News & Weekly Curriculum

 
 
 SUPER READERS for OCTOBER:
Kaitlyn  Brooke  Tya  Eric  Madison R.
Emily  Coleson  Kaytlyn  Cullen  Kenzie
Madison B. 
We made Jello aquariums with
gummy fish and worms.
Many thanks to dedicated parents who
monitor the 20 minutes per night reading
required to produce super readers!!!
 The Reading Log is a school-wide requirement.
 
 CONGRATULATIONS to our STUDENT of the MONTH
      for October:  Kaytlyn Holt !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Mrs. Smith's
Weekly News &
Curriculum
11/9-11/13
Sweetie News
 
 
Another project we will need help with is our first grade Thanksgiving Festival.  Our class will be Native Americans and we will need at least 3 parents to do the 3 outdoor game rotations for our class and Mrs. Metcalf's class (they are Pilgrims this year and will have the indoor cooking rotations). So far only Coleson's mom has volunteered to help!!! We do the rotations in the morning and then have the "feast" in the Bay Base room.  It is over by 11:30 am.  If you could please find the time to help for a few hours it would be most appreciated.  Last year we almost had to cancel it as we did not have the volunteers to run the centers.  Mr. Mason has a meeting to explain how the games/cooking rotations work one afternoon after school.
I bought 8 yards of material and made short tunics for the boys and longer tunics for the girls so they will look like authentic Natives!  The students can wear pants or the girls can wear tights under the tunics.  If anyone could do some face paints that would be wonderful!!!
 
Thank you for cooperating with this:
Remember to send only a SMALL Non-Sugar snack.
 
Curriculum Notes:
Reading: “Soccer Song”;  Frog Gets His Song and Now You Know About...... Be sure to answer the questions after the story as well as make up some of your own to monitor if your student is paying attention to the story or just reading words. (rereading is a researched way to become better readers)
We are working on Story Elements:Plot and Recognizing Story Structure so help your student with these by noticing the details in each story they read (including the Saxon decodables and any other stories they may be reading).
 Fluency Skill:  phrasing (Reading groups of words rather than sounding out each word)
Vocabulary (High Frequency): 
way   your   arms   every   feet   head   school   use
I am now sending home a timed vocabulary sheet to help you with getting these vocabulary words fluently read.  Thank you to those who worked on this last week!!!
Book 2 Vocabulary Words Already Learned:  
day  eat  first  said  time  was  don't  her  line  Mr.  new  says  water be  does  grow  food  many(don't stop checking to see if they can read these with automaticity) Unless your student can already read these words without hesitation, please use index cards to make "flash" cards and use them until the words are recognized automatically.
Robust Vocabulary:
ashamed- embarrassed about something we did
mused-  thought about for a time
soared- to do really well or to fly really high
athletic-  to be good at sports
awkward- not easy to get to
superb- the best
Grammar:  one & more than one (singular/plurals)
Writing:  dialogue (writing where characters talk to each other)  and voice
Spelling: If you go to my “Neat Web Sites” and click on “Spelling City” (if you need my class log on name its- smithtr1), you will find ALL the Saxon lists for First Grade.  Your student can practice, take a test or you can run off fun activities to practice your words.  The words reflect whatever rules or elements we’ve learned in Phonics and eventually, sight words.  the test also includes the two dictation sentences below.
Spelling List: 
see  red  that  this  back  sing  bring  think  green  three   are*  from* (sight words) 
 
Dictation: These two sentences must be written with capitals, ending marks, all words spelled correctly and a finger space between each word.

This bag is from Pam.
I think we can go.
 

Phonics:
Saxon Vocabulary Words Covered from Lessons 1-45:
(make flash cards for these as they cannot be sounded out using our phonics rules )
 put  does  some  come  there their  friend  what  color  your  of  the  said  who  do  into  to you  are from  been  goes two  done  sure  don't  won't                                 
New Saxon Vocabulary:
 bought  brought  thought  fought  could  would  should 
Make sure your student memorizes and can recognize these rules:
A vowel followed by a consonant is short. Code it with a breve. (looks like a smile)      examples:  big  sad  up
An open accented vowel is long. Code it with a macron. (a straight line)    examples:  no  so  go
Should I use a "K" or a "C" Rule?:
This rule helps you decide when to use a "c" and when to use a "k" when spelling a word in which you hear the /K/ sound:
   -use a "k" before "e", "i", or "y"
   -use a "c" before "a", "o", "u" or any consonant
Which letter(s) do I use to spell the "k" sound at the end of a word:
   -use a "k" after a consonant (milk) or a vowel digraph (took, beak, week)
   -use a "ck" after a short vowel (back, deck, sick, sock, truck)
   -use a "ke" after a long vowel (bake, hike, poke, duke)
We are learning the two sounds of "y":  it says long I at the end of a one syllable word (by, cry, my, fry) and it says long "e" at the end of a two syllable word (happy, silly jumpy); also learning the two sounds of digraph "oo" (hook, tooth).
 
Math:  You received the math fact cards with "+0" and "subtracting 1" from a number) last week. Please don't stop using the "doubles" flash cards as these will continue to show up on future Fact Assessments.  You received the "+1" facts.  Saxon uses a different strategy to help 1st graders master their addition and subtraction facts.  Each time we add a new strategy, you will receive a set of fact cards to keep.  Put the answer on the back and keep them where you can quickly flash them (in the car or at home).  Mastery of these will enable your student to "zoom" in 2nd grade!!!
Make sure your student can skip count by 10's to 100, by 5's to 100 and by 2's to 20.  We will be using these concepts for telling time and counting nickels and dimes and reading thermometers and evens/odds and counting tally marks. Skip counting is essential for mastering these concepts.  we will also be learning how to take a number away from itself, subtracting "0" from a number and telling time to the hour on an analog clock.