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!

More About Our Word Work...

We are now into our next focus of our phonological awareness! Students are really showing a lot of growth in understanding word knowledge as we complete these daily activities! 

This week's focus newsletter for families is below and is all about phonemes. This will be our focus for the next while in our class activities to really build our strengths in letter sound knowledge within words. Included below is some information and activities to work on at home to compliment our learning in the classroom. 

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!

Word Work: Syllables & Isolating Phonemes

We are now into our next focus of our phonological awareness! Students are really showing what they know with these mini lessons and we are super proud of their dedication to learning. It's amazing to see their growth in just a few weeks of focused training on certain areas!

This week's focus newsletter for families is below and is all about syllables and isolating phonemes. We have done many lessons on this throughout the school year so far but here are some activities you can do at home as well just to see what we have been up to and strengthen understanding! 

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!! 

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!

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!

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!

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!

Phonics Lesson 90 oo - /ew/ & Lesson 91 ew, ui, ue u - /ew/: Apr 27-May 1 (Reading Practice Book)

Phonics Lessons - April 27-May 1

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 and these are newer vowel sounds rather than the 'regular' ones we speak of. 

Lesson 90: oo - /ew/

We have learned that the vowel team oo can spell the sound /oo/ as in book but it can also spell the sound /ew/ as in spoon. 

OO spells the /ew/ sound in the middle of a word like in soon and food. It can also spell that at the end of a word like in too and boo. Finally, it can spell that sound at the beginning of the word like in oops and ooze.  

In this week's text called, The Groom is Late!, students are looking for all the words that have the vowel team oo that males that /ew/ 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 the oo that makes the the /oo/ sound from last week or the heart words we have been learning! We are specifically looking for the /ew/ sound that oo can make. Students are also asked to illustrate the story to demonstrate their understanding of the text.

Lesson 91: ew, ui, ue u - /ew/

We have learned that oo spells that /ew/ sound like in the middle of the word spoon. There are three more vowel teams that can make that same /ew/ sound. 

ew /ew/: The sound /ew/ can be spelled with the letters ew. It comes at the end of a word like in flew and grew. 

ui /ew/: The sound /ew/ can also be spelled with ui and comes in the middle of a word like suit and juice.

ue /ew/: The sound /ew/ can also be spelled with the ue spelling pattern and comes at the end of the word like glue and sue.   

In this week's text called, Cruise Ship Trip, students are looking for all the words that have the letter teams that makes the /ew/ sound based on the ew, ui and ue 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, u, w or combinations. We are specifically looking for the ew sound combinations from ew, ui and ue making that special /ew/ 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:

• they
• want
• friend
• always
• almost
• floor
• poor
• door

This week's new words:

• won
• son
• month

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 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!

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!

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!

Phonics Lesson 83 Review of /ar/, /or/ & /er/ & Phonics Lesson 84 ai, ay - long /a/: Mar 30 - Apr 2 (Reading Practice Book)

Phonics Lessons - Mar 30- April 2

Lesson 83: Review of /ar/, /or/, /er/

We spent the start of this short week reviewing all of the r-controlled vowels we have learned so far. Review and practice has been perfect with this short week as we focus on putting all our learning together. 

In this week's text called Fishing At the Port, students are looking for all the words that have any of the r-controlled vowels. They are listed at the top of the page but are ar /ar/, or and ore for the /or/ sound, and the use of the four spelling patterns of /er/ as er, ir, ur and w+or. Remember we are careful to only highlight the words that have this pattern. Students are also asked to illustrate the story to demonstrate their understanding of the text.

Lesson 84: ai, ay - long /a/

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

ai - The vowel team ai spells long /a/ and it usually comes in the middle of a word like in bait and mail. But ai sometimes comes at the beginning of a word like in aim and aid. 

ay - The vowel team ay also spells the long /a/ and always comes at the end of a word like day and say. 

In this week's text called, Sunday Fun, students are looking for all the words that have the long /a/ sound based on the ai or ay 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 in the word - we are specifically looking for the ai and ay making the long /a/ 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:

• other
• another
• mother
• brother

This week's new words:

• father
• water
• today
• very

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!