* Note- anything underlined in the table above or highlighted below is a link *
Key to Abbreviations:
GP- The Gospel Project- Home Edition
HIG- Singapore Math Home Instructor's Guide
TB- Singapore Math Textbook
WB- Singapore Math Workbook
MM- Mental Math (see appendix in HIG)
CCC- Complete, check, correct
AAS- All About Spelling
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
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, November 11- Spirit day- students may wear Fortis tshirts and jeans or shorts (not a pizza day!)
Thursday, November 18- Spirit day/Pizza day/DOGS day
November 22-26- Thanksgiving Break
** Dear Parents **
In a letter from “E.W.” (Edward Winslow) to a friend in England, he says: “And God be praised, we had a good increase…. Our harvest being gotten in, our governor sent four men on fowling that so we might after a special manner rejoice together….” Winslow continues, “These things I thought good to let you understand… that you might on our behalf give God thanks who hath dealt so favourably with us.” (Source)
As we approach Thanksgiving, may we recognize along with Edward Winslow how very favorably God has dealt with us! He not only in provides for our physical needs, but especially our deepest need: spiritual rescue from death to life in Christ. Then let's share with others so that they might give God thanks with us.
One thing to be especially thankful for is a special place like Fortis where we are free to share our faith with the children, training them up to be proclaimers of truth, goodness, and beauty in our society.
Math:
This week we will be covering some less intense math concepts as we discuss and explore shapes. This provides a good opportunity to continue strengthening the addition and subtraction within 20 strategies that we covered in the last unit. Mental Math and extra practice exercises are assigned with that goal in mind.
It may seem to your student that showing two parts being added on their fingers and counting them up is the easiest way to add. They may prefer to draw hash marks for a whole number, cross out the amount being subtracted, and count the remaining to find the difference. However, these counting-based approaches are quickly going to fall apart next semester when we move into numbers within 40 and eventually numbers within 100. We want to train their brains to manipulate the numbers. Now is the time to practice, practice, practice with "make a 10 to add" and "subtract from the 10" or "subtract to a friendly 10, then subtract the rest." Take advantage of the Mental Math exercises to work on these important strategies. (Note- Despite the name, students at this stage are not expected to do Mental Math problems completely mentally. We are working toward that! But first they must master each strategy, so number bonds and manipulatives are fine to use in the meantime.)
Reading:
This week I am excited to introduce a resource for free decodable books! The readers that I will be assigning from time to time can be accessed at the FlyLeaf Publishing website. (Unfortunately, they can only be read online at this time.) The readers for this week are completely decodable using phonograms and key card rules that we have already taught the students, other than the contraction "can't," so you can give them a quick, simple explanation of that. These two readers should be very simple for your child, so focus on guiding your student's fluency- reading accurately at a natural speed, with a natural voice and good expression. Important!- If you notice your child relying on the picture to guess the words instead of decoding, please cover the picture while they read the text. Then allow them to enjoy the picture after they read as a reward for their hard work sounding out the words. Do you notice how much your child's reading has improved already this year! Isn’t it amazing?
Phonogram practice resources:
Composition:
Science:
I'm looking forward to hearing from the students on Thursday (11/11) about their Arthropod projects! They will display their report and findings on their desks for our class to enjoy (just the written report, no poster boards or display boards!), and they will share their oral presentation as well. Their presentation should include the question they were studying, their hypothesis (if applicable), how they conducted their experiment, and their conclusion. Remember, this presentation is less memorization and more "show me you understood what you did."
Presentation guidelines
Presentation guidelines
History:
Sotw Ch. 17 Questions for Discussion: What caused Nebuchadnezzar to lose his mind and act like an animal? What did he finally realize about himself? Why do you think he never realized this before? Why did Nebuchadnezzar want to marry Amytis? Tell about some of the things he gave her. Why was Amytis still unhappy? What did Nebuchadnezzar do to bring a little bit of Persia to Babylon? Design and draw the garden you would build for your yard.
Journal sentence: Nebuchadnezzar the Great created the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.
Geography:
Horn of Africa and East Africa Due 11/16
Memory Work:
Quarter 2 poem, Count Your Blessings: Due 11/30
Books of the New Testament: Due 12/2; Here is a link to the song we are using in class (New Testament starts at 1:23), but if you or your child are already familiar with a different song, I'll assess that as long as the books are said in order.
