Language Arts
I have been enjoying getting to the first graders as we read, write, sing, draw and much much more!
We focused on autumnal themes-Johnny Appleseed, The Little Red Hen, apples, and pumpkins.
We have been singing and practicing High Frequency Words in the song Ghost of John. Ask your child to sing it for you!
We read and compared a variety of books about Johnny Appleseed, and discussed the vocabulary word character throughout those stories, and also in The Little Red Hen. We practiced comprehension skills by retelling these stories, and with the Listening Center's activity paper.
We have been introducing letters most days. We are focusing on their sound, and their lowercase formation. We start with lowercase letters that look identical to their capital counterparts. So far, we have done o, s, c, v, and w. Additionally, we focused on "a" in honor of our apple theme.
Ask your child about "magic c"-o and a both start with the power of c! There are even more magic c letters to come!
We have managed time for a bit of grammar, introducing the punctuation of a complete sentence and adding "S" for plural nouns.
As we introduce the vowels, I slow down the instruction. We play games and read little books that focus on that sound. So far, we have played and read only about "a." Next week, we will play and read words with "o" now that it was introduced this week.
I love to use games in Language Arts. In partnerships, the students have been playing "Apples on the Tree" which focus on reading short a words like ax and cat.
To wrap up our Johnny Appleseed theme, the children sewed little "seed pouches" and scattered calendula seeds around campus. A big thank you to Clover for supporting each child with this fine-motor skill activity; and for providing appleseeds for the children to take home.
Additionally, the children created and took home a pumpkin life cycle paper book. This book practiced HFWs, used images to support reading, reinforced book directionality, and worked on sequencing.
Below are suggested activities you can do at home with the items I send each week. Don't forget to check your child's cubby each day!
Little Paper Books-We have practiced reading these in class. Please read them at home.
Listening Center paper-Your child practiced understanding a story on tape. Please have your child tell you about their drawing, their "favorite part"
Letter paper-After practicing in a variety of modalities (chalkboard, American Sign Language, songs, etc) the children write with pencil. We focus on the sound of that letter, how to write it correctly, and words that have that letter. Please ask your child to tell you a word with that letter sound, go on a word/letter hunt around the house or in a book. Also note your child's letter formation to foster good habits.
Before pencils, we practice with our fingers and chalk
Busy at stations
Ghost of John
Little paper book example
Listening Center paper (we are working towards writing a sentence)
Letter paper example