Snack: 1st and 2nd grade have our first snack time during literacy. Please make sure your child knows which food is for their lunch meal and snacks. Healthy snacks are always the best choice. Please do not send cookies or candy for your child to eat during the morning snack time. Emergency snacks are provided to students who do not bring a snack from home (while supplies last). 

Foundational Skills (Phonics, Decoding, and Spelling) 

Last week, students focused on reading and spelling words that follow the –ear pattern. For example: earn, pearl, earth, search, etc. 

This week, students will learn about –or pattern (for example: for, corn, short, fork, etc). After –or, we will learn less common /or/ patterns, including –ore (for example: more, chore, store, wore, etc.). Our syllabication lesson will focus on R-Controlled Syllables. 

Reading  

Last week, we ended our study of “Cinderlad” by reading the story one last time and discussing the characters in the story. We began our next set of stories, “Cinderella Tales.” We read the first two Cinderella tales. We read the French version, the Glass Slipper, and the Chinese version, “The Golden Slipper.” While reading these stories, we practiced using the reading comprehension strategies of Asking and Answering Questions and Visualizing.  

This week, we will read the last story in "Cinderella Tales," called “Zanyana the Brave.” We will continue to use the strategies of asking and answering questions and visualizing. Then we will use context clues to determine the meaning of unknown words in the story. For the rest of the week, we will be comparing and contrasting the different versions of Cinderella Tales. We will classify and categorize information in each story, and then use Venn diagrams to identify what was the same and what was different in each version. 

Please continue to read to your child each night and have them read to you! It is all beneficial. 

Writing 

 Last week, we began a short unit on procedural (how-to) writing. First, students brainstormed topics that they are experts with, and then they selected a topic and crafted a plan. 

This week, we will begin writing rough drafts of the how-to pieces. We will include important details in our steps so that the reader can successfully follow our directions.