; WB Ex 44 pg 105-107	Parent read HIG pg 62; HIG pg 65-66, TB pg 64-65 (note- incorrect TB page numbers at the top of HIG pg 66); WB Ex 45 pg 108-110; MM 16 (first 10 problems)	Review 4/5	Review and reteach missed concepts from Review 4/5; Extra Practice book, pg 78; MM 16 (last 10 problems)	Extra Practice book, pg 79-80; Color by Code subtraction activity (sent home on Wednesday); MM 8 one-minute timed drill; return to school on Tuesday
Spelling	Lesson 26: Review Sound Cards; Review Words Ending in /v/ and /ū/ and Third Job of Silent E; Dictate last three sentences on pg 224 in spelling journal	Review/correct dictation from Tuesday; Review a selection of Sound, Rule, and Word Cards from your card box; Use Can You Fix it? activity (see Teacher's Manual pg 224) to review Words Ending in /v/ and /ū/ and Third Job of Silent E	Lesson 26 written assessment	Lesson 27, Third Sound of A: Parent read pg 227; Review a selection of Sound, Rule, and Word Cards from your card box; read through Word Banks for the Find Gold Rule and Soft C (pg 115 and pg 147 in activity book); review "Previous Concepts," pg 228 Use letter tiles for New Teaching, pg 228-230	Lesson 27, Third Sound of A: Review a selection of Sound, Rule, and Word Cards from your card box; Student use tiles to spell several words you select from "Practice More Words" section, pg 230; Dictate Word Cards 214-223 in spelling journal; Dictate first three sentences on pg 231 in spelling journal	Check assessment from Thursday and add missed Word Cards to Review tab of card box; file Word Cards that your student has mastered in Mastered tab
Grammar	FLL Lesson 96: Introducing sentence type 4: Exclamations, Copywork: "The pig is radiant!," pg 158-159	FLL Lesson 97: Four types of sentences, pg 160-161	FLL Lesson 98: Nouns, Types of Sentences, Verbs, pg 162	FLL Lesson 100: Identifying sentences in "The Goops," pg 164		Final Grammar Review, pg 165-166 will be given at a future date
Writing	Scripture or poetry copywork	Copybook pg 77 - Copying (step 4); Write neatly and accurately.	Scripture or poetry copywork	Copybook pg 78 - Copying (step 4); Write neatly and accurately.		Note that there are two pages to be done in Copybook each week for the next several weeks as we work through copying "January Brings the Snow."
Reading	Review all phonograms; SF Grade 2, Week 2, Day 1 Introduce The Silent L (OPG L144)	Review all phonograms; Complete Phonogram Assessment #5 (see below); OPG L144: The Silent L, pg 231; Dictation: calf, half, yolk (help your student remember to include the silent L); "Good Friends" from The Early Reader's Bible, pg 171-177 (see decodable words below)	Review all phonograms; SF Grade 2, Week 2, Day 3 Introduce The Silent K before N (OPG L145)	Review all phonograms (Add KN); OPG L146: The Silent W before R, pg 233; Dictation: wrap, wrench, wrote (explicitly tell your student to use WR for the /r/ in these words) "A Wise King" from The Early Reader's Bible, pg 179-185 (see decodable words below)	Review all phonograms (Add WR); Re-read OPG L145 (including Optional Follow-Up exercise) and L146, pg 232-233;	All sight words that should be learned and reviewed thus far: the, I, a, of, have, give, to, two, too, was, said, do, who, friend, eye, buy, shoe, could, would, should. one, once, build, built, laugh
Read Aloud	Baby Island, pg 35-40; Aesop's Fables pg 34- The Ants and the Grasshopper	Baby Island, pg 41-46; Aesop's Fables pg 18 - The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse	Baby Island, pg 47-52; Aesop's Fables pg 33- The Boys and the Frogs	Baby Island, pg 53-58; Aesop's Fables pg 56 - The Bear and the Bees
History	Special guest presentation on China			SotW Ch 34 The Rise of Julius Caesar, pg 265-272; Discussion questions below; Journal sentence: Julius Caesar was popular with the Roman people, but was disliked by the Senate.
Science		G&B/MB Lesson 10: Sharks- Sharks are a Type of Fish, and Shark Facts Puzzle Activity, pg 43 and 45; Journal sentence: Sharks are a type of fish, but they can only swim forward.	G&B/MB Lesson 10: Sharks- Shark's Sense of Smell Experiment and Shark Myths, pg 43-44 and 49
Geography	Southern Africa Map & Song Due 4/17
Memory Work	SCRIPTURE: Philippians 3:7-21 KJV (ongoing); Books of the Old Testament Psalms - Malachi in order - Due 4/24 MATH: Fact Flashcards (Ongoing) QUARTER 4 POEM: Rock of Ages- Due 5/1 GEOGRAPHY: Southern Africa - Due 4/17

*Note anything underlined in the table above or in the notes below is a clickable link for your convenience*

Key to Abbreviations:
GP- The Gospel Project- Home Edition
HIG- Singapore Math Home Instructor's Guide (click to print addition or subtraction cards)
TB- Singapore Math Textbook
WB- Singapore Math Workbook
EP- Singapore Math Extra Practice
MM- Mental Math (see appendix in HIG)
AAS- All About Spelling teacher manual (click here to print any missing phonogram cards)
FLL- First Language Lessons
SF- Sounds First Phonemic Awareness Program (click here and scroll down to Grade 1)
OPG- The Ordinary Parents' Guide to Teaching Reading (click here to print OPG sight words)
SotW- Story of the World
G&B/A- The Good and The Beautiful, Arthropods
G&B/MB- The Good and The Beautiful, Marine Biology

COMING SOON...

Tuesday, April 1- Field trip payment and permission slip due (see below)

Tuesday, April 8- Austin Aquarium field trip

Thursday, April 10- Fortis Lap-a-thon

Thursday, April 10- Spirit Day (no pizza)

Friday, April 18 and Tuesday, April 22- Good Friday/Easter holiday- no school

Friday, April 25 - Sunday, April 27- Fortis Spring Campout

Dear Families,

Here we are, beginning another new month! April has several special days, including our field trip and Easter, and then we will have our long-awaited Agora marketplace event at the end of the month. Trust me when I say these weeks will fly by! We still have important work to accomplish, so don't let the warmer weather and thoughts of summer entice you into the hare's mistake of stopping to rest too soon. Your labors are producing good fruit that will blossom in its time!

Bible:
For the next few weeks leading up to Easter, we will be doing Resurrection Eggs activities in class, and at home you'll be using the Kids of Integrity website for some interactive Easter activities. At the Kids of Integrity website, click on "Download Lesson PDF" to see the lessons for your home days.

Math:

It's time to teach time! In 1st grade, we will introduce the concept of 5 minute increments corresponding to the large numbers on an analog clock. However, the students are only expected to master telling time on the hour and half hour. Students should also gain understanding of how long minutes vs hours are by estimating how long it takes to complete a task.

Pleast note a typo in your HIG at the top of pg 66. It refers to tasks 2-3 in the TB on pg 70-71, but those are actually on TB pg 64-65.

Flashcard Games for math facts (or phonograms!)

Reading:

We continue with more silent letters this week, including "Silent L." Depending on regional pronounciation, for words like calm and palm, you may use more of an /l/ than you do in words like talk and chalk, but rarely do people pronounce the full /l/ in these words. Let me know if you have any difficulty with this lesson!

Please complete Phonogram Assessment #5 on Wednesday with your student. You may leave the assessment inside the page protector, as the students and I have a procedure for how we check them in class. The completed assessment is due Thursday, April 3.

Decodable words in "Good Friends" from the Early Reader's Bible (sight words in parenthesis): Good, the, king, saw, kill, he, that, (was), a, brave, boy, son, this, too, his, name, to, be, will, you, my, best, (friend), yes, I, (said), had, things, gave, bow, and, robe, show, am, thank

Decodable words in "A Wise King" from the Early Reader's Bible (sight words in parenthesis): A, wise, king, long, the, (said), (was), new, he, had, God, to, make, him, (one), day, (two), came, with, each, this, is, my, did, not, know, who, cut, in, some, (of), it, no, yes, then, knew, that, how, thank, you, for, me, do

Composition:

Custom Handwriting Practice Sheets

Spelling:

Lesson 27 may be tricky for some students because of what is known as the cot/caught merger. In some areas of the country, the /ŏ/ sound in cot is different than the /au/ sound in caught. In others, the two vowel sounds have merged together and both words are pronounced with exactly the same /ŏ/ sound. If you're curious about the difference, check out this video.

If your student has the merger, the words in this lesson might sound to them like they should be spelled with O instead of A. You can remind them of our OPG lesson about these words where they learned that an A followed by two L's or an A after a W makes it's third sound. Those clues can be a signal to remind them to spell /au/ with A.

This can be a "deceiving" lesson that seems easy when it's introduced because many of the words have the same -all spelling at the end, but be sure to include it in your review as time goes on to confirm it's been truly mastered.

Phonogram Game Ideas

Practice App

Geography:

Southern Africa Map and Song will be due 4/17. Students should be able to point to each country as they sing/recite the names. This is the final remaining part of Africa that we have yet to memorize!

History:

This week we'll have the privilege of hearing from some special guests about their travels and experiences in China!

Here are some questions for discussion as you teach SotW Chapter 34: Why do you think Julius Caesar still wanted to sail across the Mediterranean Sea, even though he was warned about pirates? Predict what could have happened if the pirates never released Julius Caesar. What do you think Caesar meant when he said, "I would rather be the most important man here than second in command in Rome!"? Why was the Senate unhappy with Caesar? What choice would you make if you were Cincinnatus and the people wanted you to be king?

Journal sentence: Julius Caesar was popular with the Roman people, but was disliked by the Senate.

Reminder: This semester's at-home project is due this month! Students will create a product they wish to sell, a price point, and a sales pitch to entice their friends to visit their stall in the marketplace. Fortis students from other grades will be "window shopping" in our Agora before we buy and sell amongst our class (currency provided)! Project guidelines can also be found here. This project will be presented by the students on April 29th. They are encouraged to wear Greek attire/costume to school that day to lend authenticity to their project.

Science:

This week we'll learn about those infamous, sharp-toothed villians... sharks! Are they really so ferocious, though? Despite their scary reputation, there is more to sharks than teeth and Jaws. We'll discuss shark body parts and their amazing senses and do an interesting demonstration to compare human and shark sense of smell. We'll also take a look at the great variety of shark species. Have you ever heard of a carpet shark?

Journal sentence: Sharks are a type of fish, but they can only swim forward.

Austin Aquarium Field Trip

Details:
Tuesday, April 8th, 2025

Depart Fortis 10:30am

Return to Fortis between 12:45-1:00pm; students may be checked out of school for the day after the trip

Cost: $11.95 per student, $24.95 per chaperone

Payment and permission slip due by April 1st

Please click HERE to register and pay for the field trip!

I will need parents to help drive, so if you plan to attend as a chaperone and are able to transport additional students, please let me know!

Also, indicate that you can be a driver on the permission slip form.

We will bring sack lunches to eat at the picnic area inside the aquarium after our tour.

Memory Work:

Books of the Old Testament: Psalms - Malachi due 4/24. When we finish this section, we'll have memorized the order of all the books in the entire Bible! Here is a link to the song we practice in class. As always, if you or your child are already familiar with a different song, I'll assess that no problem, as long as the books are said in order.

Quarter 4 poem: Rock of Ages will be due 5/1. Here is a link to the song that we practice in class. This artist does substitute "commands" for "demands" in the 2nd stanza, so I will accept either of those words as correct.

1st Grade T/Th- Week 27- March 25-31

1st Grade Week 27	Tue, Mar 25	Wed, Mar 26	Thu, Mar 27	Fri, Mar 28	Mon, Mar 31	Co-Teacher Notes
Virtue	Hope- "“For I know the plans I have for you” — this is the LORD’s declaration — “plans for your well-being, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope." -Jer. 29:11
Bible	GP Week 9, pg 134-137	GP Week 9, pg 134 & 138-140	GP Week 9, pg 141-143	GP Week 9, pg 144-146	GP Week 9, Optional Fun Day, pg 147	Big Picture Question: How does God accomplish His plan? God uses people for His glory and our good.
Math	Concept Review... comparison as subtraction, add/sub within 40 with renaming, multiplication, division, 120-chart games	Parent read HIG pg 58, HIG pg 59-60; TB pg 60-61; WB Ex 41-42 pg 99-102 MM13 (first 10 problems)	Add/Subtract within 40 with renaming assessment (manipulatives allowed)	Look over Add/Subtract Assessment from yesterday and have your student correct any mistakes; reteach concepts as needed HIG pg 61; TB n/a; WB Ex 43 pg 103-104 MM13 (last 10 problems)	Extra Practice book pg 75 & 77 MM 15 (last 10 problems) MM 6: one-minute timed drill; return to school on Tuesday
Spelling	Spelling Review- rule cards, phonogram cards	No AAS assignment; spend extra time on review	Spelling Bee	Lesson 26, Words Ending in /v/ and /ū/ and Third Job of Silent E: Parent read pg 219-220; Review a selection of Sound, Rule, and Word Cards from your card box; read through Word Banks for the Sound of /z/ (pg 85 in activity book); review "Previous Concepts," pg 220 Use letter tiles for New Teaching, pg 221-222	Lesson 26, Words Ending in /v/ and /ū/ and Third Job of Silent E: Review a selection of Sound, Rule, and Word Cards from your card box; Student use tiles to spell several words you select from "Practice More Words" section, pg 223; Dictate Word Cards 204-213 in spelling journal; Dictate first three sentences on pg 224 in spelling journal
Grammar	FLL Lesson 92: Introducing sentences, Copywork: "Practice makes perfect," pg 151-152	FLL Lesson 93: Introducing sentence type 1: Statements, pg 153	FLL Lesson 94: Introducing sentence type 2: Commands, Copywork: "Fried octopus," pg 154-155	FLL Lesson 95: Introducing sentence type 3: Questions, Copywork: "Smaller than an elephant," pg 156-157
Writing	Scripture or poetry copywork	Copybook pg 75 - Copying (step 4); Write neatly and accurately.	Scripture or poetry copywork	Copybook pg 75 - Proof/ Correct and Illustrate (steps 5 and 6)
Reading	Review all phonograms; SF Grade 2, Week 1, Day 1 Introduce GH as /f/, Sight Word: laugh (OPG L141) - note, this lesson could be better titled: The Silent Pair GH: OUGH as /uff/ and /off/	Review all phonograms; No SF lesson- see note below OPG L141: GH as /f/, Sight Word: laugh, pg 228, please see important Reading note below!; Dictation: cough, rough, tough "A Boy Gets a New Home" from The Early Reader's Bible, pg 155-161 (see decodable words below)	Review all phonograms; SF Grade 2, Week 1, Day 3 Review the GH Letter Pair (OPG L142)	Review all phonograms; No SF lesson- see note below OPG L143: The Silent Letter G before N, pg 230; Dictation: gnash, gnat, gnome (explicitly tell your student to use GN for the /n/ in these words) "David is a Brave Boy" from The Early Reader's Bible pg 163-168 (see decodable words below)	Review all phonograms (Add GN); No SF lesson- see note below Re-read OPG L142 and L143, pg 229-230 Read SPIRE decodable "Help!	All sight words that should be learned and reviewed thus far: the, I, a, of, have, give, to, two, too, was, said, do, who, friend, eye, buy, shoe, could, would, should. one, once, build, built, laugh
Read Aloud	Baby Island, pg 11-16; Aesop's Fables pg 38- The Lion and the Gnat	Baby Island, pg 17-22; Aesop's Fables pg 29 - The Frogs Who Wished for a King	Baby Island, pg 23-28; Aesop's Fables pg 15 - Belling the Cat	Baby Island, pg 29-34; Aesop's Fables pg 84 - The Quack Toad
History	SotW Ch 32 China: Writing and the Qin, Calligraphy in China pg 247-252			SotW Ch 32 China: Writing and the Qin, "Warring States" through "The Emperor's First Grave," pg 252-259; Discussion questions below; Journal sentence: Qin Zheng united the Warring States into the country of China and began building the Great Wall.
Science		G&B/MB Lesson 9: Fish- Largest Class of Marine Vertebrates, Characteristics of Fish, and School of Fish Movement Activity, pg 39-40; Journal sentence: Fish school together for protection.	G&B/MB Lesson 9: Fish- Fish or Not Fish Activity, pg 40; Read aloud The Rainbow Fish
Geography	Southern Africa Map & Song Due 4/17
Memory Work	SCRIPTURE: Philippians 3:7-21 KJV (ongoing); Books of the Old Testament Psalms - Malachi in order - Due 4/24 MATH: Fact Flashcards (Ongoing) QUARTER 4 POEM: Rock of Ages- Due 5/1 GEOGRAPHY: Southern Africa - Due 4/17

*Note anything underlined in the table above or in the notes below is a clickable link for your convenience*

COMING SOON...

Thursday, March 28- Spirit/pizza/DOGS day

Tuesday, April 1- Field trip payment and permission slip due (see below)

Tuesday, April 8- Austin Aquarium field trip

Thursday, April 10- Fortis Lap-a-thon

Thursday, April 10- Spirit Day (no pizza)

Friday, April 18 and Tuesday, April 22- Good Friday/Easter holiday- no school

Dear Parents,

Welcome back! I hope your break was relaxing, productive, OR both- whichever you prefer! Either way, I pray you've been strengthened and are ready to join with me as we finish out this year strong!

Love, Mrs. Kuhn

Math:

You will cover Unit 6- Halves and Quarters at home this week, while in class we will continue reviewing addition and subtraction with renaming. I will assess the students' progress on Thursday. They will be allowed to use their base ten blocks if they would like. Please check their assessment on Friday to see if they are still struggling with this concept.

Mental Math 13-17 will continue to be assigned on a rotation until we reach Addition within 100 in Unit 8. If students were to take several weeks off from practicing these types of problems while we covered multiplication, division, halves/quarters, and time, they would really struggle when we returned to addition and subtraction of larger numbers. They need to keep those skills sharp and become confident in using the strategies. If your child is getting quite comfortable with these problems using manipulatives, as a next step you can encourage them to see a picture in their mind of the base ten blocks rather than physcially moving them. Ideally we are working toward not needing concrete or pictorial representations, so you can also move to completely abstract if they are catching on well. Feel free to make up your own problems if you'd rather, but I've found that the Mental Math exercises are a convenient set of problems to use for practice.

Flashcard Games for math facts (or phonograms!)

Reading:

Please note that Lesson 141 is incomplete. OPG presents these words as instances where GH is not silent, but the words in this lesson actually fall under two of the sounds of the phonogram OUGH: /uff/ and /off/. Extra practice is warranted for this phonogram card and its 6 different sounds!

We have already taught the rule-breaker "laugh," so you can disregard that section of Lesson 141.

We have completed the Sounds First phonemic awareness program for 1st grade! I have been very pleased with the progression of skills I've seen in the students as we've worked through the lessons this year. In class, I'm going to continue on into the 2nd grade program for these last few weeks of school. You are welcome to do that as well or go back and review prior lessons from this year, but I will not be assigning any more lessons on home days.

Decodable words in "A Boy Gets a New Home" from the Early Reader's Bible (sight words in parenthesis): A, boy, gets, new, home, so, much, God, boy, if, you, (give), me, (said), I, will, let, him, do, did, (was), with, call, she, and, to, when, took, house, man, (who), (of), help, my, yes, take, at, came, see, good, things, too, best, all

Decodable words in "David is a Brave Boy" from the Early Reader's Bible (sight words in parenthesis): is, a, brave, boy, come, and, fight, me, but, not, (one), (of), God's, (would), him, they, (said), I, am, will, how, can, you, the, king, as, big, he, God, help, me, so, went, took, his, sling, five, stones, man, ran, at, to, kill, with, too, then, put, in, down, they, (was), but, that, had

Composition:

Custom Handwriting Practice Sheets

Spelling:

On Thursday, March 27th, we'll have a fun and friendly Spelling Bee! We will have 10 rounds where all the students will spell (in writing) the word from each round. Whoever spells the most words correctly will be the winner! All the words from every lesson are fair game! This should be a fun activity for the kids.

We are back to our regular spelling schedule on Friday with Lesson 26. This lesson can be tricky for some students because the sound of /ū/ (as in cute) and /o͞o/ (as in zoo) only differ by a quick /y/ at the beginning of /ū/. In words like rude, flute, and June, we drop that initial /y/ altogether. Similarly, the "words ending in /ū/" in our spelling list this week have more of an /o͞o/ than a true /ū/. You can reference OPG L109 where we taught the students to read the vowel pair UE as /o͞o/ to help you teach this AAS lesson.

Phonogram Game Ideas

Practice App

Geography:

Southern Africa Map and Song will be due 4/17. Students should be able to point to each country as they sing/recite the names. This is the final remaining part of Africa that we have yet to memorize!

History:

Here are some questions for discussion as you teach SotW Chapter 32: When Qin Zheng became emperor of China, he changed his name. Why do you think he chose the new name that he picked? Why did he bring his enemies to live near his palace? Tell why this could be a good idea and why it could be a bad idea. Do you agree with his strategy? When Shi Huangdi told his builders and architects to build a great wall, they told him that stone was scarce. He told them to think of another way. What way can you think of to build a great wall without stones? The Emperor went to great lengths to try to live forever. If you could talk to Shi Huangdi now, what would you tell him about finding everlasting life? (See John 3:16)

Journal sentence: Qin Zheng united the Warring States into the country of China and began building the Great Wall.

Reminder: This semester's at-home project will allow students to tap into their inner entrepreneur as they set up shop in a recreation of the central Greek gathering place and marketplace, the Agora. Students will create a product they wish to sell, a price point, and a sales pitch to entice their friends to visit their stall in the marketplace. Fortis students from other grades will be "window shopping" in our Agora before we buy and sell amongst our class (currency provided)! Project guidelines can also be found here. This project will be presented by the students on April 29th. They are encouraged to wear Greek attire/costume to school that day to lend authenticity to their project.

Science:

They're some of the most ubiquitous animals in the ocean: fish! This week we'll learn some of their basic characteristics and then compare them to other ocean creatures. Do you think jellyfish, starfish, and cuttlefish are actually fish... or not fish?

Journal sentence: Fish school together for protection.

Field Trip to Austin Aquarium!

We’ve been discovering so much about the interesting, beautiful, and sometimes mysterious life that flourishes under the sea. Now we are going to get up close and hands-on by taking a trip to the Austin Aquarium! We’ll get to interact with sharks, stingrays, sea jellies, octopuses, birds, reptiles, amphibians, tropical and cold water fish, and more!

Details:
Tuesday, April 8th, 2025
Depart Fortis 10:30am

Return to Fortis between 12:45-1:00pm; students may be checked out of school for the day after the trip

Cost: $11.95 per student, $24.95 per chaperone
Payment and permission slip due by April 1st
Please click HERE to register and pay for the field trip!

I will need parents to help drive, so if you plan to attend as a chaperone and are able to transport additional students, please let me know!

Also, indicate that you can be a driver on the permission slip form.

We will bring sack lunches to eat at the picnic area inside the aquarium after our tour.

Memory Work:

Quarter 4 poem: Rock of Ages will be due 5/1. Students will just sing the song and do not need to memorize the author. Here is a link to the song that we practice in class. This artist does substitute "commands" for "demands" in the 2nd stanza, so I will accept either of those words as correct.