Grade 1 Mrs. Waugh
Week at a Glance (Oct. 22-26)
Wednesday Night – Pack library books to be sent back Thursday.
Nightly – Practice sight words, sound teams and read good fit books. Students now have the option of reading books online. Please see the information sent home in your child’s communication bag regarding Raz-Kids (online reading program).
Literacy:
Words of the Week: here, came, make, on, my (Please highlight these on your high frequency word list)
· Have your child practice reading these words nightly, and look for them in the books that he/she reads.
· Another way to practice these words at home is to write each word on a flash-card and place them in a paper bag. Have your child pull out a word and if he/she gets it right, place a sticker or draw a happy face on the back of the card and place it back in the bag. Play this game nightly, and when your child gets three stickers/happy faces on the back of a card, you can take it out of the bag and tell him/her she has “mastered it”!
· We are working on alphabetical order, so you can also have your child try putting the words of the week in alphabetical order!
Word Family: -ame How many words can you find that end with ame?
Letters/sounds practice: “Magic e”
(please highlight on your sound team sheet: a__e, e__e, i__e, o__e, & u__e)
This week, we are focusing again on vowel sounds. We will be learning about the “magic e” on the end of words. It is a bossy and powerful letter that can make the vowel that comes before it say its name. For example, in “make” we hear the long a sound and in “time” we hear the long i sound, but the “e” is always silent.
I tell the class that the bossy e is tired from jumping over the letter that comes before it, so cover it with your finger to put him to sleep (this is so students know to make the e silent).
Please have your child practice reading words with the “magic e” at home (ie: frame, mine, joke, cute, make, etc.)
Reading strategies:
Please review and continue to use the following strategies taught in class: Eagle Eye, Lips the Fish, Stretchy Snake, Chunky Monkey and Skippy Frog. A book mark with these strategies will be sent home in your child’s message bag at the beginning of the week. Please keep it handy while your child is reading Good Fit books as a reminder to use them.
The new reading strategy- “Flippy Dolphin”
Flip the vowel sound - the short/long vowel sounds can still be a challenge for some students. Have your child practice “flipping the vowel sound” at home when he/she is having difficulty with a word (ie; if the short vowel sound doesn’t make sense, try the long vowel sound, and vice-versa).
Writing: We have continued to work on “conventions” (using uppercase letters appropriately, spaces between words, and periods at end of sentences). When your child is reading their home reading books, please have him/her take notice of how authors use proper conventions (point them out as he/she is reading and ask why the author has; used a period/question mark/exclamation mark, used an upper case letter, etc.)
We are focusing on writing small moment stories. We encourage students to write about real life events which they know a lot about and can describe in detail (ie; a special event attended over the weekend, playing a favourite game, making a cake with Mom, etc.). We are working on “zooming in” on our small moment and writing lots of interesting details about it, rather than simply listing everything we did over the weekend.
Math (Numbers to 20):
Numbers to 20 with a focus on 1-10
10 is an important number! Strategies down the road will be much easier for your child if he/she has a strong sense of numbers to10. For example, knowing that 10 is one more than 9, that 5 and 5 make 10, and that 8 and 2 more is 10!
We are working on ten frames to strengthen students’ sense of 10. We want students to actually see that 8 is 2 less than 10, that 5 is half way to 10, etc. Please have your child continue to review numbers to ten in the following ways:
· Working with 10 frames to strengthen your child’s sense of 10 (see link below for frame printable). You can use household items, such as pennies or noodles, and have your child “build” numbers to 10 on the frame.
· It is also important for students to recognize sets on a ten frame “at a glance”, rather than counting them. You can practice this by placing counters on the frame and have your child quickly tell you the number. If your child needs to count make sure he/she uses the “counting on” strategy (ie; don’t count the top row, simply say 5 and continue to count the bottom row). Keep the goal in mind: to quickly recognize sets without counting.
· Do a number formation check by having your child print numerals 1-10 (correct numbers that are reversed or not formed properly)
· Practice counting forward and backward from different starting points
· Say a number to 10 and have your child tell you what is1 more/1 less, and 2 more/2 less (always use counters if your child is having a difficult time with this).
· Use numbers to 20 to practice the above activities if your child is ready for a challenge!
(You can also draw a large ten frame, like the one below, on a sheet of paper if you do not have a printer)
Reminders/Important Dates:
Halloween Howl: The Halloween Howl is taking place on Friday, October 26th
October 31- Happy Halloween! Black and orange day - No costumes please.
Thank you for your support!