*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
MM- Mental Math (see appendix in HIG)
CCC- Complete, check, correct
AAS- All About Spelling (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:
Thursday, August 31- Spirit Day/Pizza Day/DOGS Day! Students may wear Fortis t-shirts along with jeans or shorts (see handbook for length and color requirements) on Spirit Days. Pizza lunch will be served for those who have prepaid. Dads of Godly Students (DOGS) will present a fun assembly for the students and visit with them during their lunch time.
Tuesday, September 5- No School- Labor Day holiday
Thursday, September 14- Spirit Day (no pizza)- Students may wear Fortis t-shirts along with jeans or shorts (see handbook for length and color requirements).
** Hello Parents **
We are continuing to review in several areas, especially Reading and Spelling. Make sure your student is confident about the sounds they're reviewing (yellow Phonogram cards and red Sound cards) and when to use them (the rules on the blue Key Cards). You'll be adding math flashcards to the mix this week, so I've provided a link for some fun ways to keep flashcard time from becoming a bore.
We are continuing to review in several areas, especially Reading and Spelling. Make sure your student is confident about the sounds they're reviewing (yellow Phonogram cards and red Sound cards) and when to use them (the rules on the blue Key Cards). You'll be adding math flashcards to the mix this week, so I've provided a link for some fun ways to keep flashcard time from becoming a bore.
Your faithful partner,
Mrs. Kuhn
Math:
You will be receiving an email this week detailing the process for Rainbow Math Facts. This will be a motivating way to encourage math fact mastery.
Flashcard Fun (these games can be used for phonogram practice as well as math facts)
Hand in hand with math facts comes mental math. Mental Math exercises from the back of your HIG (appendix pg a1) will be assigned this week. I recommend making a copy of the page for your child to work on, but you may have them write in your book if you prefer. After your child completes the assigned problems each day, you will check them and then have your child correct any errors. This process is abbreviated CCC.
Complete: finish the assigned problems
Check: mark facts that are incorrect
Correct: in a different color, student corrects any missed facts
Complete: finish the assigned problems
Check: mark facts that are incorrect
Correct: in a different color, student corrects any missed facts
Mental math exercises do not need to be turned in to me unless specified on the blog.
Mental Math 1 (MM1) covers simple math facts. The strategy we're using for MM2 is "start with the larger number and count up." It's important that your child can verbalize and use that language to describe how they're getting the answer. Many of them initially will say, "I just know!" but we want to train them in the habit of thinking a little more deeply and being able to explain what they're doing. This first strategy is simple, but it's a good opportunity to teach your child that there IS a strategy and that they can explain it in words.
Mental Math 1 (MM1) covers simple math facts. The strategy we're using for MM2 is "start with the larger number and count up." It's important that your child can verbalize and use that language to describe how they're getting the answer. Many of them initially will say, "I just know!" but we want to train them in the habit of thinking a little more deeply and being able to explain what they're doing. This first strategy is simple, but it's a good opportunity to teach your child that there IS a strategy and that they can explain it in words.
If you need a paper cube template for math games, you can find one here.
Reading:
As we review long vowel sounds this week, you will see that OPG does not use the term open syllable. Instead they say "if the vowel is the last letter and the only vowel in a very short word..." I'd like you to go ahead and speak of these words as having open syllables (and thus, long vowels), since that is the standard terminology and we are reviewing it in AAS. Open and closed syllables are foundational for reading and spelling!
Reading:
As we review long vowel sounds this week, you will see that OPG does not use the term open syllable. Instead they say "if the vowel is the last letter and the only vowel in a very short word..." I'd like you to go ahead and speak of these words as having open syllables (and thus, long vowels), since that is the standard terminology and we are reviewing it in AAS. Open and closed syllables are foundational for reading and spelling!
I'd like to highlight an important difference between dictation done for reading and dictation done for spelling. When we dictate sentences for spelling, we will have taught the spelling rule for each word we dictate, and so we will expect the students to be able to spell each word on their own.
However, there are many graphemes (written letters) used to spell long vowel phonemes (sounds). The students are learning how to read many more sounds than they are learning how to spell at this point. For example, the long A sound can be spelled with the graphemes a (in an open syllable), ai, ay, eigh, or a_e (vowel, consonant, silent e), and they will learn to read all of those. But we are not going to expect our first graders to know which spelling to use when we haven't yet explicitly taught them the spelling rules for those.
When we do dictation in reading, then, it's absolutely fine to remind your child, "We are using tch to spell the /ch/ sound today," "We are using a silent e to make the O say it's long sound today," "We are using ai to spell the long A sound today," etc. This dictation is an exercise to solidify the sound to print connection and is important for orthrographcially mapping those sounds.
Read, read, read! Share any great read-alouds that your child just loves on our Facebook page. Just one of the MANY benefits of reading aloud is that your child will learn proper inflection from your example.
Writing:
When it comes to the invaluable skills of reading and writing, you are your child's Head Coach. Skilled habits in these areas can only be formed through regular practice under supervision by a coach who corrects wrong moves and requires the right ones be made. It is tedious work, but you must watch diligently and make sure your child is using proper letter formation in order to make their writing more efficient. Identify the letters that your child has already developed incorrect habits with, and use this link to make individualized practice sheets to break those bad habits and create correct, efficient writing. If your child has trouble correctly holding and directing the pencil do what they want it to, fine motor exercises will be helpful. I have many fun ideas if you need some!
We will begin using Copybook- Book Two this week. Browse Teaching Guidelines on pg 5-6 of Copybook, taking note of steps 4-6. Also browse Line and Letter Practice on pg 9. Review pg 8 with your student. Each week your child will complete steps 4-6 (see Teaching Guidelines on pg 6) for the appropriate page at home in their Copybook. Copy work at school will be completed on provided paper; there is no need to send Copybook to school.
Spelling:
This week we will introduce the Open and Closed syllable types. The closed syllable is the most common spelling unit in English, accounting for 50% of all syllables. Syllable types and syllable division rules are covered briefly in AAS, but they are even more important for understanding how to decode multisyllabic words when reading. Your student binder contains a page of syllable types in the Langauage Arts tab, which will be helpful for you to reference. I will be supplementing OPG and AAS with more robust syllable work, so your child will be completing some assignments that I will send home that are not in either curriculum. The first two of these will be glued into your student's Spelling Journal on Thursday for them to complete on Friday and Monday.
Grammar:
Any copy work or writing (such as first names for proper noun practice) for FLL can be written in the back half of the Spelling & Grammar journal after the sticky tab. You can use the same page for multiple grammar lessons to conserve space. Remember, all names- including the student's- should be written with the first letter capitalized and the rest lowercase.
History:
History:
This week we encounter our first familiar biblical character, Abram. See if your child can detect the difference between Terah's and Abram's motivations for moving to a new land. Journal sentence: Jacob's sons became the twelve tribes of Israel.
Science:
We are discovering so many wonderful things about God's amazing insects! The vast array of insects God designed- even just the few we've studied so far- wordlessly speak to the infinite creativity and exquisite attention to detail of our loving Creator. How can we help but praise Him? Journal sentence: Termites chew on wood.
Geography:
Map & Song and Game to help learn all the continents and oceans. Due 9/7
Map & Song and Game to help learn all the continents and oceans. Due 9/7
Memory Work:
Persevere, due 9/26
