June Class Newsletter & Calendar

June Newsletter

Our last newsletter of the school year! Please take some time to read when you get a chance (as we know families are extremely busy) and access if there are any questions that should arise along the way.

June Calendar

This is our June calendar of events for Grade 1/2! Although we can send home a paper copy, this blog has the most up to date information! Check out the blog calendar regularly for upcoming dates and information or the Homework & Reminders page.

June Reading Room

This month we are exploring fiction and non fiction books relating to Father's Day, Summer and integrity. Here are some read aloud books that we will read in class and some additional books for students to enjoy about the topics. Click on a book to listen/watch the story! 

Happy reading!

Phonics Lesson 99 Suffix -s/-es & Lesson 100 Suffix -er/-est: May 25 - 29 (Reading Practice Book)

Phonics Lessons - May 25 - May 29

In the next several lessons, we are going to start to expand our knowledge of morphemes. A morpheme is the smallest unit of meaning in a language. Morphemes are the word parts that change a word's meaning. A suffix is a morpheme we add to the end of a word. This week we are going to focus on the suffixes -s, -es, -er and -est. 

Lesson 99: Suffix -s/-es

We already know w a few suffixes: -s and -es. When we add -s/-es to nouns, the noun changes from a singular to plural (ie. cat - cats). Remember, nouns are words we use to identify people, animals, places and things. Dog, shirt and box are all nouns. 

The suffixes -s/-es can also be added to verbs. Verbs are words we use to describe an action or something that is happening. Run, sing and bite are verbs. They describe actions. We change the endings of verbs depending on whether we are describing our own actions or other people's actions and whether we are describing actions in the past, present or future. This is called changing the verb's tense.

Usually, simple present tense verbs do not have an ending: I run, you run, we run, they run. When we use a person's name or the pronouns he, she or it, we change the verb ending to -s or -es: He runs. She runs. It runs. 

The rule for adding -es is the same for verbs as it is for nouns. We add -es to the verbs that end in ch, sh, s, x, or z: wishes, fixes, passes.  

In this week's text called, Trip to the Baseball Park, students are looking for words that have the -s or -es suffix on nouns and verbs. They are looking to highlight (the whole word that has that spelling pattern).  Students are also asked to illustrate the story to demonstrate their understanding of the text.

Lesson 100: Suffix -er/-est

Adjectives describe nouns (people, places and things). For example, in the sentences 'I see a res car. I see a blue car' the adjectives red and blue are used to describe the noun car. They give us more information. What kind of car? A red car. A blue car. 

Morphemes are word parts that change a word's meaning. A suffix is a morpheme we add to the end of a word. We can add the suffixes -er and -est to adjectives when we are making comparisons. 

-er: The suffix -er is pronounced /er/ like in the word taller. The -er means more than. So we can use it to compare one to another. Mae is taller than Fred. Taller describes Mae's height by comparing it to Fred's. 

-est: The suffix -est is pronounced /ist/ with the e making a schwa sound, like in the word fastest. The suffix -est means the most. For example, in the sentence, 'Audrey is the fastest person on the team,' fastest is an adjective use to describe Audrey by comparing her to the rest of the team. It tells us nobody is faster than Audrey.  

In this week's text called, Growth Spurt, students are looking for words that have the suffixes -er or -est. They are looking to highlight (the whole word that has that spelling pattern). 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:

• about

This week's new words:

• answer

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!

Phonics Lesson 97 Vowel Team Review & Lesson 98 Silent Letters: May 19 - 22 (Reading Practice Book)

Phonics Lessons - May 19 - May 22

We are learning so much with our letter sounds and applying our knowledge of letter sound rules into decoding words to build automaticity when reading. Remember we are also working on comprehension of the text to know what we read not just reading the words!

Lesson 97: Vowel Teams & Diphthongs Review

This week we were reviewing all the vowel teams. Vowel teams are two or more letters that work together to make one vowel sound. As you see we have learned a lot of vowel teams and some exceptions to the rule! 

• ai, ay - long /a/
• ee, ea, ey - long /e/, 
• oa, ow, oe - long /o/ 
• ie, igh - long /i/
• oo - /ew/ 
• ew, ui, ue u - /ew/
• au, aw, augh - /aw/
• ea - short /e/ 
• a - short /o/
• oi, oy /oi/

In this week's text called, A New Coin, students are looking for TEN words that have one of our vowel teams or diphthong vowel patterns listed above. They are looking to highlight (the whole word that has that spelling pattern). Be careful for spelling patterns that are included in the story that include those letters that do not make the same sound as our vowel teams we are looking for. Students are also asked to illustrate the story to demonstrate their understanding of the text.

Lesson 98: Silent Letters kn - /n/, wr - /r/, mb - /m/

Also this week, we learned about some of the silent letter patterns we may come across when we read and write.   

kn /n/: The consonant n spells /n/ like in the word nose. The grapheme kn also can represent the /n/ sound like in the word knee. In this grapheme, the k is silent. The grapheme kn for the /n/ sound can only come at the beginning of a word such as the words knob and knit.  

wr /r/: The consonant r spells /r/ like in the word red. The grapheme wr can also represent the /r/ sound like in the word write. In this grapheme, the w is silent. The grapheme wr for the /r/ sound can only come at the beginning of a word, such as the words wrap and wrist.  

mb /m/: The consonant m spells /m/ like in the word mouse. The grapheme mb can also represent the /m/ sound like at the end of the word comb. In this grapheme, the b is silent. The grapheme mb for the /m/ sound can only come at the end of a word, such as the words climb and numb.  

In this week's text called, Birdwatching, students are looking for words that have one of our silent letter patterns listed above. They are looking to highlight (the whole word that has that spelling pattern). Be careful for spelling patterns that are included in the story that include those letters but aren't together. 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:

• pretty
• February
• eye
• heart

This week's new words:

• about

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!

Forest of Reading Wrap Up!

 

The Forest of Reading is Canada’s largest recreational reading program! This initiative offers ten reading programs to encourage a love of reading in people of all ages. The Forest helps celebrate Canadian books, publishers, authors and illustrators. More than 270,000 readers participate annually from their school and/or public library.

Our class, participated in the Blue Spruce reading program which we read 10 fictional stories from Canadian authors and illustrators. We each got to vote for our favourite and sent our results in with those that also participated at South Perth! We love a chance to read new, exciting stories! 

The winner this year was just announced this past week and the winner of the Blue Spruce award was: 

This book certainly won the hearts of many of our Busy Bee readers who voted for this as their favourite! Congratulations to all the nominees on their wonderful books! 

To celebrate, we had a little ice cream sandwich party on Friday afternoon! Thanks to School Council fundraising to help get these books into the lives of our little readers and get the opportunity to participate and have their say to instill the love of reading! 

Phonics Lesson 95 oi, oy - /oi/ & Lesson 96 ou, ow /ow/ : May 11 - 15 (Reading Practice Book)

Phonics Lessons - May 11 - May 15

This week we have continued to learn about vowel teams. Vowel teams are two or more letters that work together to make one vowel sound. 

Lesson 95: oi, oy - /oi/

We learned about a new sound called a diphthong. This is a kind of vowel sound that glides which means our mouths move a little bit to as we make the sound.  

oi /oi/: The letters oi together spell the sound /oi/ and is usually in the middle of a word, such as the words point and coin. It can also come at the beginning of the word, such as the word oil.  

oy /oi/: The letters oy together can also spell the sound /oi/ and usually comes at the end of a word like boy and toy. 

To make the /oi/ sound, start with your lips gently rounded and your tongue low and toward the front, then pull your lips back and pull the back of your tongue toward the roof of your mouth. Be sure your voice is on. Like all vowels, /oi/ is a continuous sound that can be stretched out. 

In this week's text called, The Right Choice, students are looking for words that have one of our diphthong vowel patterns listed above. They are looking to highlight (the whole word that has that spelling pattern). Be careful for spelling patterns that are included in the story that include those letters that do not make the same sound as our vowel team we are looking for. Students are also asked to illustrate the story to demonstrate their understanding of the text.

Lesson 96: ou, ow /ow/ 

This week also learned about making a new sound that is another diphthong. This is a kind of vowel sound that glides, which means our mouths move a little bit to make the sound. 

ou /ow/: The letters ou together spell the /ow/ sound which can come in the middle of a word like in loud and sound. It can also come at the beginning of the word like in out and ouch.

ow /ow/ - We have already learned that ow can spell the long /o/ sounds as in show but ow can also spell the /ow/ sound like in the word cow. It can come n the middle of a word like in town and crowd. It can also spell it at the end of the word like in how. Sometimes, ow can spell /ow/ at the beginning of the word like in owl.   

In this week's text called, Summer at the Farm House, students are looking for words that have one of our special vowel teams listed above with the /ow/ sound. They are looking to highlight (the whole word that has that spelling pattern). Be careful for spelling patterns that are included in the story that include those letters that do not make the same sound as our vowel team we are looking for. 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:

• hour
• minute
• Monday
• Wednesday

This week's new words:

• February
• eye
• heart

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!

Phonics Lesson 93 au, aw, augh - /aw/ & Lesson 94 ea - short /e/ & a - short /o/ : May 4- 8 (Reading Practice Book)

Phonics Lessons - May 4 - May 8

This week we have continued to learn about vowel teams. Vowel teams are two or more letters that work together to make one vowel sound. This week we are learning about new ways to make vowel sounds we already know but alternative spelling patterns to make them.  

Lesson 93: au, aw, augh - /aw/

We learned this week a new sound /aw/. The /aw/ sound is similar to the short /o/ sound. The /aw/ sound can be made three ways. 

aw /aw/: The sound /aw/ can be spelled with the letters aw and is usually comes in the middle of a word, such as the words lawn and hawk. It can also come at the end of the word, such as the words paw and law. And it can also come at the beginning of a word, such as the word awe.  

au /aw/: The sound /aw/ can also be spelled with the vowel team au and comes in the middle of a word like haul and fault.

augh /aw/: The sound /aw/ can also be spelled with the augh spelling pattern and comes in the middle of a word like caught.    

In this week's text called, Trip to the Zoo, students are looking for all the words that have the letter teams that makes the /aw/ sound based on the au, aw and augh 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 combinations. We are specifically looking for the aw sound combinations from au, aw and augh making that special /aw/ sound. Students are also asked to illustrate the story to demonstrate their understanding of the text.

Lesson 94: ea - short /e/ & a - short /o/ 

This week we learned there are some unique ways to make short vowel sounds of /e/ and /o/. These patterns are not very common and they only happen in a few words. We would really recognize these as heart (irregular) words but it helps to know the pattern. 

ea - short /e/: We know ea spells the long /e/ like in mean and team. In some words, ea spells the short /e/ sound like in head, read, thread and bread. We just have to recognize that it could be both when we read (and write) and see which one sounds correct in our word to make it make sense. 

a - short /o/ - and there is this letter a that wants to make the short /o/ in some words. Again, we just have to recognize that it can do that as a heart word but is not as common. This usually happens when a follows w. some words like this are watch, water, father, wash and swamp.  

In this week's text called, Surprise on the Track, students are looking for words that have one of our special vowel patterns listed above. They are looking to highlight (the whole word that has that spelling pattern). Be careful for spelling patterns that are included in the story that include those letters that do not make the same sound as our vowel team we are looking for. 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:

• floor
• poor
• door
• won
• son
• month

This week's new words:

• hour
• minute
• Monday
• Wednesday

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!