Week 20

It was a busy week in Room 112!

The first grade word detectives have been practicing lots of strategies to help them become stronger readers! They aren't afraid to persevere and solve mystery words and long words because they've got tools they can use!

• Read words you do know in a snap
• Break long words into smaller parts
• Break the ending off the word and solve the root word
• Look out for vowel teams
• Watch out for unusual suspects (contractions and compound words)

When your first grader is reading at home, encourage them to use all their tools to solve tricky words, and if one tool doesn't work, they can always try another! When we are reading and get to a word we don't know we always ask...Does it look right? Does it sound right? Does it make sense? If you are reading to your first grader try reading a word wrong - have them help you solve it!

The first graders zipped up their jackets, prepared their passports and boarded Flight 112! We landed safe and sound and are ready to start studying penguins!

In science this week we had a special visitor - the curator of the Rice Rock Museum! She shared different fossils and minerals with the first graders. The students had a chance to look at, touch and even bring home rocks and minerals of their own! The curator was very impressed with the first grade geologists :)

Here is a fun activity to practice spelling at home!

Materials: 

• Paper and pencil
• Crayons or markers
• Index cards with spelling words written individually on them

1. Make a “Secret Code.” Ask your child to write down the entire alphabet, leaving space  between and underneath each letter.  Tell them that they are going to create  a code that will enable the two of you to communicate secretly. Once they've written the entire alphabet, it's time to assign each letter a number. Underneath the A, ask your child to write the number 1.  The number 2 goes under the B, and so on. When the code is completed, the letter Z should have the number 26  underneath it. 

2. For each word, ask your child to write the letter underneath the number on the index card and then move on to the next number.  Continue until the whole word has been changed into letters.  For example, if the word is "stand", the index card would look like this:     

19   20   1   14   4      

S     T     A    N   D

Continue with the next spelling word. Once your child has deciphered all their words, and practiced spelling them, give your child a new spy challenge! Ask them to use the code to write a sentence for you and see if you can decode it.  For example, if they wrote:

9       12-15-22-5         25-15-21       13-15-13 it becomes, "I love you, Mom!" Keep the code handy so that you can write each other secret messages in the future, whenever the mood strikes. And don't be surprised if this becomes a favorite way to practice spelling!

Reminders: 

1/29 -- No School - Teacher planning
2/5 -- Report cards sent home

Here are some photos from the week...