Structured Literacy (Phonics & Word Study):
This week, students will learn about soft c and soft g. We will practice words in which c makes the /s/ sound, such as race, and g makes the /j/ sound, such as huge. After fall break, we will learn the trigraphs -tch and -dge and practice reading and spelling words with these patterns.

♥ Heart Words ♥: We will review previously learned Heart Words.

Reading: This week, we will read Three Hens and a Peacock, Working With Others, and Gingerbread for Liberty! Students will practice identifying the theme of a story, making and confirming predictions, and determining the central idea of a text. We will also practice synthesizing information—or putting ideas from different parts of a text together to build a deeper understanding—and examine how authors organize information in chronological order.

Vocabulary: Students will learn and practice new vocabulary from our weekly texts. We will also explore how the endings -ed and -ing change words and how these endings help us understand when an action happens.

Grammar: This week, we will focus on action verbs. Students will identify action verbs, connect verbs to the subjects performing the actions, and practice using action verbs correctly in sentences and in their own writing.

Ways to Support Literacy at Home

• Read Every Day: Spend 10–15 minutes reading together. Ask your child what lesson or message the author wants the reader to learn from the story.
• Practice Soft C and G: Look for words with c and g while reading and have your child decide whether the letter makes its hard or soft sound.
• Find the Action: Choose a sentence from a book and have your child identify the action verb and tell who or what is doing the action.

Structured Literacy (Phonics & Word Study): This week, students will learn about the schwa, a vowel sound that occurs in an unstressed syllable. We will practice identifying, reading, and spelling words with the schwa sound. Students will also continue practicing blending and segmenting sounds in words and will work on reading accurately and self-correcting when something does not sound right.

♥ Heart Words ♥: women, woman

Reading: This week, we will practice several important comprehension skills. We will identify the central idea of If You Find a Rock. While reading The Puddle Puzzle, students will practice asking and answering questions and explore the elements of drama, including characters, setting, dialogue, and stage directions. Later in the week, students will practice connecting information in a text with its illustrations and other visual elements as we read Looking at Art. We will finish the week by reviewing and bringing together the skills we have learned throughout this module.

Vocabulary: Students will continue developing their vocabulary through our weekly texts and will learn about words that name places. We will also review vocabulary skills and words we have learned throughout the module.

Writing: This week, students will begin writing a new narrative. Our focus will be on understanding and using narrative structure to organize a story. Students will make sure their stories include important story elements, including characters, setting, a problem, and a solution. We will also work on organizing events into a clear beginning, middle, and end.

Grammar: This week, we will continue our work with nouns. Students will practice forming plural nouns by adding -es, learn about nouns that change their spelling when they become plural, and identify collective nouns, or words that name groups. We will also review singular and plural nouns and practice using them correctly in our writing.

Ways to Support Literacy at Home

• Read Every Day: Spend 10–15 minutes reading together. Ask your child to tell you the characters, setting, problem, and solution.
• Retell a Story: After reading, have your child retell the story in order using the beginning, middle, and end.
• Practice Heart Words: Practice reading and spelling woman and women. Talk about how woman means one and women means more than one.
• Practice Plural Nouns: Choose singular nouns and have your child tell you how to make each one plural. Try examples such as cat/cats, box/boxes, and child/children.

Structured Literacy (Phonics & Word Study): This week, students will focus on the digraph ph, which makes the /f/ sound, as in phone and graph. Students will practice reading and spelling words with this pattern. At the end of the week, we will review our recent phonics skills and continue working on reading fluently with appropriate phrasing and expression.
♥ Heart Word ♥: nothing

Reading: This week, we will read Many Kinds of Matter as students practice making inferences. Students will use clues from the text along with what they already know to figure out information the author does not state directly. We will continue working with Many Kinds of Matter as students learn about content-area words, or vocabulary that is specific to a particular topic or subject. We will finish the week by practicing beginning research skills.

Vocabulary: This week, students will learn about synonyms, or words that have the same or nearly the same meaning. We will also explore the suffixes -er and -est and how they can be added to words to compare people, places, or things.

Writing: This week, students will continue working on their personal narratives. We will finish revising, editing and publishing our stories.

Grammar: This week, students will continue learning about nouns. We will practice identifying nouns that name people, animals, places, and things. We will also review the different kinds of sentences and practice using nouns correctly in our own writing.

Ways to Support Literacy at Home

Read Every Day: Spend 10–15 minutes reading together. Ask your child to make an inference by asking, “What can you figure out from the clues in the story?” or “What makes you think that?”

• Look for PH Words: Look for words containing ph in books, signs, or everyday print. Have your child read the word and identify the sound the digraph makes.
• Practice Heart Words: Review this week’s heart word, nothing. Have your child practice reading and spelling it and use it in a sentence.
• Play with Synonyms: Choose a familiar word such as big, happy, or fast and see how many words your child can think of that have a similar meaning.

Structured Literacy (Phonics & Word Study): This week, students will finish their work with consonant digraphs by learning ch and reviewing sh, wh, th, and ch. Beginning Wednesday, we will learn two additional digraphs: ck, which makes the /k/ sound as in back, and ng, which makes the /ng/ sound as in sing. We will also begin learning ph, which makes the /f/ sound as in phone. Students will practice reading and spelling words with these patterns while continuing to build reading fluency.
♥ Heart Words ♥: very, nothing

Reading: At the beginning of the week, students will practice identifying the central idea of a media text and wrap up our learning about being good citizens. Later in the week, we will begin exploring texts about matter. We will read What’s the Matter? to think about the author's purpose, listen to The Important Book to identify the central idea, and begin reading Many Kinds of Matter as we practice making inferences using information from the text.

Writing: This week, students will continue working on their personal narratives. We will finish revising, editing and publishing our stories.

Grammar: At the beginning of the week, students will finish learning about the four kinds of sentences: statements, questions, commands, and exclamations. Later in the week, we will begin learning about nouns and practice identifying nouns that name people, animals, places, and things

Ways to Support Literacy at Home

Read Every Day: Set aside 10–15 minutes for reading together. After reading, ask your child, “What was the most important idea?” or encourage them to make an inference by asking, “What can you figure out that the author didn’t tell you directly?”

Practice Digraphs: Look for words containing ch, sh, wh, th, ck, ng, or ph while reading. Have your child identify the digraph and say the sound it makes.

Practice Heart Words: Review the heart words very and nothing. Have your child practice reading and spelling the words and using each one in a sentence.

Go on a Noun Hunt: Choose a room in your house and see how many nouns your child can find. Challenge them to sort the nouns into people, animals, places, or things.

Structured Literacy (Phonics & Word Study): This week, students will finish their work with consonant digraphs by learning ch and reviewing sh, wh, th, and ch. Beginning Wednesday, we will learn two additional digraphs: ck, which makes the /k/ sound as in back, and ng, which makes the /ng/ sound as in sing. We will also begin learning ph, which makes the /f/ sound as in phone. Students will practice reading and spelling words with these patterns while continuing to build reading fluency.
♥ Heart Words ♥: very, nothing

Reading: At the beginning of the week, students will practice identifying the central idea of a media text and wrap up our learning about being good citizens. Later in the week, we will begin exploring texts about matter. We will read What’s the Matter? to think about the author's purpose, listen to The Important Book to identify the central idea, and begin reading Many Kinds of Matter as we practice making inferences using information from the text.

Writing: This week, students will continue working on their personal narratives. We will finish revising, editing and publishing our stories.

Grammar: At the beginning of the week, students will finish learning about the four kinds of sentences: statements, questions, commands, and exclamations. Later in the week, we will begin learning about nouns and practice identifying nouns that name people, animals, places, and things

Ways to Support Literacy at Home

Read Every Day: Set aside 10–15 minutes for reading together. After reading, ask your child, “What was the most important idea?” or encourage them to make an inference by asking, “What can you figure out that the author didn’t tell you directly?”

Practice Digraphs: Look for words containing ch, sh, wh, th, ck, ng, or ph while reading. Have your child identify the digraph and say the sound it makes.

Practice Heart Words: Review the heart words very and nothing. Have your child practice reading and spelling the words and using each one in a sentence.

Go on a Noun Hunt: Choose a room in your house and see how many nouns your child can find. Challenge them to sort the nouns into people, animals, places, or things.

DIBELS Reading Assessment:
This week, we will begin our fall DIBELS® (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills) assessments. DIBELS is a series of brief, one-minute reading assessments that help us monitor each student's reading growth and identify areas where additional support may be needed. To administer these individual assessments, I will have a substitute teacher on the morning of Wednesday, August 26, while I work one-on-one with students.

Structured Literacy (Phonics & Word Study): This week, students will learn four consonant digraphs: sh, wh, th, and ch. These letter pairs work together to make a single sound, as in ship, when, bath, and chin. Students will practice reading, spelling, and writing words with these patterns while continuing to build fluency and expression.

♥ Heart Word ♥: very

Reading: This week, we will begin by listening to Violet the Pilot and identifying characters and their traits. Next, we will read Picture Day Perfection as we practice creating mental images while reading and continue describing how characters respond to events in a story. Later in the week, we will watch Get Involved: Be Awesome! and identify the central idea of a media text.

Writing: This week, students will continue working on their personal narratives. We will revise our writing through conferencing with the teacher, edit our work with a partner, and publish our final narratives to share with the class.

Grammar: This week, students will learn about the four kinds of sentences: statements, questions, commands, and exclamations. Students will practice identifying each type of sentence and using a variety of sentence types in their writing.

Ways to Support Literacy at Home

• Read Every Day: Spend 10–15 minutes reading together. Ask your child to describe a character and explain how that character changes or responds to events in the story.

• Practice Digraphs: Look for words with sh, wh, th, and ch while reading books, signs, or labels. Ask your child to identify the digraph and read the word aloud.

• Practice Heart Words: Review this week's heart word, very. Encourage your child to write it in a sentence and practice spelling it from memory.

• Play a Sentence Game: Take turns saying different kinds of sentences (a statement, a question, a command, or an exclamation) and have your child identify which type it is.