WHAT ARE WE LEARNING IN Reading Class?
Hi first grade families,
Most of our work in class is done as a whole group, with lots of participation and opportunities for discussion. A few times each week, students complete individual assignments so I can check their understanding and see whether we need more practice on our weekly focus.
On days when we do not have individual work, the daily grade is based on participation. Each student automatically receives 3 points for being in class. They can earn 1 point for participating in phonics and handwriting, and 1 point for participating during our knowledge curriculum time—for a total of 5 points. If a student is absent, they are marked “exempt,” and it will not count against them.
If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out!
Here is what we are learning this week in ELA 10/19/26
Phonics (the part of reading where students learn how letters and letter patterns make sounds and how to blend those sounds together to read and spell words):
Unit 6 Spelling Words:
thin, path, thud, moth, Seth, with, math, thick, Beth, bath
📝 Spelling Test: Tuesday, October 20th
📚 We will finish up Unit 6 on Tuesday, with our spelling test that day! ✏️ On Wednesday, we will begin Unit 7, focusing on long e and short e sounds while continuing to practice all the phonics patterns we have learned so far this year. Unit 7 test will be Wednesday, October 28th.
📝 Unit 7 Spelling Words:
⭐ nest
⭐ net
⭐ did
⭐ jet
⭐ shop
⭐ taps
⭐ shin
⭐ just
⭐ path
⭐ kept
🏡 At-Home Connection: Practice spelling words with your child throughout the week! Have them read each word, spell it aloud, and write it. A little practice each day helps build strong reading and spelling skills! 💛
Knowledge/Writing Curriculum (helps students grow as readers, writers, and thinkers):
Essential Question: Why are books important?
📚 This week, we will finish reading Ready to Fly and complete our second narrative writing piece! ✏️ We will then begin a new text, The Book Rescuer by Sue Macy.
📖 A Peek at Our Next Book: The Book Rescuer tells the true story of Aaron Lansky, a man who worked hard to save thousands of books written in Yiddish, a language spoken by generations of Jewish people. Through his love of books, Aaron helped preserve important stories, history, and culture for future generations. 📚💛
🏡 At-Home Connection: Ask your child why books and stories are important and how they help us learn about people, places, and the past!
Handwriting:
In handwriting, we continue to focus on the 3 P's: Pencil, Posture, and Paper. These important habits help students develop neat, efficient handwriting. We have now begun learning to write lowercase letters while using the 3 P's correctly. Students are learning to follow specific pathways to form each letter the right way from the very beginning.
Ask your child about the star line, moon line, and earth line! These visual guides help students know where letters begin, where they touch, and how they are formed on the page.
At-Home Connection: Encourage your child to practice writing lowercase letters at home. As they write, ask them to check their pencil grip, posture, and paper position. Have them explain where the star line, moon line, and earth line are and show you how they use them to form letters correctly.
Research points to the importance of teaching handwriting and the benefits of learning proper handwriting techniques. According to a July 2019 article on the Edutopia website, MacKenzie states, "Research has demonstrated a correlation between letter-naming and letter-writing fluency, and a relationship between letter-naming fluency and successful reading development." In other words, teaching handwriting is an important part of teaching students to become fluent readers!
1st Grade Families:
Reading regularly with your child will help them to become more fluent readers themselves. Additionally, practicing sight words with your child will greatly benefit them. A sight word is defined by Julie Rawe (Understood, n.d.) as,"...a common word that kids recognize instantly without sounding them out. Recognizing words by sight helps kids become faster, more fluent readers. Many sight words are tricky to read and spell - they aren't spelled the way they sound."
Here are a couple of lists for you to get started with that, if you are interested:
Kindergarten Sight Words (Dolch):
all, am, are, at, ate, be, black, brown, but, came, did, do, ear, four, get, good, have, he, into, like, must, new, no, now, on, our, out, please, pretty, ran, ride, saw, say, she, so, soon, that, there, they, this, too, under, want, was, well, went, what, white, who, will, with, yes
First Grade Sight Words (Dolch):
after, again, an, any, as, ask, by, could, every, fly, from, give, going, had, has, her, him, his, how, just, know, let, live, may, of, old, once, open, over, put, round, some, stop, take, thank, them, then, think, walk, were, when
HEART WORD LISTS: At fall conferences, you received the first heart word list for your child to begin practicing at home with you. We call these words "heart words" because there are parts of these words that students need to learn "by heart" since they are irregular (they do not follow the traditional phonics generalizations). These lists are meant to be done at each students' own pace...when they can independently read the words, sign the page with the parent signature space and send it back to school with them. I will listen to them read it and get them the next list. This will be of great help with their reading fluency. I appreciate your help with this!! Students who have consistently worked on these lists at home with their families have made great gains in their reading fluency.