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:
Tuesday, August 22- Picture Day
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
Hello Parents!
"A wise son brings joy to his father,
but a foolish son brings grief to his mother." -Prov. 10:1
We're making steady progress on filling up our Joy Jar! I can't wait to see what's going to happen when the jar is all the way full...
While most of our work is kindergarten review at this point, we are starting to get into more "meaty" topics. I pray you and your student are enjoying the process together! We have some fun and interactive lessons coming up this week that I'm excited to share with the children.
Math:
Use any extra time this week to really work with the number bonds we've covered, especially parts of 10. Use a 10 frame and counters to help students see the relationships until they become automatic. Ask them real-world application questions throughout the day, such as: "You've got 4 stuffies on your bed; how many more to make 10?" Students will be utilizing this rapid recall in order to master quickly-approaching mental math strategies. Here is a fun video and song to practice "friends of 10." These number bond flash cards may also be helpful. The game on pg 23 of the Textbook is great to replay often if your child needs more practice. Continue this type of practice as we move on through our math lessons. Students will need to build on this basic concept throughout the year.
Roll a Die Number Bonds game instructions: Roll a die, then say the number that makes ten with the number rolled. For example, if a 6 was rolled on the die, your student would say "4." If a 2 was rolled, your student would say "8."
Reading:
You'll be giving the first phonogram assessment this week. You'll find the Phonogram Assessment Sheet inside a page protector in the Language Arts section of the binder. Complete Assessment #1: 26 Single Letter Phonograms, on Monday. To give this assessment, show your student the yellow phonogram card corresponding to each of the phonograms on the assessment. Check a box for each correct sound your student recalls. Count the sound correct if the student self-corrects, but no hints or coaching should be given to the student by the co-teacher. Leave the marks on the page protector and leave the page protector behind the Langauge Arts tab so I can check the assessment at school on Tuesday. Stay on top of your phonogram practice and these assessments should always be easy peasy for your student!
Sounds First: This week in Cut Off the Sound, instead of making the initial sound and then making the scissor motion to cut it off from the rest of the word, the students will actually delete the first sound in the word.
You will mostly be reading "Little Bear" to your child, as there are many words the students have not yet been taught to decode. However, I encourage you to work as a team and ask your child to read words they can decode (for example: made, it, on, hat, pants, can, and, not, that) as well as sight words (the, I, a, of, have, give, to, two, too) while you read the remaining words. I know you will both love Little Bear!
Remember, phonics understanding is important even for children who already read fluently! In most of the text they encounter now, the ideas are familiar to them. That won't always be the case, and they will need these tools to decode unfamiliar words in unfamiliar contexts.
Read Aloud:
Remember, the importance of daily reading aloud is that we're introducing students to sentence structure, grammar, and especially vocabulary that is above their own reading level. Gauge their understanding by asking them to orally narrate what they've just heard.
Writing:
Remember, the importance of daily reading aloud is that we're introducing students to sentence structure, grammar, and especially vocabulary that is above their own reading level. Gauge their understanding by asking them to orally narrate what they've just heard.
Writing:
At home, please help your child to make proper strokes (see handout in Language Arts tab of binder) and correct pencil grip (see below) into a habit. It's important to correct any poor habits before they become too ingrained. This will greatly improve efficiency in their writing, and writing will become more enjoyable instead of a daunting chore.
If your child is struggling with holding their pencil correctly or maintaining control of it, check out the tips at this link. I also have many fun fine motor activites to suggest to strengthen those handwriting muscles.
Grammar:
Grammar:
Who knew "people" nouns could be so fun?! The children were very creative in our game of charades! This week we will concentrate on the difference between common and proper nouns.
Spelling:
Any time the blog directs you to dictate words or sentences in the Spelling Journal, those are words or sentences the students should be able to spell correctly without help or coaching. If there are mistakes, have your student rewrite the word correctly after you have reinforced the concept. Please check dictation work done in class for accuracy as well.
Spelling:
Any time the blog directs you to dictate words or sentences in the Spelling Journal, those are words or sentences the students should be able to spell correctly without help or coaching. If there are mistakes, have your student rewrite the word correctly after you have reinforced the concept. Please check dictation work done in class for accuracy as well.
Geography:
Map & Song and Game to help learn Continents and Oceans (due 9/7)
Map & Song and Game to help learn Continents and Oceans (due 9/7)
History:
This week you'll read about mummies and embalming in ancient Egypt. Some of the descriptions are quite detailed; I know my squeamish 18-year-old would be uncomfortable hearing them! Feel free to use your discretion to edit as you deem appropriate.
Chapter 4 journal sentence: Egyptians made mummies and pyramids.
Science:
Now that we have a good background knowledge of insects in general, we get to explore some specific ones in detail. On a personal note, growing up in the desert, I had always dreamed of seeing a real firefly. Not until we moved to Texas did that bucket-list item come true for me! It was truly magical. I'm excited to share about fireflies with the children, and to remind them that we, too, are beautiful lights for Christ in this world! I leave the termite and it's spiritual application to you, my dear co-teachers.
Journal sentence: Termites chew on wood.
