Our phonics time is jam packed with activities that teach students about the sounds of the letters and letter combinations as well as reading and writing sight words automatically.  We practice listening for sounds, sounding out words in order to read them, and stretching words out in order to learn how to spell words that follow a phonics rule.  For example, last week we learned how to read and spell words that begin with an –l blend like bl-, cl-, gl-, pl-, sl.  After practicing all week, I assess students on Fridays with a spelling test.  However, the ultimate goal is for students to be able to apply the skill learned in order to spell it in many words. For now, I will let you know what the skill is that we are working on, but I am not sending words home to practice.  Our phonics focus is to teach students how to spell and learn the rules of how phonics works, rather than memorize a list of words.  If you would like to help at home, talk about the sounds, work with your child to find words with the sound, and look for the pattern in books they are reading.

Learning this week:

Math:  Today we began Topic 4, which introduces beginning subtraction concepts.

Reading: This week we are reading a big book called Habitats Around the World.  While reading this story, we are practicing asking questions about the text and find the main idea and details.

Writing:  Journal writing continues!  Ask your child what they are currently writing about.

Phonics: Students practice writing and reading words that begin with r-blends. (crab, track)

Health: We are learning about fire safety.  It’s a great conversation to have at home.  Please help your child with the fire safety sheet coming home.

Please send $5.00 for party money as soon as possible.  We have three parties this year that the $5 will cover snacks for.  The 3 parties are Fall/Halloween, Christmas and a Valentines Day celebration.