Saturday, February 21, 2015

Long Vowels and Carnival Basket

So I know this weeks blog title is strange but they are the two topics of importance this week! As you have noticed, our spelling words have switched to long vowel patterns. Long vowels can be such a challenge, in both reading and writing. In reading, the kids have difficulty trying the long vowel sound if the short sound doesn't work. There are so many tricky rules with long vowels, but the key for the kids is having that ability to flip vowel sounds if one sound doesn't work.  During writing, they know a word needs something to make the vowel long but what is it? Two vowels walking, bossy silent e or just some weird combination that makes no sense. While I don't expect that the kids will retain every one of their spelling words, it is my goal that they will begin to see these vowel patterns in our English language. When you are practicing the words, at home, talk about the patterns in the words. Reinforce the fact that if the e is left off, it's a whole different word. First graders love to analyze words and talk about what they notice. I have included a fun video we have been watching to reinforce bossy silent e. Watch it with your kiddos and search for words, in your environment that have bossy silent e.

Meadowlark has a carnival, in March, and every class puts together a theme basket for a raffle. We are doing a craft basket. I think the item opportunities are endless. Please be thinking of something that your family can contribute. It seems that I always see fun craft items on clearance, at Target. Those end caps are full of great cheap stuff.

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