Our morning begins with a Morning Meeting, a component of Responsive Classroom. In our Morning Meeting, we work on calendar and integrate math skills, build community and social skills, greet one another, set learning goals for the day, and get energized with an activity. Ready to learn, we build reading and fluency skills with our weekly poetry, work on words, and engage in reading and writing workshops. These are all parts of a Comprehensive Literacy Framework, or Balanced Literacy, further described below.
Phonics in Motion: We will be using Phonics in Motion, in which a hand motion is taught for each sound, to help students learn and remember sounds quickly and more accurately. This will be incorporated into our word work and daily learning so that students can use the motions while reading and writing.
Alphabet-Picture Sound Chart
Sight Words 1st Grade Should Read and Spell
Reading Workshop: Students work independently during this part of the morning on various tasks such as reading, writing, working on words, reading with a partner, or reading on the iPad, while one small group meets with the teacher for Guided Reading. For more information, click on these links:
Daily 5 and CAFE
Guided Reading
Independent Work Skills: Developing personal responsibility, stamina to maintain engagement, and the ability to work independently are skills that are vital to your child’s success in the classroom. Students will be taught during the first weeks of school what the expectations are and how to work independently during the Reading Workshop/Daily 5 station rotations. At home, they can also be encouraged to work independently (i.e., packing their own book bag, making sure they are ready for the day, clean up toys before doing another preferred task, etc.). Together, we can ensure students are establishing positive habits and skills that will help them achieve their goals throughout their academic careers and life pursuits.
Making Meaning: Part of the Collaborative Literacy suite of programs, Making Meaning provides a full year of research-based instruction. The curriculum intentionally combines academics with social and emotional learning to create an environment in which students learn to collaborate, agree and disagree respectfully, and take responsibility for their own learning. Carefully selected nonfiction and fiction read-aloud trade books provide a rich, rewarding experience as students encounter increasingly complex texts and build their vocabulary.
Making Meaning Parent Letters
Writing Workshop: Our daily schedule will also encompass writing workshop. Student will learn strategies for pre-writing, writing, revising, editing, and publishing personal and realistic narratives, opinion pieces, and non-fiction writing. To understand and learn more about Lucy Calkin’s Writing Workshop Model please click on the link.
Handwriting Instruction will be a focus the first several weeks of school to teach correct formation and spacing and will be reinforced throughout the year. You can read more about handwriting and how to help your child at home here:
Word Study – We will focus on word families at the beginning of the year (words that end with –at, -in, etc.) and then move into other features, such as long vowel spelling patterns, complex consonants, etc. Students will be given a Developmental Spelling Analysis at the beginning of the year to establish Word Study Groups. The weekly list will be adjusted for students who need extra support and challenge words for students who are above the core words.
Other Links
Spelling City – Free website for learning about words. Student login information will also be sent home with access to the upgraded version and weekly spelling lists.
Lexia – Our school is using Lexia Reading Core5™, a web-based reading program that provides the targeted practice and instruction students need to develop their reading skills. Individual login information will be sent home.
SeeSaw is a student-driven digital portfolio that empowers students to independently document what they are learning at school.
AR Finder – Find Accelerated Reader books