Week of January 16th

Star Student Jett

Wednesday, January 18th - Eighties Day, Library

Thursday, January 19th - Red show and tell.

Monday, January 23th - spelling test.

Friday, January 27th - Family literacy day. Muffin morning, 8:15 - 8:45. Parents are welcome to come and read with their children.

Spelling skill - short e - examples - bed, fed, led, red, den, ten, men, pen, leg, beg, let, net, jet, met, set, end, send, bend, pest, rest, mesh.

January has us working hard in grade one! I love January because we see lots of jumps in growth. I've noticed math skills are sticking now and kids are doing well at sight words. Reading is improving bit by bit too! It's amazing how many little bits need to fit together to make little letters become words and sentences and stories. 

Spelling and Phonics We are building a solid foundation! We have been working hard on short a and short e words in our phonics booklets. In class we often build words with letter cards. Students have nine letters (a, e, m, n, r, f, s, e, t) that we move around to build small words. 

We start with a word (am) 

and add one sound (sam) 

then we change a sound (sat) 

then change another sound (set).

We continue changing letters and building words. It is incredibly good practice for reading and writing. Make simple cards at home and try with your child. You do not need to stick with the same letters as we chose although these letters consistently make the same sound even if sitting beside another consonant. It is also good to limit choice, too many letters are overwhelming.

I sent home our spelling test booklet today. Please sign and return so I know you had a chance to look at it. I did not send home a study list because we worked hard on short a and I knew your child could do it. The first words were consonant - vowel - consonant, most students did very well. The next three words were four and five letters long. Students had to listen to each sound and that was more difficult. Students will get better at hearing consonant sounds as they grow as readers and writers.

Our spelling tests will now be on Mondays. We will work hard all week on the spelling skill we are learning, not on particular words. I don't want students to memorize a list of words, this does not show me that a child will be able to write that word in a sentence later on. On the day of the test I will choose ten words that have simple consonant sounds with the last three or four being longer words. 

At home you can practice any short e words that you can find. Make it fun! Ask your child to spell out loud around the supper and breakfast table. Ask while driving. Ask in the bath tub. Playing the letters game from above will help your child with spelling too. Short, simple practices are better than long boring ones.

Math Did you check out our math pages?! We have been hard at work! Students are in four groups that rotate in math, one group works with Mrs. Gardiner on math worksheets, one group works on math on our chromebooks, one group works with me on math skills and one group gets free time. This means Mrs. Gardiner and I have a clear idea of what concepts students are struggling with or are understanding easily. 

Social Studies Due Monday, January 23rd. I sent home your child's Social Studies duotang for a little homework. Please have your child interview family members and fill out the interview forms. I would like your child to fill it in on their own. Spelling does not need to be perfect. You may scribe the answer for your child to then copy into the book. I would like them to interview four or five family members - feel free to call a grandparent or auntie or uncle or even a close friend. 

I would also like your child to fill in the page about family traditions. We talked about family traditions but it was hard for students to think of something that would be a tradition in their family. When we don't know how other families celebrate, it doesn't seem as special. Traditions can include clothing, special foods, music, stories. I am looking for a cultural tradition but if you are having trouble thinking of that, it could also be - my family goes skating on Christmas eve. 

If you have any cultural celebrations or traditions that you would like to share with the class, let me know. The kids would love learning about different cultures. In the past I've have families bring traditional food, art or clothing to show and talk about.

Health Mr. Habscheid also sent home a bundle of health that the students have worked on. Mr. Habscheid teaches Phys. Ed and Health to our grade ones.