We had another great day in grade one. Students are settling in to routines and we are are diving in to the grade one curriculum.
Today we started reading words. Each week we will focus on 4 new words and 1 letter blend/sound. The first 25 words we will practice are called "Power Words" and they comprise 50% of common written text.
This weeks words are:
1.) a
2.) and
3.) the
4.) it
The blend that we are practicing this week is the "CH" blend. We brainstormed words that begin with "CH" and students came up with many great examples. Of course "chocolate" was one of them!
We will practice these words each day of the week. Please feel free to work on these words at home with a focus on recognition. It would be beneficial for students to practice printing these words if time permits, as it strengthens their fine motor skills and allows for extra practice of accurate letter formation. At the beginning of grade one, we use "interlined" paper as it provides students a larger space to print in. It also has dotted lines that help with the formation of "short, tall and dangly" letters.
The Calgary Board of Education recommends no more that 15 minutes of homework per night for grade one. This includes our Home Reading Program once it begins. Students are hard at work all day and the evenings are an important time for them to be with family, friends and to relax.
Here are the students practicing our Power Words with PlayDoh:
Today we finished our activity with the book, "LMNO Peas" by Keith Baker. Students created their own "LMNO Peas" with the first letter of their name and further developed their confidence as writers. Students used "kids spelling" to describe what their "Peas" were doing.
We are exploring the changes that take place during seasonal changes. We will be watching, observing and recording changes in "our" tree outside our classroom window. We noticed many more yellow leaves over the weekend. This was our tree on Friday:
Our tree from inside the classroom.:
"This is our tree changing from green to brown." -Ben
Trees changing throughout the seasons:
We are doing great with patterns and sorting in Math, as well as developing our skip counting skills during "Morning Meeting/ Calendar." We will begin playing some addition math games this week and will be representing the numbers 1-10 in various ways.
Parent Reminders:
This Thursday is our curriculum information night. Please check the September calendar for further details. You can come to one of two sessions, at either 6pm or 7pm. Each session will be 45 minutes. This will be a time to discuss what we are doing in grade one and in the classroom and will allow time for questions. Interviews will be held in October to discuss your child.
Have a wonderful night!
Ms. Bakkan
