*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
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, January 14- School resumes!
Thursday, January 16- Spirit day (no pizza)
Tuesday, January 21- School is IN SESSION (no MLK Jr holiday)
Thursday, January 30- Spirit/Pizza/DOGS Day
Friday, February 7- Daddy Daughter dance (tickets available for purchase)
Welcome back, families! I hope your break was restful as well as productive. I am ready to get back to the mission of preparing these children for whatever big plans God has in store for their lives, and I know you are too!
~Mrs. Kuhn
Math:
We will begin using all three 1B books this semester. Our first unit delves a little deeper into subtraction by first comparing sets and then determining how many more or less each set has than the other. A good way to explain this idea is to pair up the objects in each set and think of each object in one set "taking away" an object in the other set.
Remember, your child should always be learning (by building the problem on a 10-frame first), practicing, and reviewing all of the facts listed in HIG 1B pg 4-5, regardless of their current rainbow facts color.
Extra Practice book pg 53 is assigned this week. You may have your child complete any pages prior to 53 that were unassigned as you see fit.
Reading:
Please note that in OPG L114, the book will say that the U alone as /o͝o/ words are disobedient, but they are not. The /o͝o/ sound is actually the third sound made by the letter U. Also, make sure your student is distinguishing the /o͝o/ sound from the /ō/ sound, especially in the words pull and full. Often students mistakenly think pull sounds like pole or pool, and full sounds like foal.
If you would like to print the cards that go along with the review games in OPG L115, feel free to use this document that a parent created and graciously shared: OPG Lesson 115 cards
Required books for this semester include:
- "Baby Island" by Carol Ryrie Brink
- "Aesop’s Fables for Children" by Milo Winter
- "The Adventures of Jimmy Skunk" (Dover Children's Thrift Classics) by Thorton Burgess
We'll begin using "Aesop's Fables" this week.
We will also be starting The Early Reader's Bible, a copy of which I will check out to each family. Please take good care of your copy and return it to me at the end of this semester so I can reuse it again next year. This prevents families from having to purchase a book that will only be gently used for half of a school year.
When reading The Early Reader's Bible with your child, if they come to a word with unfamiliar phonograms, tell them the sounds we have not taught them to decode. Do not ask them to guess at words that they don't have the skills to decode yet. We are trying to give them exposure to different reading materials, even if those materials are not completely decodable yet, but we don't want to slip into teaching them to guess at words!
When reading The Early Reader's Bible with your child, if they come to a word with unfamiliar phonograms, tell them the sounds we have not taught them to decode. Do not ask them to guess at words that they don't have the skills to decode yet. We are trying to give them exposure to different reading materials, even if those materials are not completely decodable yet, but we don't want to slip into teaching them to guess at words!
Words your child should be able to decode in The Early Reader's Bible (sight words in parenthesis)...
-From "God Made Many Things": long, (was), no, sun, moon, and, I, will, make, a, God, (said), so, made, sun, the, then, it, is, good, helps, you, see, all, day, moon, they, help, more, things, trees, fish, in, sea, big, last, (of), man, this, new
-From "Something Bad, Something Sad": (was), Eve, wife, they, had, good, things, and, sad, but, thing, (could), not, (have), you, must, not, eat, the, food, on, that, tree, God, (said), a, time, did, it, then, (to), day, he, (should), did, not, so, ate, too, had, bad, sad, I, told, go, home, us, (do)
-From "Noah Makes a Big Boat": make, a, big, boat, God, (said), yes, I, will, he, (to), (do), told, make, it, like, took, long, time, put, on, then, went, his, with, him, (one), day, rain, and, more, trees, soon, no, but, had, so, thank, you, (of)
Composition:
Spelling:
As we return from the break, we will spend a couple of days this week reviewing before beginning the new lesson. Dictate the following sentences for your child to write in their spelling journal and review any concepts that they miss. Consider spending extra practice time on FLOSS words and the spelling of /k/ (c vs k vs ck), as these are the most common errors I've noticed students continuing to make.
Stick the net in the pond.
My cap fell off the motel bed.
Jan spent time with me at the lake.
This is a safe ride.
Our new lesson this week, Lesson 18, covers the phonogram WH, which can be confusing to spell. By and large, the breathy /hw/ pronounciation of WH has faded out of usage in our region, with the /w/ pronounciation being more common. (If you or your student would like to hear some words with WH pronounced /hw/, here is a video!)
Since W and WH are generally both pronounced /w/, students may have a hard time knowing when to use W vs WH when spelling these phonograms. The only rule that can help them decide is knowing that WH cannot be used at the end of a word, which unfortunately doesn't apply if /w/ comes at the beginning. There are a couple of ways we can help them. The first is to prounounce for spelling. When you're teaching this lesson and dictating words, pronounce WH with the /hw/ sound, even though that's not the way we generally say it when we speak. Practicing this way will give them the auditory cue to use WH, which should eventually stick in their memory with enough repetition. The second important way to help your student with this is to give them many exposures to reading words spelled with WH. This is why AAS has provided a word bank for WH in the activity book (pg 105). The more familiar these words become to your student, the more likely they are to think, "Hey, that doesn't seem right!" if they misspell whale as wale, for example. Have them read the WH word bank this week, but also include it in future weeks as reinforcement.
Grammar:
You will notice in your student's Grammar Journal that the copywork page for Lesson 59 is combined with Lesson 76. For Lesson 59, please only have your student copy the heading "Days of the Week" and the full spelling for each day. Later when we reach Lesson 76, we will return to these pages and have students copy the abbreviations.
Geography:
West Africa Due 1/30- There are 16 countries on this map! Practice, practice!
History:
This semester in history we'll be getting into some really exciting territory including ancient Greece and Rome, starting off this week with a few Olympic games! We will be covering the basics of Greek mythology as well. Our project to end this semester is history-related and will be announced in the next few weeks.
SotW Ch. 21 Discussion questions: Why did Astyges want his grandson to be killed? Do you agree with his choice? Why didn't Harpagus obey the king's command? What choice would you make? What kind of ruler was Cyrus? How do you know that? Why were the Babylonians so willing to follow Cyrus? Compare Cyrus to the Babylonian king- which one would you want to follow?
Journal Sentence: Cyrus the Great built the largest empire of his time.
Science:
This semester we will be using "The Good and the Beautiful/ Marine Biology" text (G&B/MB). If you don't already have a copy, you can download the PDF version for free by clicking this link: Marine Biology 3-8 Science Unit Study Course Book. Scroll to the bottom of the page and enter your name and email to receive the free download.
Earth's oceans are vast- more than 70% of our planet is ocean. The world's largest mountain range as well as its deepest canyon are found in the ocean. Scientists estimate that man has only explored about 5% of the ocean. The rest remains an uncharted mystery.
In our studies this semester, we will get to explore many different aquatic creatures and understand the unique adaptations God has designed for them.
Journal Sentence: The ocean is one of the most vast and mighty of God's creations.
Memory Work:
Quarter 3 poem: A Child's Prayer will be due 3/11. Your assistance at home with memorization is a huge help!
Books of the Old Testament (Genesis through Job): Due 3/13; Here is a link to the song we practice in class. The Old Testament will take the rest of the school year to master. This quarter we will focus on Genesis through Job. 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.
