Block 1 Readers have been working this past week with our vowel teams of <ee>, <ay>, <oa>, <ai>,  <ow>, and <ea>.  We plan to have a review/assessment of Level 5A skills early next week so that we can move forward into Level 5B skills.  We will start this level with vowel team <oe> as in toe.  Despite the many end-of-year activities, we will continue to add to our reading skills, practice morphology and syllabication, and use our knowledge of syllable types to help decode words.

Students should continue to be exposed to text and practice reading skills during the summer months.  It is recommended that students at Gracepoint receive summer reading tutoring for skill retention.  Exposure to text through books, including graphic novels, and magazines, as well as reading aloud together as a family, will also be beneficial.  When helping your student select reading materials for enjoyment, remember that lots of easy reading makes reading easy.   The level of text is not as important as making reading a daily habit and making reading an enjoyable experience. 

May has seemed to fly by and we are quickly approaching the end of the 2020-2021 school year.  It has been a privilege to watch the progress of the students.  I am proud of their ability to persevere and thrive despite the challenges that this school year has presented.  They are troopers!

Best wishes,

Julie

Block 1 Readers started May with a review of vowel team <ow>.  We moved to our final vowel team in Level 5A of <ea>.  The vowel team <ea>, like vowel team <ow>, can make more than one sound.  We are focused on learning the most common sound, which is the long vowel sound of <ē> (eagle, team, read).  Next week, we will continue to work with <ea> words and review the six vowel teams that we have covered thus far.  The next focus of our reading instruction will be vowel team <oe> as in toe.

I hope all will enjoy a beautiful Mother’s Day on Sunday.  I enjoy your children very much, and I am grateful that you have shared your precious child with us at Gracepoint School.

Julie

Block 1 Readers had a busy week in which we covered several letter patterns and sound concepts.  After a review of vowel team <ai>, we worked with words with the suffix <-er>, meaning a person who.  Examples of words with this suffix are hunter, golfer, and teacher. We are now working with words with the vowel team <ow> as in snow.  This is the first vowel team that we have introduced that can make two sounds:  <ow> as in snow, or <ow> as in cow.  We will continue to work with <ow> as in snow next week.

We are grateful for these beautiful Atlanta spring days.

Take care and stay safe,

Julie

It was a joy to welcome students back to Gracepoint after Easter and spring break. After a review of our previously learned vowel teams of <ee>, <ay>, and <oa>, we launched into working with a new vowel team of <ai>.  This vowel team makes a long Ā sound, just like vowel team <ay>.  For spelling, it is helpful to remember that one usually finds <ay> at the end of a word and <ai> at the beginning or middle of a word.  The correct spelling of the long Ā sound has been a bit of a challenge, and we will continue to work with our four learned vowel teams next week.  We look forward to moving soon to our next to vowel team <ow>, as in snow.

Take care,

Julie

Block 1 Readers worked with a third vowel team this past week <oa>.  This vowel team makes the sound of long /ō/ as in boat.  We spent time reading and spelling words with this letter combination, as well as practicing syllabication and morphology.  When we return from break, we will review previously learned vowel teams of <ee>, <ay>, and <oa> before moving to a fourth vowel team of <ai>, as in bait.

Best wishes for a fun and safe holiday break.  Happy Easter!

Julie

We enjoyed reading and spelling a second vowel team this week in Block 1 Reading class.  In addition to vowel team <ee>, which says long /ē/, we learned that vowel team <ay> says long /ā/.  This vowel team usually appears at the end of a word.  We also spent time working with words which end in suffix <ee>, meaning a person.  Next week we will practice words with a third vowel team <oa>, which makes the long /ō/ sound.  We continue to practice morphology and syllabicating to help with letter pattern recognition.

The students are looking forward to Easter and the holiday break. Please remember to have your student practice reading daily.  Even a short amount of time spent decoding text is helpful to retaining skills and gaining fluency.

Julie

Block 1 Readers spent this past week practicing reading and spelling words with the consonant + <le> syllable pattern.  We sorted c+le words by long and short vowel sounds in the first syllable (noble/ cobble), and we also practiced sorting words into the four syllable types that we have covered:  closed (CVC), open (CV), Magic E (V+Ce), consonant + <le> (c+le).  We also reviewed word division for tiger words (V/CV) and camel words (VC/V).   Next we will learn about words to the <-stle> letter pattern, in which the <t> is silent (castle, wrestle).  After an assessment of Level 4 skills, we will move to Level 5 and vowel teams.

I look forward to conferences and updating you on your student’s progress.  Since the conference days are school days, we will be sending home a packet of materials on Friday, March 5, for your student to review at home on March 8 & 9.

The beautiful weather this past week has given us hope for soon-to-come longer days and warm weather. It is a joy to see the bright faces of the children after being outside in warm sunshine.

Take care and stay safe,

Julie

In Block 1 Reading this past week, we continued to work with words with our newest syllable type consonant+ <le>.   The students persist in trying to voice the silent <e> at the end of some these words, and spelling these words has also remained a bit tricky.  During the week, we practiced sorting words into the four syllable types that we have studied, as well as review the vowel sounds in each syllable type.  Recognizing the letter patterns and associated vowel sounds in each syllable type is helpful for both reading and spelling.  We will continue to review and drill open, closed, Magic E, and consonant + <le> syllables when we return from winter break.

Best wishes for a fun and safe break.  I look forward to our return to the classroom on February 22.

Julie

Block 1 Reading has been learning a new syllable pattern:  consonant + <le>.   We have learned open, closed, and magic e syllable patterns, and the consonant + <le> pattern is the fourth of the six syllable patterns.  Words with this pattern include words ending with  <ble>, <dle>, <fle>, <gle>, <ple>, and <tle> .  The final <e> is silent but it distorts the <l> sound to say <ul>.  It can be a challenge to remember not to voice the final <e> when reading words with this pattern.  Spelling these words can also be tricky due to double letters and the inclination to spell the <ul> as a short ŭ.  A helpful spelling tip for the double letters is that if the initial vowel is short and there is just one middle sound, double the middle consonant (kettle, fiddle, brittle, smuggle).  If the initial vowel is long, there is no need to double the consonant (table, noble, table, fable).  We look forward to continuing to work with words with syllable pattern of consonant + <le>  next week.

Best wishes and please stay safe as we move toward winter break and Valentine's Day.

Julie

This past week, Block 1 Reading enjoyed working with words with a vowel+consonant/vowel pattern (VC/V or camel words).  These words have a closed first syllable, followed by a second syllable that is either open or closed.  The students are gaining fluency in reading words with this syllable pattern, but spelling presents more of a challenge.  In order to practice listening carefully to the initial vowel sounds in these words, as well as practicing moving between words that are V/CV (open first syllable) and VC/V (closed first syllable), we will continue work with these syllable patterns next week.

I plan to introduce the next syllable type of consonant +le (c+le) by the end of the week.  Examples of words with this syllable pattern are table, uncle, riddle, sniffle, jungle, and sample.

It was a blessing to have a full week of in-person lessons this past week. The students continue to improve their reading and spelling skills, and it is a joy to watch them progress.

Take care and best wishes,

Julie

We had an adventurous week in Block 1 Reading as we held lessons remotely via Zoom.  Though the students said that they preferred in-person learning, all said that meeting via Zoom was a workable alternative for a short time.  Lessons proceeded as usual, though the association and dictation drills were difficult because of the audio quality.  In both these exercises, listening for subtle sounds is important, and hearing the sounds was a challenge for some students on the computer.  Even with a few difficulties, we made good progress and we were able to complete lessons for both suffix -ly and -en.  We will begin work with words with the vowel-consonant/vowel pattern (VC/V or camel words) first thing next week.

I look forward to returning to Gracepoint for in-person classes with your beautiful child on Monday.  Sharing smiles and laughter with the students is such a joy, and those things are best shared in person.

Please stay safe and best wishes,

Julie

 Block 1 reading welcomed the new year with a review of words ending in <y> and a review of words with the syllable pattern of open-syllable/consonant-vowel (V/VC or tiger words).  When we gathered after the Christmas break, we practiced reading and spelling words ending with <ic>.  Currently we are working with words ending with suffix <-ly>.  Next week we will continue to work with suffix <-ly>  and then move to words with suffix <-en>.

Kudos goes to our students for their flexibility and willingness to try new things.  Their patience, kindness, and ability to adapt has been remarkable. I look forward to seeing all next Tuesday morning via Zoom as we reconvene virtually.  I am hopeful that we will resume in-class learning for the final week of January.

Blessing for the new year to you and your family,

Julie

During the final week before the Christmas break, Block 1 Reading enjoyed working with words with the syllable pattern of open-syllable/consonant-vowel (V/VC or tiger words).  These words were a challenge because of the initial open syllable vowel sounds, but progress was made by the end of the week.  The student’s decoding and reading skill of these words improved significantly.  Several new morphology skill cards were added to our deck.  The students enjoyed learning the new base words, and as well as reviewing previously learned patterns.  We look forward to tackling words with suffixes <-ic>, <-ly>, and <-en> when we return to class in January.

Merry Christmas to all!  Best wishes for a fun and safe holiday.  We look forward to a new year as we count our many blessings.  Having the privilege of working with your children has been a gift for me.

Julie

We finished our unit on words ending in the letter <y> this past week in Block 1 Reading.  We worked with words that have a <y> ending, which are different from words with suffix <y>.  We listened carefully to the subtle differences in pronunciation between suffix <y> and <y> ending, which is important when spelling.  We also continued to practice and reinforce morphology skills.

Next week we will be working with words with the syllable pattern of V/CV (vowel/consonant-vowel), in which the first syllable of the word is an open syllable.  Words with this pattern are often called tiger words.  After the holiday break, we will work with the suffix  <ic> and then move quickly to suffixes <-ly> and <-en>.    Recognizing word patterns will help the students with both decoding and encoding skills.

There is much excitement at Gracepoint as we approach our last week of school before the holiday break.  We will continue to work hard on reading and spelling skills before the break, and we look forward to adding new skills in January.

May God bless you and your family,

Julie