Phonics Lesson 89 oo, u /oo/: Apr 20-24 (Reading Practice Book)

Phonics Lessons - April 20-24

This week's focus has been learning about more vowel teams (that don't make long vowel sounds). Vowel teams are two or more letters that work together to make one vowel sound. 

Lesson 89: oo, u - /oo/

This week, we also learned about a specialize vowel sound that is not a long vowel sound but does pop up on us here and there. We focused on the /oo/ vowel team.

oo /oo/: The sound /oo/ can be spelled with the vowel team oo. It comes in the middle of a word like in good and look. 

u /oo/: The sound /oo/ can also be spelled with u. U spells /oo/ in the middle of a word like put and bush.  

In this week's text called, Brookyln's Reading Nook, students are looking for all the words that have the vowel team that makes the /oo/ sound based on the oo or u spelling patterns to highlight (the whole word that has that spelling pattern). Be careful for spelling patterns that are included in the story that just include any letter oo or u in the word - we are specifically looking for the oo and u making that special /oo/ sound. Students are also asked to illustrate the story to demonstrate their understanding of the text.

Heart (Irregular) Words of the Week

Heart words are words that do not decode or follow the spelling rules that we have been learning. We have to know them by 'heart'. However, once we learn more spelling rules, they may be only temporary heart words and the rules will come along later! In the meantime, we have been focusing on reviewing and learning the words below with focused in class practice. These will eventually (if not already) be on spelling word lists or word rings. 

This week we are reviewing:

• again
• against
• always
• almost

This week's new words:

• floor
• poor
• door

Fluency Grids
With each lesson, there is a fluency grid with the lesson focus that is intended to help students recognize the phonics rule and assist in reading it with accuracy and automaticity. At home, challenge your young reader to read the word (aim is to decode/read each word within 3 seconds) and then recall it each time they see it within the grid of mixed up, repeated words. A couple minutes of practice is all they need. This acts as a warm up before reading the text that also applies the same skill while building on all the previous skills as well. Each week we are building on the previous week to become more fluent readers so we can focus on what the text is sharing rather than spending all the time decoding the words.

Homework Reminders
Students have been working on the story or stories in their Reading Practice book this week that will come home each weekend. At school, they work with a partner to complete their fluency grid, read with someone their story and highlight the focus words. Following, they are illustrating a picture for the text to show their understanding. 

At home, students are to finish the above tasks and read to an expert the week's lesson(s). After completing, parents are to initial at the indicated spot at the top. 

This week, we are have completed one lessons so there will be one page/story to complete in their white Reading Practice booklet after the clip. Please see the information letter in the front of the book for more, detailed information about this weekend practice book coming home. Please return on Monday. 

Happy reading!

More Mental Math...

     

We are learning more addition and subtraction mental math strategies!! We have been reviewing the 16 we have learned up until this week! We had sent home a package including all of these previously, but also posted below for reference. Please use these at home to help with our math work that comes home and to practice these strategies when you get a chance to build our skills of our math facts! 

'Seeing' these strategies in number sentences (equations) show students understand the concepts of addition and subtraction with all the daily practice we do with this concept. Number sentences are very abstract but we have been learning what they mean all school year. The important part here is that these strategies are little 'tricks' to help us quickly solve addition and subtraction problems with smaller numbers. They are to be mental math and while the strategies are becoming more complex, we do want to be able to see them, name them and use them with efficiently rather than using materials. These strategies can also be applied to larger numbers and that will be built on in the next school year as the expectations do build on previous year's learning. 

These next strategies are focusing more on Grade 2 Mental Math! And while students in Grade 1 are being exposed to these strategies, they are able to use count on or count back as more practice rather than applying mentally these particular strategies. Grade 1's will focus on reviewing and practicing more of the previous strategies to solidify their understanding. 

This week we have been introduced to a new addition strategy called Ten More. When we add 10 to any number, we 'jump' to the next, larger, decade or group of ten. We are only changing the tens in a number and the ones remain the same. We have been practicing skip counting forward by 10's but this will be newer as we are starting on ANY number and jumping to the next ten and applying these skills mentally, with numbers that are larger.  

Next week, we will focus on another new subtraction strategy called Ten Less. When 10 is subtracted from any number, we are jumping back to lower group of tens. We are only changing the tens in a number and the ones remain the same. We have been practicing skip counting backward by 10's but this will be newer as we are starting on ANY number and jumping to the lower ten and applying these skills mentally, with numbers that are larger. 

We continue to focus on one strategy per week but sometimes we spend two weeks if we need some extra time with learning these new concepts. Then we will review all strategies on Thursday and then on Fridays we will have our 5 question quiz to see how we are doing as we continue to learn and apply these strategies.

We are becoming mental math whizzes!! 

Tree Planting!

Today, students were planting trees and shrubs on the school property with the help from the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority and our learning buddies! Thanks to Mr. Glover and his class for leading this initiative with getting the donation of the trees and organizing the opportunity for everyone to lead to this school property beautification process! Students are thrilled to be part of this and know their hard work will lead to great things for the school for years to come!

Mis-Matched Spirit Day

 

Phonics Lesson 87 ie, igh - long /i/ & Phonics Lesson 88 Vowel Team Review: Apr 13-17 (Reading Practice Book)

Phonics Lessons - April 13-17

This week's focus has been learning about more long vowel teams. Vowel teams are two or more letters that work together to make one vowel sound. 

Lesson 87: ie, igh - long /i/

We have already learned that the letter I can spell the long /i/ in silent (or super hero) e words like in kite. We have also learned that I spells long /i/ in open syllable words like in tiger. We have also learned that Y can spill the long /i/ sound at the end of one syllable words like fly.

ie - The vowel team ie spells long /i/ and comes at the end of a word like in pie and tie.  

igh - The vowel team igh also spells the long /i/ and usually comes in the middle of a word like in light and might. It can also come at the end of a word like in high and sigh. 

In this week's text called, The Right Job, students are looking for all the words that have the long /i/ sound based on the ie or igh spelling patterns to highlight (the whole word that has that spelling pattern). Be careful for spelling patterns that are included in the story that just include any letter i in the word - we are specifically looking for the ie and igh making the long /i/ sound. Students are also asked to illustrate the story to demonstrate their understanding of the text.

Lesson 88: Review Long Vowel Teams

We spent a couple days reviewing what we have been learning to help solidify these vowel teams. 

ai, ay - long /a/

ee, ea, ey - long /e/ 
oa, ow, oe - long /o/

ie, igh - long /i/

In this week's text called, Aiden's Goal, students are looking for all the words that have the vowel teams with the long /a/, /e/, /o/, and /i/ sounds based on the ai, ay, ee, ea, ey, oa, ow, oe, ie or igh spelling patterns to highlight (the whole word that has that spelling pattern). Be careful for spelling patterns that are included in the story that just include any letter a, e, o or i in the word - we are specifically looking for the long vowel sound teams as indicated. Students are also asked to illustrate the story to demonstrate their understanding of the text.

Heart (Irregular) Words of the Week

Heart words are words that do not decode or follow the spelling rules that we have been learning. We have to know them by 'heart'. However, once we learn more spelling rules, they may be only temporary heart words and the rules will come along later! In the meantime, we have been focusing on reviewing and learning the words below with focused in class practice. These will eventually (if not already) be on spelling word lists or word rings. 

This week we are reviewing:

• above
• among
• again
• against

This week's new words:

• always
• almost

Fluency Grids
With each lesson, there is a fluency grid with the lesson focus that is intended to help students recognize the phonics rule and assist in reading it with accuracy and automaticity. At home, challenge your young reader to read the word (aim is to decode/read each word within 3 seconds) and then recall it each time they see it within the grid of mixed up, repeated words. A couple minutes of practice is all they need. This acts as a warm up before reading the text that also applies the same skill while building on all the previous skills as well. Each week we are building on the previous week to become more fluent readers so we can focus on what the text is sharing rather than spending all the time decoding the words.

Homework Reminders
Students have been working on the story or stories in their Reading Practice book this week that will come home each weekend. At school, they work with a partner to complete their fluency grid, read with someone their story and highlight the focus words. Following, they are illustrating a picture for the text to show their understanding. 

At home, students are to finish the above tasks and read to an expert the week's lesson(s). After completing, parents are to initial at the indicated spot at the top. 

This week, we are have completed two lessons so there will be two stories to complete in their white Reading Practice booklet after the clip. Please see the information letter in the front of the book for more, detailed information about this weekend practice book coming home. Please return on Monday (or Tuesday if there is a no school day on Monday).

Happy reading!

Dairy Educator Presentation

  

We welcomed Ms. Garrett today to share with us about the concepts of liquids and solids with relation to dairy products. We had so much fun talking about dairy products and even participated in a cool experiment where we took cream (a liquid) and turned it into butter (a solid) with some hard work! We even got to sample our results! Ms. Garrett was so great about answering all our questions about her dairy cows and all the dairy products! What a great, hands on learning experience! Thanks for coming, Ms. Garrett!  

Phonics Lesson 85 ee, ea, ey - long /e/ & Phonics Lesson 86 oa, ow, oe - long /o/: Apr 7-10 (Reading Practice Book)

Phonics Lessons - April 7-10

This week's focus has been learning about more long vowel teams. Vowel teams are two or more letters that work together to make one vowel sound. 

Lesson 85: ee, ea, ey - long /e/

We have already learned that the letter E can spell the long /e/ in silent (or super hero) e words like in theme. We have also learned that E spells long /a/ in open syllable words like in begin.

ee - The vowel team ee spells long /e/ and it usually comes in the middle of a word like in need and feet. But ee can also come at the end of a word like in see and tree. Also, ee sometimes comes at the beginning of the word like in eel. 

ea - The vowel team ea also spells the long /e/ and usually comes in the middle of a word like in mean and team. It can sometimes come at the beginning of a word like in eat and each and also can come at the end of a word like tea and flea. 

ey - The vowel team ey also spells the long /e/ and only comes at the end of a two-syllable word like in money and turkey.  

In this week's text called, Deep in the Green Forest, students are looking for all the words that have the long /e/ sound based on the ee, ea or ey spelling patterns to highlight (the whole word that has that spelling pattern). Be careful for spelling patterns that are included in the story that just include any letter e in the word - we are specifically looking for the ee. ea and ey making the long /e/ sound. Students are also asked to illustrate the story to demonstrate their understanding of the text.

Lesson 86: oa, ow, oe - long /o/

We have already learned that the letter O can spell the long /o/ in silent (or super hero) e words like in bone. We have also learned that O spells long /o/ in open syllable words like in cozy. 

oa - The vowel team oa spells long /o/ and it usually comes in the middle of a word like in boat and road. But oa sometimes comes at the beginning of a word like in oat and oak. 

ow - The vowel team ow also spells the long /o/ and usually comes at the end of a word like show and grow. OW can also come in the middle of a word like in bowl and flown. 

oe - The vowel team oe also spells the long /o/ and comes at the end of a word like toe. 

In this week's text called, A Trip to the Coast, students are looking for all the words that have the long /o/ sound based on the oa, ow or oe spelling patterns to highlight (the whole word that has that spelling pattern). Be careful for spelling patterns that are included in the story that just include any letter o in the word - we are specifically looking for the oa, ow and oe making the long /o/ sound. Students are also asked to illustrate the story to demonstrate their understanding of the text.

Heart (Irregular) Words of the Week

Heart words are words that do not decode or follow the spelling rules that we have been learning. We have to know them by 'heart'. However, once we learn more spelling rules, they may be only temporary heart words and the rules will come along later! In the meantime, we have been focusing on reviewing and learning the words below with focused in class practice. These will eventually (if not already) be on spelling word lists or word rings. 

This week we are reviewing:

• father
• water
• today
• very

This week's new words:

• above
• among
• again
• against

Fluency Grids
With each lesson, there is a fluency grid with the lesson focus that is intended to help students recognize the phonics rule and assist in reading it with accuracy and automaticity. At home, challenge your young reader to read the word (aim is to decode/read each word within 3 seconds) and then recall it each time they see it within the grid of mixed up, repeated words. A couple minutes of practice is all they need. This acts as a warm up before reading the text that also applies the same skill while building on all the previous skills as well. Each week we are building on the previous week to become more fluent readers so we can focus on what the text is sharing rather than spending all the time decoding the words.

Homework Reminders
Students have been working on the story or stories in their Reading Practice book this week that will come home each weekend. At school, they work with a partner to complete their fluency grid, read with someone their story and highlight the focus words. Following, they are illustrating a picture for the text to show their understanding. 

At home, students are to finish the above tasks and read to an expert the week's lesson(s). After completing, parents are to initial at the indicated spot at the top. 

This week, we are have completed two lessons so there will be two stories to complete in their white Reading Practice booklet after the clip. Please see the information letter in the front of the book for more, detailed information about this weekend practice book coming home. Please return on Monday (or Tuesday if there is a no school day on Monday).

Happy reading!