• Dear First Grade Families,

    There are a number of ELA activities to complete this week. There is a decodable book to read 1 Mon-Thurs, & a phonics sheet to complete 1 per day. The other activities can be determined by your schedule. Please complete all activities by the following Monday.

    These are the things we will be learning this week. Click on Focus Wall to see a summary.

    Every week we learn new words. This week's words are above, bear, even, pushed, studied, surprised, teacher, toward. Practice reading these words daily. You can make flashcards with them to practice reading them too!

    This week I will give you 4 books to practice reading at home. Read 1 book per day, Monday - Thursday.

    VERY IMPORTANT: After you get to the website, you have to click on "Contents". Then you will see a list of all of the books to read.

    • Monday - Bears
    • Tuesday - Hiding and Seeking
    • Wednesday - Henry and Dad go Camping
    • Thursday - Speedy and Chase

    To read your story, click on Decodable Reader

    This week I have one phonics/skills activity per day for you to complete. There are 5 total. Follow the directions on the pages. To work on the activities, click on Phonics/Skills Work

    Every week we listen to a story. This week's genre is Realistic Fiction. This means the story tells made-up stories about people and events that could happen in real life. As you are listening/reading the story, think about what else the characters could actually do in real life. 

    We are going to focus on comparing and contrasting in this story. We can compare and contrast with the questions below.

    To listen to the story, click on this week's title below.

    VERY IMPORTANT: After you get to the website, click on "Contents." Then "Unit 6" will appear. Click on "Unit 6." Lesson 26 will pop up. Click on "Lesson 26." You will see the 3rd choice, "The Dot." Click on "The Dot." Your child will recognize the pages. He/she can listen & turn the pages of the story.

    The Dot

    Now that you have listened to and read The Dot, tell an adult the answers to these questions:

    • What was Vashti's problem?
    • How are Vashti's and her teacher's feelings different?
    • How does Vashti feel when her dot was placed in a frame on the wall?
    • How are Vashti's very first picture and the one on page 26 alike? How are the 2 pictures different?
    • How are Vashti and the little boy alike? How are they different?
    • How is the end of the story like the beginning? What do you think will happen next?

    This week we have a biography to listen to. A biography tells about the events is a real person's life. This text will tell us about more than one artist. Find facts about the artists' lives. Notice the captions under the pictures. Captions tell us more information about the picture.

     Artists Create Art!

    Writing 

    For the rest of this school year, we are going to move to opinion writing. In opinion writing, you are going  to state your opinion, give 3 reasons as to why you feel this way and have a closing (also called an ending).

     

    This week, think about which holiday is your favorite one.

    Is it Halloween, Easter, Christmas, July 4th, Thanksgiving, New Year's? Can you think of another one that I didn't mention?

     Parts of Opinion Writing:

    1. Topic sentence tells your opinion, or what you think about the topic.
    2. Detail sentences support the reason for your opinion. The word because may be used to give a reason. Give 3 reasons!
    3. Ending sentence may restate your opinion.

     

    Here are some ending sentences that you can choose from-

    • What is your favorite holiday?
    • Is __________ your favorite holiday?
    • I love _______________!
    • I can't wait until __________________!

     

    Here is an example on how to write an opinion: (don't write the words topic sentence, detail sentences, ending sentence. I wrote that for you to understand what the sentences are.)

    My Favorite Holiday

    (Topic sentence) My favorite holiday is 4th of July. (3 Detail sentences) I like 4th of July best because I love to have picnics and my family gets together for a picnic on that day. I also like it because we can be outside for July 4th. It is so hot out in the middle of the summer! My final reason my favorite holiday is July 4th is because I love the fireworks that are displayed when it gets dark outside. (Ending sentence) Is the 4th of July your favorite holiday?

     

    You can make an illustration to go along with your opinion writing, if you wish. Email it to me, or you can drop it off with your other work in a bin at any school. Make sure it is altogether with a rubber band, in an envelope, or folder with YOUR name, MY name and CATARACT written on the front so it'll get to me. I look forward to seeing all of your work!