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). Our class is currently out of emergency snacks. If you can donate snacks for students who do not bring one, please let me know.

Foundational Skills (Phonics, Decoding, and Spelling) 

Last week, students learned about homophones. Homophones are sets of words that sound the same but are often spelled differently. For example: no/know, eight/ate, night/knight, right/write, etc. 

This week, students will learn to read and spell words with the long vowel pattern –ai (for example: wait, tail, rain, paid, etc.), and –ay (for example, tray play, day, etc.) 

Reading

Last week, we began reading the selection, “Flower Power.”  

Summary: From seed to blossom to seed again, a flower grows and makes new flowers. In addition to adding beauty to the world, flowers provide oxygen and food that people and animals need.  

Essential Questions: How do flowering plants use light and water? How are seeds spread? 

Last week, we used the strategies of clarifying and visualizing while we read the selection for the first time. Clarifying is when the student recognizes when a word or idea does not make sense, and then uses strategies to understand it. For example, students might try to reread the selection, use their decoding (sounding out) skills, ask questions, and read on. Visualizing is when the student creates a mental image in their head based on literal ideas or scenes described by the author.  

This week’s reading selection is still, “Flower Power.” This week, we are working on using context clues to help us understand the meaning of unknown words. Context clues are words that surround the unknown word and can help us understand its meaning. Later in the week, we will be discussing cause and effect, as well as nonfiction text features (caption, diagrams, headings, etc.). 

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

Writing 

 Last week, students continued using their plan to write the rough draft of the procedural (how-to) writing piece.  

This week, students will be writing their final draft of the how-to piece. Next week, students will be focusing on research and drafting of informational paragraphs for passion projects. 

Grammar  

This week, students will learn about the capitalization of Days, Months, Holidays, Cities, States, and Geographic names. We will review the concept of Proper Nouns to help us identify words that need words that need a capital letter.