Benchmark Phonics & Word Study Workshop
Below you will find information on Phonics & Word Study skills being taught so that at home you can reinforce the sounds and spelling patterns being taught and practiced in the classroom. Please note that information for these units will be added as skills are introduced in the classroom, therefore not all units are there at the beginning of the school year. For your reference, a typical Benchmark Workshop week for Phonics lasts for five to seven days and there are three weeks in a unit. At the end of the Phonics week (which is not always on a Friday) students are given a spelling check-in on that week's pattern(s). This is not a traditional spelling test where a list of set words is memorized then assessed, rather it is a chance for students to show their understanding of the sounds and spelling patterns taught and practiced throughout the week. After weeks one and two students have a check-in on ten words related to that week's skill. After week three students take a unit assessment which is cumulative from all three weeks and includes all of the patterns from those three weeks as well as some spiraled patterns from prior units; in this assessment there are ten words and three sentences that are dictated for students to write. In addition to learning sounds and spelling patterns there are high frequency words that are taught each week, these are not assessed on formal assessments but are practiced each day in the classroom and should be automatically read by students...a list of all of the high frequency words for first grade can be found at the bottom of this page.
Once we are done using mentor texts in the classroom they will be sent home, I strongly encourage you to keep these books as they are great practice for your child - they can use them to play school, for nightly reading, to keep skills fresh over the summer, etc.
Phonics Launch Unit
*started on 9/9*
review of sounds/spelling patterns (short vowels, matching capital and lower case letters, distinguishing short and long a, distinguishing short i and long i) and high-frequency words (I, can, see, the, like, have, to, you, my, little, he, she, play, what, where, go) that were already taught in Kindergarten, rhyming, routines that will be followed during Phonics lessons (blending words, sorting words, building words, reading connected texts)
Phonics Unit 1
*started on 9/30*
short a, short i, short o, rhyming, high frequency words (the, see, go, she, and, play, little, you, with, for, no, one, jump, have), short vowel word families, doubling f, l, s, z
Phonics Unit 2
*started on 10/28*
short e, short u, l-blends (bl, cl, fl, gl, pl, sl), rhyming, high frequency words (are, said, two, look, my, come, here, to, of, what, put, want, this, saw ), doubling f, l, s, z, short vowel word families, inflectional ending -s
Phonics Unit 3
*started on 12/2*
r-blends (br, cr, dr, fr, gr, pr, tr), s-blends (sk, sl, sm, sn, sp, st, sw), final consonant blends (nd, nk, nt, mp, st), rhyming, high frequency words (now, do, which, went, was, there, then, out, who, good, by, then), possessives ('s), contractions ('s), inflectional ending -ed (no spelling change), short vowel word families
Phonics Unit 4
*started on 1/7*
consonant digraphs (th, sh, ng, ch, tch, wh), three-letter blends (scr, spl, spr, squ, str), high frequency words (were, our, could, these, once, upon, hurt, that, because, from, their, when), inflectional ending -ing (no spelling change), closed syllables (rab/bit, kit/ten), plurals (-es), short vowel word families
Phonics Unit 5
*started on 2/11*
long a (final -e), lone o (final -e), soft c and g, high frequency words (why, many, right, start, find, how, over, under, try, give, far, too), contractions with not, long vowel word families
Phonics Unit 6
*started on 3/24*
long i (final -e), long e (final -e), long u (final -e), long a spellings (a, ai, ay), high frequency words (after, call, large, her, house, long, off, small, brown, work, year, live), inflectional endings (-ed, -ing...dropping final -e), inflectional endings (-ed, -ing...doubling final consonant), long vowel word families
Phonics Unit 7
*started on 4/28*
long o spellings (o, oa, oe, ow), long e spellings (e, ee, ea, ie), long i spellings (i, y, igh), high frequency words (always, found, know, your, all, people, where, draw, again, round, they, country), long vowel word families, prefixes (un-, -re), open syllables
Phonics Unit 8
*started on 5/28*
r-controlled vowel ar, r-controlled vowel or, r-controlled vowels er/ir/ur, high frequency words (boy, city, four, great, move, change, away, laugh, near, school, every, earth)
Benchmark Reader's Workshop
Below you will find information for Reader's Workshop lessons so you are aware of the topics being taught and can focus on these skills when your child is reading to you or you are reading to them. Please note that the lesson titles for each unit will be added as skills are introduced in the classroom, therefore not all units are there at the beginning of the school year. For your reference, a typical Benchmark Workshop week for Reading lasts for five days and there are three weeks in a unit. Standards are often taught multiple times throughout the unit then at the end of the unit (sometimes also during the unit, depending on how many times and when the standard is spiraled), students are given assessments on their knowledge of the standards. These assessments are usually a mixture of multiple choice, fill in the blank, and open-ended questions about a text that is read to students. Additionally, at the end of each unit the last lesson entails a class discussion of the various texts we read and is a time to collaborate on how we can apply what we read and the standards we learned to our everyday lives.
Reading Launch Unit
*started on 9/9*
why readers read, ways to read a book, how readers figure out new words, distinguishing characteristics of fiction vs. informational text, informational text features, describe characters, describe settings, describe events in a plot
Reading Unit 1
*started on 9/30*
non-fiction texts with student consumable book titled "Plants and Animals Grow and Change" and with each lesson the essential question we will focus on is "Why do living things change?"
Reading Unit 2
*started on 10/28*
fiction texts with student consumable book titled "Many Kinds of Characters" and with each lesson the essential question we will focus on is "How do we learn about characters?"
Reading Unit 3
*started on 12/2*
non-fiction texts with student consumable book titled "Being a Good Community Member" and with each lesson the essential question we will focus on is "Why do people get involved in their communities?"
Reading Unit 4
*started on 1/7*
fiction texts with student consumable book titled "Stories Have a Narrator" and with each lesson the essential question we will focus on is "How do people create stories?"
Reading Unit 5
*started on 2/3*
non-fiction texts with student consumable book titled "Technology at Work" and with each lesson the essential question we will focus on is "How can technology make a difference in our lives?"
Reading Unit 6
*started on 3/24*
fiction texts with student consumable book titled "Stories Teach Many Lessons" and with each lesson the essential question we will focus on is "What can we learn from a mistake?"
Reading Unit 7
*started on 4/28*
non-fiction texts with student consumable book titled "Past, Present, and Future" and with each lesson the essential question we will focus on is "Why is the past important?"
Reading Unit 8
*started on 5/28*
non-fiction texts with student consumable book titled "Observing the Sky" and with each lesson the essential question we will focus on is "Why do the sun and moon capture our imagination?"
Writing
Although we write in the classroom on a daily basis including in the following ways: written responses to read-alouds, using whiteboards during Phonics lessons, annotating mentor texts during Reading lessons, completing written work to be displayed in the hallway or hung around the classroom, completing literacy center work, keeping writing journals for read-aloud and Social Studies topics responses, weekend writing, etc., answering open-ended questions on assessments, etc., we have three main writing genres that will be graded this school year - personal narrative, informational, and opinion.
During our allotted writing time in class, students are taught not to ask, "How do I spell _____?". Instead, we encourage them to write the sounds they hear in the words not getting hung up on it being spelled perfectly. This is valuable phonemic and phonetic practice for students where they are practicing segmenting words into their individual sounds and then matching them with the appropriate letters. As students learn new sounds the spelling patterns will be learned that will allow their spelling to grow...for example, students who are segmenting words will commonly spell words such as home > hom or play > pla. The goal for 1st grade writing is for students to develop stamina with writing (it's hard work!), get their ideas on to the paper, practice writing what they hear, spell high-frequency words correctly, and to practice writing conventions (spacing, capitalization, and punctuation).
Launch Unit Writing
*started on 9/9*
During the Launch unit we will be reviewing the basics of writing, such as the difference between letters, words, and sentences, parts of a sentence, using a capital at the beginning of a sentence, ending a sentence with punctuation, writing a complete idea in a sentence, different types of punctuation, sentence starters, and finishing a sentence.
Personal Narrative Writing Unit
*started on 10/7*
Writing a narrative is like writing a story, and your child’s story may be inspired by books, experiences, or imagination. Your first grader’s story should describe two or more events, include some details about what happened, and use sentence order, verb tense, and words to put the events in order (e.g. Then, Goldilocks tries the second bowl of porridge. Next, she eats the third bowl of porridge.) and give some sense of the story coming to an end — not only by writing “The End,” although that’s a good start.
Informational Writing Unit
*started on 11/11*
In an informative piece, your child names what they are writing about and gives some information, facts, or details about it (e.g. Dinosaurs lived on Earth a long time ago. Some dinosaurs were bigger than people are today…), and, as in an opinion piece, offers some sense of conclusion.
Opinion Writing Unit
*started on 1/21*
In an opinion piece, your child introduces the book or topic he or she is writing about, state their opinion, gives a reason or two to support their opinion (e.g. Ramona was wrong because she hurt Susan when she pulled her curls.), and then offers some sort of conclusion to complete their writing.
First Grade High Frequency Words
(a packet of these words in the order they're taught was sent home with parents/guardians on Back to School Night)
the
two
was
because
after
all
every
better
see
look
there
from
call
people
near
carry
go
my
then
their
large
where
school
learn
she
come
out
when
her
draw
earth
very
and
here
who
why
house
again
before
mother
play
to
good
many
long
round
done
father
little
of
by
right
off
they
about
never
you
what
them
start
small
country
even
below
with
put
were
find
brown
four
walk
blue
for
want
our
how
work
great
buy
answer
no
this
could
over
year
boy
only
eight
jump
saw
these
under
live
city
through
any
one
now
once
try
found
laugh
does
have
do
upon
give
your
move
another
are
which
hurt
far
know
change
wash
said
went
that
too
always
away
some