*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...
Thursday, February 12- Spirit Day (no pizza)
Thursday, February 12- Class valentines exchange
Friday, February 20- Daddy Daughter Dance
Saturday, February 21- Fortis Talent Show
Valentine's Day: We'll be exchanging valentines on February 12th.
Students may bring valentines from home to be passed out to each classmate. The names of the 15 students in our class are below. Students are welcome to write who each valentine is for if they wish. They do not have to leave the "to" section blank unless they prefer not to write each name.
Class list: Sephie, Carter, Ronen, Logan, Jaxson, Addie, Nell, Gideon, Charlie, Everly, Ayrleas, Willow, Rorke, Kinsley, Hannah
Students will need to bring TWO containers. One is for carrying the valentines they are going to hand out. A gallon ziplock, paper bag, plastic grocery bag, etc. is good for this purpose. The second container is for collecting valentines from others. Be as creative or simple as you like in decorating this box or bag. Larger openings are preferred over small slits as they allow the kids to distribute their valentines more easily. From experience, I've found that it does not work well if kids bring their collecting box already full of what they plan to hand out. So again, please make sure they bring their own valentines in a separate bag from their collecting bag.
Math:
This is an important week for math. Remember, completing the workbook is only a small portion of our curriculum. Applying strategies with hands-on manipulatives is a key component and very important this week especially. Allow your student to use manipulatives (even for mental math exercises) for as long as it takes these strategies to sink in and become fluid. Ask lots of questions to coach your child through explaining their thought process until they are able to explain this process to you on their own.
Looking ahead: I HIGHLY encourage you to look ahead to HIG pg 40-41 and study it for yourself before teaching it next week (Week 23, Feb 17-23).
The second half of MM exercises are always great to utilize for extra practice!
Keep practicing math facts!
Flashcard Games for math facts (or phonograms!)
Spelling:
In Lesson 22 we encounter our last Bossy R spelling lesson: OR. Sometimes students forget to use a vowel with the r when spelling Bossy R words. Remind them of the rule that says "Every syllable has a _____ (vowel)." After they've finished spelling a word, have them read it back to themselves, checking that they do have a vowel in every syllable. I recommend practicing some oral segmenting (pulling apart the sounds) as well as going back to the token activity if your student is missing letters when spelling words. It's important that the children distinguish each sound and then represent it with a letter or letters. Remind them that the Bossy R sound is one sound but we use two letters to spell it.
Grammar:
In Lesson 73, the idea behind your student telling the story and you writing it is that we don't want the vocabulary in their story to be limited to what they can spell. If your student is eager to write their own story, start by having them dictate it while you write it down. Then, use this link to enter the text of their story into the worksheet creator. You can then print out the story with handwriting lines underneath and your child can write their story by seeing, reading, and copying words that are spelled correctly.
Composition:
Reading:
OPG L127 covers short vowel words that end with silent e. It is important to note that while the silent e is not making the vowel sound long, and thus the vowel is being "disobedient" in these words, the silent e is still doing at least one of its jobs. Make sure to ask your student what the job of silent e is in each of the words! See AAS Teacher's Manual Appendix G (pg 279) for The Jobs of Silent E.
It is worth emphasizing to your student that the vast majority of the time, silent e DOES make the vowel long. They would be clued in to use the short vowel sound if they were reading a word like "twelve," and using the normal long vowel sound did not make sense. Then they could recall, "Aha! The vowel must have it's short sound and the silent e is there to keep the word from ending in v."
Side note: OPG is finally teaching "said" in Lesson 126. We taught it way back with Lesson 85, so you should already have it in your review (or likely in your mastered) cards.
You might be noticing that the short story your student is reading for their OPG lesson is getting quite a bit longer! Also take note of how your child's stamina has increased since the beginning of the year! The OPG stories incorporate the new concept for that lesson, but along with that are words containing many other phonograms and phonics rules we've taught. If your child is struggling with decoding any of the words, be sure to take out your flashcards and remind them of the sounds they need to know to successfully read those words.
It's phonogram assessment time again! To indicate your child's progress, you may print new assessments from the link below or use dry/wet erase marker on the sheet protectors in your child's binder. Please give Assessments #3 AND #4 (give #3 again, even though we've done it before, to assess retention), and I will check for completion on Thursday, February 12. If your student is still missing some phonograms, consider going over those missed phonogram flash cards multiple times throughout your homeschool day. We want all of our first graders to master these before second grade, and some will need more practice than others, hence the beauty of your one-on-one time with your individual child at home.
Decodable words in "God Talks to Moses" (sight words in parenthesis): God, talks, to, the, princess, found, a, in, basket, she, him, (was), now, man, he, but, king, kill, him, so, ran, took, (of), sheep, home, at, his, my, (said), not, they, slaves, then, saw, bush, it, did, up, go, back, lead, must, king, to, do, this, went, (would)
Decodable words in "A King Who Said No" (sight words in parenthesis): let, God's, go, (said), stop, them, do, no, the, king, you, must, but, I, not, tells, me, time, (would), made, all, his, they, did, get, much, rest, to, eat, then, told, back, him, my, go, bad, things, will, so, (was), take, and, went, new, home
History:
We take a quick jaunt over to the Americas this week in history. While there are fascinating artifacts left behind by these civilizations, there is very little written word for us to study. This leaves us with questions about some of the more mysterious discoveries like the Nazca lines and the heads of the Olmecs. Have an imagination adventure with your child where you picture yourselves as explorers trying to figure out how those clever people managed these amazing feats with so few resources.
Questions for discussion: What were some of the drawings that were discovered in Peru? How did the drawings last so long? What are some guesses about how the Nazca people made these drawings? Why do you think they made the drawings if they could not see the finished picture? Why did the rabbit decide to shoot the sun? What happened when he shot the sun? How did rabbit change from the beginning of the story to the end? Do you think this is the real reason rabbits are timid? If you could create a story about why rabbits are timid, what would your story be?
Journal sentence: Ancient American tribes left behind the mystery of the Nazca drawings in South America.
Science:
We will be taking a break from science in class to make time for our valentine exchange. At home, you'll get to enjoy a neat video about the oceans of the world. As you watch with your child, point out topics that we have studied (ocean names and locations, coral reefs, zones of the ocean, etc).
Journal sentence: Though the oceans of the world have different names, they are all connected.
Geography:
Equatorial Africa Map and Song due 3/5. With only 8 countries in this section, we will be back to our usual procedure where students point to the countries on the map as they sing/recite the names.
Memory Work:
Quarter 3 poem: A Child's Prayer will be due 3/10.
Books of the Old Testament: Genesis- Job due 3/12. 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.
