November Reading Room

This month we are exploring fiction and non fiction books relating to Remembrance Day, courage, kindness and bullying awareness. Here are some read aloud books that we will be exploring 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 53: More Digraphs Review wh, ph, ng, nk: Oct 26-30 (Reading Practice Book)

Note: please leave the clip on the previous completed pages and focus on the last two pages in the book. Mrs. Herbert will move the clip as pages are completed. Thanks!

Phonics Lessons: Digraph Review wh /w/, ph /f/, ng /ŋ/, nk /ŋ/

We have learned that when we put letters together, they can make one sound. This is called a consonant digraph because it is two letters that come together to make one sound. 

wh /w/

The consonant digraph wh spells /w/ like at the beginning of the word whistle. This is the same sound as the consonant w. The digraph wh can only come at the beginning of the word, such as when and whip. This is tricky as there is no hard and fast rule for when we use w and when we use wh! This is a tricky one!!   

ph /f/

The consonant digraph ph spells /f/ like at the beginning of the word phone. This is the same sound as the consonant f. Ph can come at the beginning of a word or an end of a word.

ng /ŋ/

This makes a nasally n sound when followed by a g, like in the word ring. The letters ng together only come at the end of a base word. 

nk /ŋ/

This letter combination also makes that funny nasally n sound when followed by a k like in the word think. The letters nk for the sound /ŋ/ only come at the end of a word.

In this week's text called, The Ship Dock, students are looking for words that have one of our consonant digraphs for the week (wh, ph, ng, nk). 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 aren't part of this spelling pattern. Students are also looking 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.

This week we are reviewing (introduced last year):

• they
• their
• were
• talk
• walk

We are introducing as more review words also introduced last year:

• could
• would
• should
• or
• for
• there
• where

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 in their Reading Practice book 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 lesson so there will be one story to complete in their white Reading Practice booklet. 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 49: Digraphs Review ck, sh, th, ch: Oct 19 - 23 (Reading Practice Book)

Phonics Lessons: Digraph Review ck /k/, sh /sh/ , th /th/ & /th/ and ch /ch/ 

We have learned that when we put letters together, they can make one sound. This is called a consonant digraph because it is two letters that come together to make one sound. 

ck /k/

We have already learned that the letter c and the letter k both can spell /k/. When c and k come together to make the same sound. The grapheme ck is only used at the end of a word or syllable immediately after a short vowel sound like in the words duck, black and rock.    

sh /sh/

Although students have learned some double letters making one sound, this is the first double letter that represents a sound that is different from either if its letters. This consonant diagraph can come at the beginning of word, such as ship and shop. The consonant diagraph sh can come at the end of the word, such as fish and wish. 

Voiced th /th/

The voiced th spells /th/ like at the beginning of words like this, them and that. To make the voiced th sound, stick your tongue out just a little between your front teeth and both air out with your voice on. When you make this sound, your tongue might tickle. The /th/ sound is a continuous sound that can be stretched out. 

Unvoiced th /th/

The th sound can also be an unvoiced sound and is the more common pronunciation of the th diagraph. The unvoiced th spells /th/ can be at the beginning of a word like thin and thick. It can also come at the end of the word, such as with and path. To make the unvoiced sound, stick your tongue out just a little between your front teeth and blow air out with your voice off. The unvoiced th sound is also a continous sound that can be stretched out.    

ch /ch/

When the two consonants c and h come together in words, they make the one sound /ch/ and is a stop sound. It can come at the beginning of the word, such as chip and chin. It can also come at the end of a word, such as such and rich. 

In this week's text called, Snacks for Pets, students are looking for words that have one of our consonant digraphs (ck, sh, th, ch). 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 aren't part of this spelling pattern. Students are also looking 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.

This week we are reviewing:

• your
• want 
• what
• said
• no
• go
• so

We are introducing as more review words:

• says
• goes
• she
• we
• they
• their
• were
• talk
• walk

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 in their Reading Practice book 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 lesson so there will be one story to complete in their white Reading Practice booklet. 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!

Learning Buddies

We certainly get excited when our learning buddies come to hang out with us! Today, our big buddies were helping us with our Reading Practice Book. This has been a new activity that we jumped into last week. They were there to practice our fluency grid, our story and some got to highlighting all the words with the -all, -oll and -ull phonics rule we were learning about this week. We are lucky to have some big experts that come to visit and be our mentors!  

Phonics Lesson 43: Irregular Vowel Sounds with ll: Oct 12 - 16 (Reading Practice Book)

Phonics Lesson 43: irregular vowel sounds with ll/l/ -all, -oll, -ull  

We have learned that we use ll to spell after a short vowel sound as part of our flsz lesson last week. Sometimes, when ll comes after the vowels a, o and u, the ll changes the vowel sound. It makes this sort of a group of heart words but we can be prepared by recognizing it could be one or the other with our vowel sounds. 

-all: These letters spell /all/ like in the words fall, call and small. 

-oll: These letters can have the short o sound like in doll. But the o in -oll is usually pronounced with the long o sound like in the words roll and troll. 

-ull: These letters often have the short u sound like in dull and skull. But the u in -ull is sometimes pronounced /oo/ like in the words pull or full.   

In this week's text called, Let's Golf, students are looking for words that have one of our special ll words that change the vowel 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 aren't part of this spelling pattern. Students are also looking 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.

This week we are reviewing:

• your
• want 
• what
• said

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 in their Reading Practice book 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 lesson so there will be one story to complete in their white Reading Practice booklet. 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!

Thankful for Thanksgiving!

  

Happy Thanksgiving!! 

This week, we had been exploring some learning about fiction and non fiction books with our Thanksgiving theme. Ask our little friends about some of the differences as we read our own books. With our non-fiction reading, we wanted to share some of facts we have learned about Canadian Thanksgiving:

• We celebrated the first Thanksgiving over 500 years ago. (Mrs. Herbert)
• We harvest crops (corn, apples, pumpkins, squash) (Maggie)
• I didn’t know that they came across from England to Canada - Nunavut (Rose)
• Some people spend their Thanksgiving with family and friends. (Colton)
• We could eat chicken and corn because they are ready at this time of year. (Tave)
• The Indigenious people taught the settlers how to grow the foods here in Canada.(Mrs Herbert)
• We have Thanksgiving on the second Monday in October as a special day. (Shauna)

This week, our Shared Reading was a poem for Thanksgiving called Thankful. We are becoming fluent and expressive readers. 

We have had lots of Thanksgiving themed activities this week and more to come next week after we have celebrated this weekend! Check out our student digital portfolios for our turkey super sentence and our I Am Thankful poems we created! 

We want to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!! Enjoy your weekend! 

Phonics Lesson 42 ff, ll, ss, zz Rule: Oct 5 - 9 (Reading Practice Book)

 Phonics Lesson 42: flsz rule ff/f/, ll/l/, ss/s/, zz/z/  

We have spent some time reviewing some phonics concepts from last year with the alphabet and what each letter spells/says. We have send home the letter sound rings to continue the practice for each student. 

We have jumped into a lesson that students were introduced to last year and we reinforce this double letter learning in Grade 1. We are using this as a starting point to review and get back into routines of how these lessons are completed daily in our class.  

This flsz lesson is one of the first examples of how two consonants can be doubled to make one sound. When the /f/, /l/, /s/ and /z/ sound comes after a short vowel sound in a one syllable word, these letters get doubled at the end. One example is Jeff will pass Buzz.

When you see these ff, ll, ss or zz double letters when reading, you sound them out the same way as f, l, s, and z.  

In this week's text focusing on the flsz rule called, Buzz Sells Milk, students are looking for words that have one of our special ff, ll, ss, zz spellng pattersn following the flsz rule. 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 are not doubled. Students are also looking 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.

We are introducing as new words:

• your
• want

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 in their Reading Practice book that will come home on Friday. 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. After completing, parents are to initial at the indicated spot at the top. This week, we are have completed one lesson so there will be one story to complete in their white Reading Practice booklet. 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!! 

Reading Lessons Update & NEW Home Activities Coming Soon

 Prepare yourself...this post is a biggie!!! 

The past couple of weeks during our in class activities, we have been showing what we know with our phonological awareness, what words have become sight words (instant recall) and what words we can decode based on our understanding of phonics. Next week, we will be jumping into reading full texts to show what we can do with decoding accuracy and fluency. As we work through getting to know the students, we will be adjusting student programs by sending home reading books at their challenge level based on these tasks they have been completing, along with some additional reading activities that will come home in their Snuggle Up & Read folders.  

Thank you for jumping into our nightly reading program!!! Students are eager to earn some desk pets! Please find a balance that works for you, at home, for this home reading program.  

During our daily in class lessons, we have started into phonemic and phonological awareness review. As an introduction, here is a letter to families to help build skills at home...

Every couple of weeks for the beginning of the school year there will be a parent letter and some information posted about what we are working on in this part of our program.

Letter Sound Rings

The past couple of week's focus in class has been letter sounds (other wise known as phonemes - the smallest unit of sound in the English language). In the next week, I will send home letter sound practice for students that is individualized for what students are personally working on. This will be a ring with 5 letter sounds they are working on mastering. These will be stored in your child's Snuggle Up & Read folder for home/school practice. While some students are working on the phonemes, others have mastered the phonemes and working on blends, diagraphs, vowel teams. A parent resource of how to form the sounds will come home along with it. Below is a video that helps with some of the tricksters that some of us may not have even realized when we practice! You will need to click to watch on youtube but it is a quick and worthwhile little video to help understand some common misconceptions about letter sounds! 

Here is a little video to demonstrate the alphabet of the letter sounds. Of course there are also some more letter sounds that are diagraphs, blends and teams (meaning more than one letter put together) but this is where we are starting with review to really reinforce the letter sounds and recognize the letter association. 

Word Rings

Further, we will be also sending home a word ring for some students. These are words we would like them to be able to read instantly by the end of Grade 1 to help build fluency and accuracy so they can focus more on comprehension skills which is our ultimate goal. These words align with our in class phonics/spelling lessons so we have assessed where each child is working. Therefore, everyone is working at their own pace with their own understanding. So some students will have rings and some have already mastered these words with the lessons taught in class in their previous school year(s). If your child is bringing these home, these will be stored in your child's Snuggle Up & Read folder for regular home/school practice. An information page will come home as well about this.  

Happy reading!

October's Reading Room

Here is our October virtual reading room! This contains some great books with themes we will be focusing on in October in our Busy Bee class:

• Thanksgiving
• Empathy
• Halloween

Click on the pdf with interactive links on the books to enjoy! 

The Important Thing About Reading

We have been thinking about what good readers do! So we decided to review in the same pattern as 'The Important Book' introduced last week. We reread this book and worked on the important things of reading.   

We have been introduced to the concept that we have strategies to use when we get stuck on a word. These strategies align with the Science of Reading and our new Ministry of Education Language curriculum. We will be introducing these over the course of Grade 1 with words we are stuck on. 

A more detailed version has come home on the yellow sheet in your child's Snuggle Up & Read folder. It doesn't look quite the same but certainly the same strategies are listed and are on your child's reading bookmark in their folder. We will be focusing on introducing/reinforcing one strategy per week, although we want these to be a tool box of strategies. What works for one student, may not be the best or most efficient strategy for another student. When we use these strategies, this helps us with decoding our words to read accurately what is written. 

However, the second part of reading is remembering and understanding what we read. After reading, we want to be able to retell the book and answer some questions about what we read. These two components (decoding and comprehending) are what bumps up your child's reading level.

Soon, Mrs. Herbert will be buzzing with each student for them to read a challenge level text to her. We do this regularly. Mrs. Herbert will record your child's updated reading level and record their reading goals to work on as they bump up to continue to be excellent readers. We celebrate all the good reading practice we do!  

The other component of reading that we are working on is acquiring high frequency words, letter sounds, phonological awareness and print concepts. We pluck away on these at school but some activities will come home to support our learning in these areas (ie high frequency word practice or letter sounds or letter identification depending on your child's developmental reading level that will come home later this month in our Snuggle Up & Read folders). 

We look forward to seeing how far our little readers will soar with their reading in Grade 1!! Thanks for all you do at home to support your child's reading!!  

Fall Into Reading - Scholastic Book Orders

Scholastic's Digital Flyers are now available for September & October! Click on the image above to take you to each digital flyers. As you click on items, it will load the online shopping link to be able to add items to your cart instantly. Remember at checkout to apply the Grade 1 Busy Bee Class Code RC192592 to add rewards to our class resource account.

A paper copy of the flyer will come home to browse through as well. However, we share on the blog as well in case that paper copy gets replaced or extended family would like to place an order. All ordering is completed online and sent directly to your home or to the school. If you require any help, please let me know. Happy to help get books into little people's hands in any way possible to find a love of reading. 

Orders are due: October 2, 2026

Happy reading!!

September's Reading Room

Here is our September virtual reading room! This contains some great books with themes we will be focusing on in September in our Busy Bee class:

• Back to School
• Growth Mindset
• Fall (Seasons)
• Respect

Click on the pdf with interactive links on the books to enjoy! 

Phonics Lesson 104 &105 Prefixes un-, re-, pre-, dis-: June 15 - 19 (Reading Practice Book)

Phonics Lessons - June 15 - 19

For our final week of phonics learning, we are combining a few lessons into one to review our understanding of the prefixes introduced last week. 

Review of Lessons 104-105: Prefixes un-, re-, pre-, dis- 

Morphemes that are added to the beginning of a word are called prefixes. This week we are reviewing several prefixes: 

un -: The prefix un- can have two meanings. un- means not or opposite. So unhappy means not happy or not in a good mood. In some words in means the opposite like in the words unzip. Zip means close but then unzip means the opposite where I can unzip my backpack open. Other examples are unkind, untie, unreal and uncover. 

pre-: This prefix means before like in the word preview. The word preview means watch or view before. We watch previews of movies before watching the whole movie. Other examples are preheat, premade and prewash.

re-: This prefix means again or back like in the word redo. The word means to do again. I can redo my work or redo the laces on my show. Other examples are refill, rerun, retell, return and rewind. 

dis-: This prefix means not or apart. If you disagree with someone, you do not agree or have the opposite opinion. If you disconnect something, you take it apart so it is not connected. Other examples are disadvantage, dishonest and dislike. 

We have two stories this week to focus on the prefixes pre-, re- and dis-:

In this week's text called, Dinner At Grandma's, students are looking for words that have the prefixes pre- and re-. 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. 

In our second text for the week titled, Poppy the Gamer, students are looking for words that have the prefix dis-. 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. 

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).

AND THAT'S A WRAP!

Students have worked super hard to apply their phonics knowledge in their reading and writing over the school year. It is cumulative understanding with these lessons. They are very excited to be wrapping up these lessons and take their learning into the next school year with them. At the end of this school year, they will be bringing home these workbooks as a way to practice their reading skills as one more resource to read grade level texts over the summer since our classroom books have to stay at school. Please see the blog post with other reading resources that are available over the summer.

Thanks for all your support to help students apply their skills and become effective and efficient readers!  

Happy reading!

Reading & Math Home Resources for Summer

LANGUAGE & MATH HOME RESOURCES FOR SUMMER

Hello Busy Bee Families,

We are pleased to announce that the following language and math resources will be available for summer use for students. Play based learning shows greater results in retention for students in primary grades and some of these activities are award winning for their support in student learning. These comprehensive learning programs offer unlimited practice across thousands of skills—all of which are aligned to the provincial curriculum. These programs are adaptive and will adjust based on your child's demonstrated understanding of the material. These are great activities to continue to build on skills over the summer.  

Math Resources:

mpower.tvo.org/students (login information on the password page in your child’s planner)	https://www.teachyourmonster.org/account/users/sign_in (login information on the password page in your child’s planner - same as Teach Your Monster to Read) **Website version is free but the app may cost to download on a tablet.**

Language Resources:

RAZ Kids / Kids A-Z **Available until July 31**
www.kidsa-z.com (login information on the password page in your child’s planner) **Website and App both FREE**	www.teachyourmonster.org (login information on the password page in your child’s planner) **Website version is free but the app may cost to download on a tablet.**

Phonics Lesson 102 Suffix -less/-ful & Lesson 103-105 Prefixes un-, re-, pre-, dis-: June 8 - 12 (Reading Practice Book)

Phonics Lessons - June 8 - 12

We are continuing with our understanding of morphemes this week. 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. We have covered the suffixes -s, -es, -er, -est, -ly, -ful and -less. This week we are also introducing prefixes to our understanding. 

Lesson 102: Suffix -ful/-less

We already know several suffixes like -s, -es, -er, est and ly. This week we learned about the two suffixes -ful and -less. 

-less: The suffix -less has a schwa sound with it sounded more like lis, like in the word sleepless. The suffix - less means without. So in sleepless, the suffix -less means without sleep. Other examples are helpless, endless and hopeless.

-ful: The suffix -ful means full of like in the word helpful. Helpful means full of help. If a person is being helpful, they are giving a lot of help to you. 

In this week's text called, A Dreadful, Stormy Day, students are looking for words that have the -less or -ful suffix on words. 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.

Combined Lessons 103-105: Prefixes un-, re-, pre-, dis- 

Morphemes that are added to the beginning of a word are called prefixes. This week we introduced several prefixes: 

un -: The prefix un- can have two meanings. un- means not or opposite. So unhappy means not happy or not in a good mood. In some words in means the opposite like in the words unzip. Zip means close but then unzip means the opposite where I can unzip my backpack open. Other examples are unkind, untie, unreal and uncover. 

pre-: This prefix means before like in the word preview. The word preview means watch or view before. We watch previews of movies before watching the whole movie. Other examples are preheat, premade and prewash.

re-: This prefix means again or back like in the word redo. The word means to do again. I can redo my work or redo the laces on my show. Other examples are refill, rerun, retell, return and rewind. 

dis-: This prefix means not or apart. If you disagree with someone, you do not agree or have the opposite opinion. If you disconnect something, you take it apart so it is not connected. Other examples are disadvantage, dishonest and dislike. 

In this week's text called, Unlucky, students are looking for words that have the prefix un-. 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. 

We will be working through the rest of the stories that focus on the other prefixes (re-, pre- and dis-) next week to wrap up our phonics learning for this school year.  

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:

• answer
• honest
• honour

This week's new words:

• truth
• truly

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 101 Suffix -ly: June 1 - 4 (Reading Practice Book)

Phonics Lessons - June 1 - 4

This week we continued expanding 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 101: Suffix -ly

We already know a few suffixes: -s, -es, -er and -est.   

The suffix -ly is pronounced with the y making a long e sound like in the word slowly.

-ly means like or manner of. Words that end in -ly are usually adverbs. Adverbs are words that describe actions or things that are happening. For example in the sentence "Tom drives slowly,' slowly tells us how Tom drives. 

In this week's text called, Rollercoaster, students are looking for words that have the -ly suffix on adverbs. 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
• answer

This week's new words:

• honest
• honour

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. After completing, parents are to initial at the indicated spot at the top. 

This week, we are have completed one lesson so there will be one 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 (or Tuesday if there is a no school day on Monday).

Happy reading!

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 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!