Phonics

This week in phonics, we will continue practicing “bonus letter” words—words that end with ff, ll, and ss. We’ll also begin learning about “glued sounds”, which are word parts that include ang, ong, ank, onk, ing, ung, ink, and unk. Students will practice both reading and spelling words with these endings. In addition, we’ll introduce three new trick words: both, walk, and talk.

Reading/Writing

During Wit & Wisdom, students will continue to work with topic sentences to write an informational paragraph (with support) about how changes in weather can affect either people or nature. We will also practice identifying subjects and verbs in sentences and work on making sure our own sentences include both. In addition, we will read a fictional story about fall and compare and contrast it with How Do You Know It’s Fall?

Math

We will begin Chapter 2 in Math. Students will practice skip counting with a hundreds chart, use skip counting to find totals in equal groups, and apply repeated addition (as well as multiplication) to solve for total amounts. We will also learn how to organize groups into arrays using rows and columns.

Religion

This week in religion, we will take a short break from our Finding God textbook to focus on Mary and the practice of praying the Rosary in preparation for the Spirit Run on Friday. Students will make their own decade rosary and spend time learning and practicing the Rosary prayers.

Science

We will wrap up our Biodiversity unit by exploring which types of birds are most likely to visit a bird feeder based on what they eat. In our activity, Design a Bird Feeder, students will first create a drawing of their own bird feeder to attract a specific type of bird. Then, using available materials, they will build a prototype of their design.

Phonics

Our first phonics assessment will be on Tuesday 9/9. Students do not need to memorize specific words, as the test will focus on the phonics patterns learned in Unit 1. Starting Wednesday, we will begin Unit 2, which introduces the concept of “bonus letters.” Students will learn that at the end of a one-syllable word with one vowel followed immediately by an f, l, or s, the final consonant is doubled. Additionally, students will learn and practice the trick words: shall, full, and pull.

Reading/Writing

This week in Wit and Wisdom, we will continue working with the informational text "How Do You Know It's Fall?" Students will practice identifying important details and recognizing the main topics throughout the text. Using those details, they will write a topic sentence to begin writing their own informational paragraph. Finally, students will work on determining the main idea of the text by thinking about how all the details fit together to explain how we know it’s fall.

Math

We’ll start by reviewing key concepts from Chapter 5 on place value to get ready for our assessment on Wednesday. After that, we’ll revisit a couple of lessons from Chapter 1 to strengthen our addition and subtraction fact fluency. This review will help us get ready to move on to the next chapter during the week of September 15th.

Religion

This week in religion, we will focus on learning about Jesus and how He is a special gift from God, sent to save us from our sins and open the gates of heaven. We will also discuss how Jesus is one part of the Holy Trinity. In addition, we’ll learn the meanings of several important faith vocabulary words: Blessed Sacrament, tabernacle, Savior, Emmanuel, and genuflect.

Science

This week in science, we’ll continue to explore biodiversity through a case study on the frogs of North America. In our activity, Who’s Calling?, students will learn to identify different types of frogs by their unique calls and investigate which of two locations has a greater variety of frogs. After listening to frog call recordings, students will create words to help them remember each sound and then use those words to identify frog calls in different environments.

Phonics

This week in phonics, students will focus on using different spelling options for the /k/ sound to improve their decoding skills. They will practice spelling and reading words that contain digraphs and blends, helping them recognize common letter patterns. Additionally, students will practice spelling the following trick words: you, your, was.

Reading/Writing

This week, we will begin Module 1 of our reading and writing program, Wit and Wisdom, focusing on changes in nature. We will explore the essential question: How does change impact people and nature? Students will review the components of good listening and make observations and ask questions about a weather-related painting and poem. We will read and discuss our first book of the unit, How Do You Know It’s Fall? Throughout the week, students will build vocabulary by defining unknown words, notice and wonder about new texts, and practice identifying important details and the main topic. They will also learn to identify topic sentences in informational paragraphs and compose clear topic statements.

Math

Students will continue exploring place value by reading and writing numbers up to 1,000. They will practice using counting patterns to understand number sequences better. Additionally, students will compare three-digit numbers using the symbols <, >, and = to develop their number sense and understanding of numerical relationships. Our first math assessment is scheduled for the week of September 8th, and we will send home a review sheet with concepts to practice during the upcoming week.

Religion

This week in religion, we will focus on understanding God as our Creator. Students will read the story of creation, learn the meanings of the words “creation” and “holy,” and reflect on the many ways God’s blessings are present in our lives.

Science

In the second lesson of our science unit on animal biodiversity, students will explore why a group of wild bighorn sheep might leave their desert home to visit a very different place—a local playground. Through the Habitat Scavenger Hunt activity, students will observe and record the variety of life and physical features found in both the desert and the playground. Using these observations, they will develop an understanding of how the living and nonliving elements of each habitat work together to support the animals that live there.