*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, 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.
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
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.
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
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.
