Today we learned about soft c - when the c is followed by an e, i, or y, the c makes the /s/ sound as in cent, cite, and cycle. We were able to write many magic e words that also had soft c (rice, pace, dance, grace). This skill is challenging because there is no rule to know when to use the soft c (why is base spelled with an s and race spelled with a c?) The repetition of seeing and spelling these words will help lock them into their minds.

Please read every night and continue practicing those red words!

VCCV syllable pattern

Today we have moved up to Level 3 and started two-syllable words with the VCCV syllable pattern. Sometimes these are called Rabbit words because the word rabbit follows this pattern. We are learning how to read and divide these words. We divide the word between the two consonants. This gives us two closed syllables that we can read. Today we read words like nutmeg, publish, cosmic, and picnic.

Please remember it is critical to read every night and practice red words. The students need this practice.

Wild Old Words

We are just finishing up our last of 5 "Wild Old Words" this week. We have learned -ost, -ind, -old, -ild, and -olt. These are closed syllable words that have a long vowel sound. We have added prefixing and suffixes to them and practiced with a word matrix. We can build words like unbolting, unbolted, unbolt, unbolts, bolted, etc.

Please continue to read in the blue folder for 20 minutes for fluency as well as comprehension. Make sure your child can tell you what is happening in the sentences or story. Also, keep practicing those red words with movement and spelling them by writing them in a variety of ways.

We hope you all have a safe and restful break!

Welcome Back! It is wonderful to be back with your children again. We are getting back into the routine of Reading. We are reviewing the magic e syllable with u. It can make the long u sound as in mule and an /oo/ sound as in rule or Luke. When it makes the /oo/ sound, we mark the u with an umlaut which is two dots.

Please continue to have your children read from their blue folder and practice their red words. As always, please reach out with any questions.

It was great to have everyone back this week. We got back into the rhythm of Reading and added a new prefix <dis-> meaning apart, not and two new bases <rupt> meaning to burst or break and <scribe, script> to write. We used these to make new words and word sums. Our morphology helps us understand the meaning of words.

Now we know the word disrupt means 'to break apart' (like when you break apart a conversation or class by talking when it is not your turn).

Continue to read in the blue folder every night for 20 minutes and practice your red words with movement. It is also great to practice writing them since that is sometimes the most difficult part.

Parents, thanks for all you do to support your child in their learning. Please reach out with anything!

Continuing with Magic e

We have worked on adding prefixes and suffixes to our a-e words and this week have done e-e words. There are not many e-e words so we added suffix -s to them and are moving on to i-e tomorrow. The students are getting better at switching back and forth from short to long vowels but still need continued practice.

Please continue to read EVERY night and practice red words with movement. I hope you all have a very happy Thanksgiving break!

This week we have been working on a new syllable type - Magic e. The silent e makes the vowel says its name (long vowel sound). The students are working hard. Now they have to switch back and forth from a short to a long vowel. Sometimes this is tricky and they will read snack for snake!

Remember to keep reading every night and practicing red words both reading and spelling/writing them.

More Suffixes

Last week we finished with our 3rd sound of the suffix -ed when it says /t/ as in huffed, kicked, scratched, and stamped. Remembering to spell the base word first is critical when adding suffixes. We complete word sums with these words to help us see the base word and added the suffix as well as some prefixes as in the word mismatched (mis + match + ed) When writing words sums, the prefix is written in green, the base/root word is written in black, and the suffix is written in red.

At the end of the week, we introduced another suffix, suffix -est. We call this the superlative suffix and it is used with adjectives and adverbs. When talking about the fastest kid, the suffix -est means 'the most'. The most fast is the fastest. The most small is the smallest, and the most tall is the tallest.

Please continue to read each night in the blue folder and make sure your child reads the story, The Cat, The Dog, and the Nest. We will read that story again next week to see how the children improved on their reading.

Today we learned another sound that the suffix -ed can make. Suffix -ed can say /d/ as in words like smelled, buzzed, and thrilled. We will make word sums with these to know that the suffix is still -ed and not just d. We noticed that our words that we can write with this suffix were FLOSS words that ended with L or Z. This helped us see a pattern when we spelled and read these words.

Please be sure to read the first side of the set of sentences tonight. Also, please have your child practice the red words on their ring EVERY night. They can practice with movement (crossing the midline) as well as spelling them with shaving cream, in sand/sugar, with fun markers, etc. It is important for them to practice reading the words as well as practice spelling them.

We have been learning a new suffix, suffix -ed to make a verb past tense. The students already had some exposure to this because of the kernel sentences we have been doing in 2nd grade.

We focused on the suffix -ed when it makes the /ed/ sound as in landed or lifted. It is crucial to tap the base/root word and then pound the suffix in order to read and spell the word.

Please make sure your child reads from their blue folder each night. That way, they can become more fluent in their reading.

Phonemic Awareness Skills

We begin each Reading Class with a short Phonemic Awareness Activity. We practice activities such as rhyming, changing the beginning, middle, and ending sound, deleting, adding, or substituting sounds and syllables.

We practiced deleting words as the activity shows in the picture. These activities are completed just by listening without the use of pictures or words. It is all about hearing and manipulating sounds. These are great car activities that can be done quickly and easily during transitions.

While reviewing the FLOSS rule this week, students were given a word and had to find the correct white board to write it on. Then they had to spell it correctly before coming back for another word. They did this with masks on and were so busy, I could hardly keep up! The rocked spelling these words and were hungry for more. They quickly posed for this cute picture at the end of the activity.

Our goal is that the students are consistent with real and nonsense FLOSS words when spelling words, phrases, and sentences.

Please continue to read every night from the blue folder. You could even take a FLOSS word from one of the stories or change one to nonsense (ex. floss - ploss) and have them practice spelling it. They could use pen, pencil, chalk on the driveway, even sugar, sand, or shaving cream in the tub/shower.

-s or -es, that is the question...

Last week, we worked with suffix -s and suffix -es to decide when to use each of these suffixes. Both these suffixes make a noun plural (leg - legs or wish - wishes) or a verb present tense (run - runs or crush - crushes). In order to determine when to use -s or -es, it's all about CLAPPING! Clap the base word and then the word with the suffix. For example,

-leg (1 clap = 1 syllable) - legs (1 clap = 1 syllable): since these still have the same amount of syllables, use suffix -s

-crush (1 clap = 1 syllable) - crushes (2 claps = 2 syllables): since another syllable is added, use suffix -es

Please reach out with any questions you may have about suffixes or Reading Class. Please try to be reading from the blue folder 20 minutes a day. Read the current story/sentences and reread from the folder for fluency practice. Please also read for pleasure to your child. You will be amazed that they will start to be able to read more words and sentences and begin to feel different about reading.

Great start to Reading

We are so excited to be back together learning face to face! We had a great start this week to learning our new/modified procedures for Reading. We reviewed how to tap sounds and pound suffixes and then blend the word together. We worked with word sums where we added suffix -s to words and wrote the word sum. There were lots of things to practice since we haven't been in person since March. By the end of the week, everyone was worn out! We will continue to work on building our stamina.

Each night, your child will come home with their Blue Reading folder. Please have them practice each night reading the newest page in their folder whether it is sentences or a story. This will reinforce the skill we focused on for that day. This is critical to do each night for your child's growth. They will also come home with a Red Word ring. Since these words do not follow spelling rules, it is helpful to practice spelling these words with movement. That is how we practice the words during Reading.

I am so happy to have your children in reading. Please reach out with any questions.