Literacy

This week’s reading selection: “Watching the Moon”

Vocabulary Focus: The words below appear in this week’s reading selections.

Cause              verb                the reason why something happens

continues        verb                 to keep going

experiment    noun               a test to observe events and effects to learn about something

finally             adverb             at the end of a period of time

idea                 noun                a plan, thought, or suggestion

invent             verb                 to create something for the first time

phases             noun               parts or steps in a process

position          noun               the place where a person or thing is

Phonics Focus: We will learn the following sounds and spellings:   spelled -al,

 -el, -il, and le; /nk/ spelled ■nk; and /kw/ spelled qu_.

Vocabulary A to Z

Language Arts Writing: We will be doing expository writing explaining how to do something.

Grammar: Your child will learn that an imperative sentence gives a command or makes a request. It ends with a period or an exclamation point.

Reading: Focusing on main idea, and story elements when reading

Since this is a short week, we will finish up our story, “How to Catch an Elf”

Vocabulary Focus: The words below appear in this week’s reading selections.

Phonics Focus: We will learn the following sounds and spellings: /er/ spelled ir, ur, ear, and /ng/ spelled ■ng

High-Frequency Words: Have your child review and practice reading the following words: any, but, do, from, girl, her, like, long, my, no, water, where, and with

Vocabulary A to Z

Language Arts Writing: Your child will finish their writing, “How to Catch an Elf”

Grammar: Your child will learn that an exclamatory sentence shows strong emotion and ends with an exclamation point. (Great job!)

Reading: Focusing on main idea, and story elements when reading

This week’s reading selection: “How to Catch an Elf”

Vocabulary Focus: The words below appear in this week’s reading selections.

Phonics Focus: We will learn the following sounds and spellings: /er/ spelled ir, ur, ear, and /ng/ spelled ■ng

High-Frequency Words: Have your child review and practice reading the following words: any, but, do, from, girl, her, like, long, my, no, water, where, and with

Vocabulary A to Z

Language Arts Writing: Your child will prewrite and begin writing, “How to Catch an Elf”

Grammar: Your child will learn that an exclamatory sentence shows strong emotion and ends with an exclamation point. (Great job!)

Reading: Focusing on main idea, and story elements when reading

Big Idea: What is a cycle?

This week’s reading selection: “From Seed to Flower”.

Summary: A sunflower grows from a seed into a flower. Essential Question: What changes do you see when watching a flower grow?

Vocabulary Focus: The words below appear in this week’s reading selections.

change            verb                to become different

plant               verb                to put a seed, flower, or plant in the ground to                                                       grow

plenty             noun                a large amount shed verb to lose or get rid of                                                        leaves,  skin, or fur naturally

soil                  noun                the top layer of earth in which plants grow

sprout             verb                to grow

stage              noun                a specific point in the development of something 

Phonics Focus: We will learn the following sounds and spellings: /or/ spelled or, ore; /ar/ spelled ar

Words to practice blending with your child include

High-Frequency Words: Have your child review and practice reading the following words: are, for, little, out, went, when, will

Vocabulary A to Z

Language Arts Writing: Your child will prewrite and begin writing a description of a person.

Grammar: Your child will learn that an interrogative sentence asks a question and ends with a question mark. (What time is it?)

Reading: Focusing on main idea, and story elements when reading

Big Idea: Why do we celebrate Thanksgiving

This week’s reading selection: “Turkey Trouble” and several other Thanksgiving themed books.

Phonics Focus: /ed/ spelled -ed, /d/ spelled -ed, and /t/ spelled -ed.

Words to practice blending with your child include melted, spelled, and hopped

High-Frequency Words: Have your child review and practice reading the following words: look, you, was, what, there, here

Vocabulary A to Z

Language Arts Writing: Your child will start working on “How to” writing to develop a, “How to Cook a Turkey” writing.

Grammar: Your child will learn that a declarative sentence is a sentence that tells something and ends with a period (The giraffe eats leaves.).

Reading: Focusing on main idea, and story elements when reading

Big Idea: What is a cycle?

This week’s reading selection: “Jake’s Tree” Summary: Jake writes a poem as he observes the changes of a big tree in his yard during the year.

Essential Question: What changes in nature can you see?

Vocabulary Focus: The words below appear in this week’s reading selections.

along             adverb          in a direction toward something else

bud                noun             a small part on a plant that develops into a  flower,

                                           leaf, or branch

covered         verb               put something over it

cycle              noun              a set of events that happen again and again

evaporate       verb               to go from a liquid to a gas

melted            verb               to gradually become less

shook             verb                to move back and forth with quick movements

studied           verb                to learn about

ADD the vocabulary words to your conversations at home

Phonics Focus: spelled ch, wh, /ed/ spelled -ed, /d/ spelled -ed, and /t/ spelled -ed.

Words to practice blending with your child include whip, which, check, catch, melted, spelled, and hopped

High-Frequency Words: Have your child review and practice reading the following words: look, you, was, what

Vocabulary A to Z

Language Arts Writing: Your child will continue working on descriptive writing.

Grammar: Your child will learn that a declarative sentence is a sentence that tells something and ends with a period (The giraffe eats leaves.).

Reading: Focusing on main idea, and story elements when reading

Big Idea: What is a cycle?  

This week’s reading selection: Time Is When Summary: Measurements of time include seconds, minutes, hours, seasons, and years. 

Essential Question: What measurements of time can you think of?  

Vocabulary Focus: The words below appear in this week’s reading selections.  

ahead                  adverb               into the future 

Before                 adverb               at an earlier time  

Bloom                   verb                 to grow and produce flowers  

calendar                noun                a chart showing the days, weeks, and 

                                                       months of a year 

hour                       noun                one of 24 equal parts of the day 

midnight                noun                the middle of night, specifically 12 o’clock 

Season                  noun                one of the four quarters into which the year                                                           is  divided 

Through               preposition       by means of  

 

ADD the vocabulary words to your conversations at home 

Phonics Focus: Your child will learn the following sounds and spellings: /ks/ spelled ■x, /e/ spelled e, /ed/ spelled -ed, /d/ spelled -ed, and /t/ spelled -ed.  

Words to practice blending with your child include ax, six, text, melted, spelled, and hopped 

High-Frequency Words: Have your child review and practice reading the following words: down, help, its, red, six. 

Vocabulary A to Z 

Language Arts Writing: Your child will continue working on descriptive writing. 

Grammar: Your child will learn to identify and write simple sentences using a subject and verb and capitalizing the first word. (The dog buried its bone.) 

Reading: Focusing on main idea, and story elements when reading 

Big Idea: What does it take to be a good friend? Ask your child how this week’s reading selection helps him or her answer this question.

This week’s reading selections: No Wolves Allowed Summary: Walter Wolf was not allowed to join Polly, Poppy, and Peter Pig’s clubhouse at first, but he convinced them that everyone has something valuable to contribute to the group. Essential Question: What can others teach you about friendship? DISCUSS with your child ways he or she works together with friends and neighbors.

Vocabulary Focus: The words below appear in this week’s reading selections.

access                    noun           a way to reach or contact

conflict                    noun            a strong disagreement

customs                  noun           the usual ways of doing things by people or groups

differ                        verb           to be different, or unlike, something else

foreign                     adjective    a place outside your own country

neighborhood          noun           a section of a town or city

solve                         verb              to find the answer to a problem

stormed                    verb              went off quickly and angrily, often in a loud way

Phonics Focus: Your child will learn the following sounds and spellings: /j/ spelled ■dge; /u/ spelled u; /z/ spelled z, zz, /sh/ and /th/.

Have your child write a word that contains each new sound/spelling and draw a picture of it.

High-Frequency Words: Have your child review the following words: as, ask, get, he, his, just, of, to

Vocabulary A to Z

Language Arts Writing: Your child will continue working on descriptive writing.

Grammar: Your child will learn what action verbs (jumps, eats, reads) and helping verbs (is, are, has, have, was, were) are.

Reading: Focusing on the main idea, and story elements when reading

Big Idea: What does it take to be a good friend?
Ask your child how this week’s reading selection helps him or her answer this question.

This week’s reading selections: No Wolves Allowed
Summary: Walter Wolf was not allowed to join Polly, Poppy, and Peter Pig’s clubhouse at first, but he convinced them that everyone has something
valuable to contribute to the group.
Essential Question: What can others teach you
about friendship?
 DISCUSS with your child ways he or she works
together with friends and neighbors. 

 

Far Away Friends
Summary: Children learn what pen pals are, how to be a good pen pal, and what you can learn from pen pals.
Essential Question: How can you keep in touch with a friend who lives far away?
 ASK your child what he or she would want to learn from a pen pal in another country

 

Vocabulary
Focus: The words below appear in this week’s reading selections.
access                        noun a way to reach or contact
conflict                       noun a strong disagreement
customs                     noun the usual ways of doing things by people or groups
differ                           verb to be different, or unlike, something else
foreign                        adjective a place outside your own country
neighborhood            noun a section of a town or city
solve                           verb to find the answer to a problem
stormed                      verb went off quickly and angrily, often in a loud way

 ADD the vocabulary words to discussions about the selections and friendship.

 

Phonics
Focus: Your child will learn the following sounds and spellings: /j/ spelled ■dge; /u/ spelled u; /z/ spelled z, zz, and _s.
HAVE your child write a word that contains each new sound/spelling and draw a picture of it.
High-Frequency Words: Have your child review the following words: as, ask, get, he, his, just, of, to.

 

Language Arts
Writing: Your child will start learning about descriptive writing using adjectives to add more flavor to our writing.  
Grammar: Your child will learn what action verbs (jumps, eats, reads) and helping verbs (is, are, has, have, was, were) are.
 ASK your child to use a helping verb and an action verb in one sentence.

Literacy:

Big Idea: “What does it take to be a good friend?”

This week’s reading selections: “Malta’s Dream”

Vocabulary:  Long and Hot Air Balloon

Phonics: We will continue reviewing sounds and practice blending CVC and CCVC words

Language Arts:

Writing: Your child will prewrite, draft, revise, edit, and present a description of an event in which someone acts like a responsible friend.

Grammar: Your child will learn to identify adjectives and add them to sentences. Adjectives are describing words that tell more about a person, place, or thing.

 

Literacy:

Big Idea: “What does it take to be a good friend?”

This week’s reading selections: “Chickens Chicken’s go to School”

Vocabulary:

Better              Except

Chicken           Cried

Just                 Scampered

Feeling            Fine

 

Phonics: We will continue reviewing sounds and practice blending CVC and CCVC words

Language Arts:

Writing: Writing: Your child will prewrite, draft, revise, edit, and present a description of an event in which someone acts like a responsible friend.

Grammar: Your child will learn to identify adjectives and add them to sentences. Adjectives are describing words that tell more about a person, place, or thing.

This week’s reading selections: “New Kid at School” and “The Plant Monitor”

Vocabulary:

Around               Careful

Confusing           Enough

Introduce           Monitor

Pleased               Tour

trace

 

Phonics: We will continue reviewing sounds and practice blending

Language Arts:

Writing: We will begin putting our sentences together to start our autobiography

Grammar: We will learn about common and proper nouns

This week’s reading selection: First Grade Stinks!

Summary: The beginning of Haley’s first day of first grade makes her wish she were back in kindergarten. As the day progresses, she learns about the wonderful things they will do in first grade. Essential Question: Why do the things we do at school change each year?

Phonics Focus: Your child will learn the following sounds
and spellings:
/s/ spelled s
/m/ spelled m
/a/ spelled a
/t/ spelled t, tt

Words to practice blending with your child include
at, sat, mat, and Matt.

ASK your child to identify objects at home that
begin with the letters Ss, Mm, Aa, and Tt.

High-Frequency Words: Have your child review
and practice reading the following words.
am and can on

Language Arts:

Writing: Your child will learn several steps of the
writing process (prewriting, drafting, revising, and
presenting) by drawing a self-portrait and writing a
sentence to describe his or her picture.

Grammar: Your child will learn the differences
between letters, words, and sentences. He or she
will also learn to track text from left to right and
top to bottom.

Have your child identify the first and last words
in a sentence and track the words on a page of a
picture book.

 

Open Court Reading:  We have started our new literacy curriculum, Open Court Reading, this year.  This is a wonderful curriculum that is designed around the science of reading. 

Review:  We will be wrapping up our review of our letters and sounds, working on proper grip and letter formation, understanding rhyme, and practicing blending and segmenting sounds. 

Spelling: This week, we will be looking at short /a/ word CVC words.

Writing: Students will write to a prompt, using sentence stems and drawing pictures representing what they are writing about. 

Reading: we will be doing whole group reading working on fluency, understanding rhyme, and developing vocabulary.