Lesson 1 Lesson 1
LessonNotes 1 Materials
Student Assignments
crayons 1/2 orange 1/2 lemon 1/2 apple small piece of construction tape
❑ MATHEMATICS ❑ READING ___Complete Work Page 1–5, Reading Work Pages ___Read “Tam Cat,” Phonics Library ___Complete exercises and answer questions ___Complete Reading Checkpoint ❑ SCIENCE ___Read pp. 1–5, Science: A Closer Look ___Complete Explore activity, p. 3, Science: A Closer Look ___Complete Science Activity 1, Activity Pages ___Complete Science Checkpoint ❑ GAMES AND ACTIVITIES ___Play “Simon Says” ❑ GAMES & ACTIVITIES & COMPUTER SKILLS ___Hold a computer mouse correctly and practice moving it ___View the online lesson Select, Drag, & Double-Click (length 8 minutes) ___Practice opening and closing software programs
Books Phonics Library Reading Word Cards Reading Work Pages Science: A Closer Look Activity Pages
Mathematics
Notes
Complete today’s Math Lesson in the separate Math Lesson Manual.
Reading Introduction: This First Grade Reading course is designed to offer your student a research-based reading program. It features explicit phonics instruction using outstanding literature that motivates students and develops a lifelong love of reading. The course provides purposeful reading instruction evidenced by systematic, explicit daily lessons. Included in the course are a variety of materials to be used for different instructional purposes. Rich literature as well as informational stories are laid out in the multiple Houghton-Mifflin readers. Appealing, decodable stories are included in the Phonics Library textbook. The opportunity to practice reading skills using these materials will help your student develop fluency. Fluency is the ability to read a text accurately and quickly. Your student also will use Reading Work Pages to reinforce the skills and strategies introduced in each lesson. Reading Word Cards will help introduce your student to words and allow him hands-on practice as he gains familiarity with them.
Reading Word Cards Throughout the lessons two types of vocabulary words are introduced. The highfrequency words are to become part of your student’s sight vocabulary. These special words should be displayed on a “Word Wall.” You will also be given story words prior to reading many of the new stories. These words are not displayed on the Word Wall, but are a necessary part of the daily lesson. The words are often specific to the story and do not require memorization 01LMA
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or mastery before reading. The Learning Guide may assist the student with the story words as he reads. As the words are introduced, follow the procedures given in the lessons. The lessons are designed to prepare your student for upcoming reading selections so he is comfortable with the words when he encounters them. Although the high-frequency words and story words will be unfamiliar to your student, always encourage him to use his reading strategies in decoding a new word. ENCOURAGEMENT and POSITIVE SUPPORT are essential! Your student will become a self-confident, fluent, and well-rounded reader with your help. Keep in mind that your guidance will ultimately yield reading independence.
Word Wall A Word Wall is a designated wall space or bulletin board located in your student’s study area. The wall should be large enough for your student to place the highfrequency words in alphabetical columns. Post the Alphabet Cards (also found in Reading Word Cards) along the top of the Word Wall. Also create a “New Words” section, which will be used for placing each week’s new high-frequency words. The New Words section could be on a wall, on the chalkboard, on the refrigerator, or any place the words can be easily seen. Your student will be learning a large number of words, so designating a special section for new words will help keep them separate and organized while he is still learning them. At the end of various lessons, or at the end of a week, your student will be asked to move the new words and place them among the permanent words on the Word Wall. He should organize the words according to their first letter. Follow this procedure for new and old words throughout the year. If space is not available to keep all of the words posted, “retire” some of the earlier words or the words your student has mastered into a file box or notebook where they can be pulled out and reviewed when necessary. Letter Cards Letter Cards are also included in Reading Word Cards. Your student will use these cards to make words as he learns new phonics skills. You may want to cut out and store the Letter Cards in a small plastic bag or envelope for quick access. Reading Strategies Your student will be introduced to six reading strategies that will aid him in comprehending the selections he reads. To help you to better recognize and reinforce certain strategies, the type of strategy may appear in parentheses before story questions. 1. Predict/Infer: Your student will learn how making predictions not only adds to the enjoyment that comes from reading, but can also help in comprehension. He frequently will be asked to make predictions about stories based on their titles, illustrations, and what he has read. 2. Summarize: Your student will learn that summarizing is an excellent skill when trying to remember what happens in a story. Periodically, he will be asked to stop reading midway through a selection to summarize the main idea or important facts using his own words.
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3. Phonics/Decoding: Your student will be asked to apply phonics and decoding skills when encountering new words. Strategies such as examining a word from left to right, thinking about the sounds the letters make, blending sounds, and considering if it is a word your student knows or a word that makes sense in what he is reading are essential skills when deciphering a new word.
Notes
4. Evaluate: Your student will be called upon to decide if he likes a story, if he likes and dislikes certain portions of a story, and if he likes how the author has communicated his or her thoughts. Your student will be asked to explain why he feels the way he does about a story. 5. Question: Your student will learn that asking questions as he reads along will help to clarify the material. 6. Monitor/Clarify: Your student will learn that good readers make sure that the words and ideas in a story make sense. As he is reading, he should ask himself if what he is reading makes sense. If he doesn’t understand something, he should reread, read ahead, or use the illustrations.
Comprehension Skills In addition to the comprehension strategies your student will be learning, he will also be learning comprehension skills. The lessons contain modeling techniques so that you can help your student to best use the skills. To help you to better recognize and reinforce the skills, the type of skill is noted in parentheses before story questions. During the course of this program, some of the comprehension skills your student will learn are: • Distinguish Between Fantasy and Realism • Compare and Contrast • Predict Outcomes • Understand Sequence of Events • Recognize Story Structure • Determine Cause and Effect • Categorize and Classify • Note Important Details (in order to recognize a main idea, topic, and supporting details; make generalizations; and differentiate between fact and opinion) • Draw Conclusions Introduction: These first five lessons focus on the skill of sequencing. Your student will be asked to retell stories according to what happened first, next, and last. He will apply phonics and decoding skills as he encounters new words and he also will be asked to predict, evaluate, and summarize. The selections he reads will be about animals and people and fit the theme “All Together Now!” which will be introduced in tomorrow’s lesson. 01LMA
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Today your student will blend phonemes and identify rhyming words. A phoneme is the smallest unit of sound in a word. For example, in the word hat, the phonemes are /h/ /ă/ /t/. He will review the sounds for the consonants m, s, c, and t and will blend and read words with short a. He will practice reading to improve his fluency.
Phonics Review Objective: to review the sounds for consonants m, s, c, and t Provide your student with Letter Cards for m, s, c, and t. Point to each letter, model how to say it, and have your student say it with you. Remind your student that the sounds for letters can come at the beginning or at the end of words. Use these examples, emphasizing the sounds as shown: mmmat-hammm, cap-Mac, sssat-gass, tap-hat. Application: Have your student say the beginning sound and name the corresponding letter in sun, ten, car, make, and cup. For ending sounds, use drum, hit, but, gas, and foot. For more practice with the sounds of the consonants m, s, c, and t, have your student complete Work Page 1–3 in the Reading Work Page. Phonemic Awareness Objectives: to blend phonemes; to identify rhyming words Tell your student that you will say three sounds that make a word. Say /k/ /ă/ /t/. Repeat the sounds and blend them to say the word cat. Then have your student repeat the sounds and blend the word. Have your student repeat the following sounds and blend them to say each word: /s/ /ă/ /m/ (Sam) /s/ /ă/ /t/ (sat) /m/ /ă/ /t/ (mat) /h/ /ă/ /t/ (hat) /l/ /ă/ /p/ (lap) /j/ /ă/ /m/ (jam) /h/ /ă/ /m/ (ham) /n/ /ă/ /p/ (nap) /m/ /ă/ /n/ (man) /p/ /ă/ /n/ (pan) Listening for Rhymes Say to your student: Cat rhymes with hat. Does cat rhyme with bat? (yes) Remind your student that we say words rhyme when they have the same middle and ending sounds. Ask: 1. Which word rhymes with cat: sit or sat? (sat) 2. Which word rhymes with man: pan or pin? (pan) 3. Which word rhymes with hen: peg or pen? (pen)
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Continue with these words: fan: tin or tan (tan) big: pig or peg (pig) bread: sled or slid (sled) trust: must or mist (must) flat: bat or bet (bat) money: funny or Danny (funny)
Notes
BrainPOP Jr Activity • Rhyming Words
Phonics Objective: to blend and read words with short a Connect Sounds to Letters a, /ă/ Review the short a sound by providing your student with the Alphabet Card for Aa. Explain to him that the a stands for the /ă/ sound as in apple. Have your student repeat /ăăă/ as you point to the letter. Explain that /ă/ can be at the beginning of a word, as in apple, or in the middle of a word, as in cat. Have your student repeat cat and say the sound he hears in the middle of the word, /ă/. Provide your student with the m, a, and t Letter Cards. Put the letters in order to spell mat. Have your student listen as you blend the sounds of the word, “stretching out” the word while pointing to each letter in a sweeping fashion, mmmăăăt. Then say the whole word naturally: mat. Repeat the process, having your student blend the sounds with you: mmmăăăt, mat. Then have him blend the sounds on his own and then say the word naturally. Finally, have him blend the word silently in his head. After he says the word aloud, have him use it in a sentence. Word Building Provide the Letter Cards C and c, S, and s in addition to m, a, and t. Repeat the procedure for the words cat, sat, and Sam. Point out that Sam starts with capital letter because it is someone’s name. Write the following sentence on a piece of paper: Sam can nap. Have your student blend the words to read it. Connect Sounds to Spelling and Writing Give your student a letter tray (found in Reading Word Cards) or have him use the tabletop. Tell him that he will now spell some words. Say mat and have your student repeat it. Have him identify the first sound in mat and put the letter that stands for that sound on his tray. Continue to spell the word sound by sound. Then write mat on a piece of paper and have your student check his work. Repeat with Sam, tam, sat, cat, and Cam. Application: Have your student complete Work Page 4–5 in the Reading Work Pages for additional practice with short a words. On Work Page 4, identify the animal in the instructions as a rat.
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Directed Reading Objectives: to apply the phonics/decoding strategy to decode text; to identify when events occur in a story; to reread to build fluency Remove the first Phonics Library story “Tam Cat,” from the book and give it to your student. Have him describe the cat on p. 5. (big eyes, a heart-shaped nose, long whiskers) Refer to the steps of the phonics/decoding strategy in Reading Word Cards. Then model how to use the strategy to read the story title. Say: I see two words. In the first word, I see the letters T, a, m. I think about the sounds for the letters and blend the sounds /t/ /ă/ /m/, Tam. That’s a name. Then I look at the second word. I see C, a, t. I blend the sounds together: /k/ /ă/ /t/, Cat. I know that the word Cat makes sense. I say the words together: Tam Cat. That is the cat’s name. Have your student read “Tam Cat.” If he has difficulty with any words, remind him to look at each letter and sound out the word. Discuss the following questions with your student. Encourage him to answer in complete sentences. 1. Where does Tam Cat sit? (Tam Cat sits on the mat.) 2. What is Tam Cat doing at the end of the story? (Tam Cat is sitting on the mat and drinking milk.) Build Fluency When a fluent reader reads, he recognizes words automatically and reads aloud effortlessly and with expression. Fluency is important because it provides a bridge between word recognition and comprehension. Because a fluent reader does not have to concentrate on decoding the words, he can focus his attention on what the text means. The earliest selections your student will read will be short in length, containing a few simple sentences. This will ensure that he will feel success as he gets started as a fluent reader. As the course continues and his skills improve, the selections increase in length and complexity. Read aloud pp. 7–8 of “Tam Cat.” Then have your student read the pages aloud. Have your student reread the same pages until he can read them aloud effortlessly. Complete Reading Checkpoint
Science General Course Instructions: Calvert’s First Grade Science course gives your student an opportunity to be a scientist. He will be using the skills of a scientist as you introduce him to the fields of Life Science, Earth Science, Physical Science, and The Human Body. Look over the Table of Contents in Science: A Closer Look with your student to see what topics will be covered in science. In each lesson you will notice Explore activities and Quick Labs, which are designed to enhance your student’s learning by using a hands-on experiment. One item your student will need for many activities in science is a Science Journal. Your student may use a compositionstyle notebook for this purpose, and this is what your student will use to record 01LMA
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data from lab activities and to write reflections or draw pictures about various science concepts. Several lessons reference a Quick Check question. This question is found in the science textbook and is symbolized with a red circle with a white check mark inside of it. The text material can be covered by having your student read aloud to you, by you reading to your student, or by a combination of the two. If your student reads aloud, his comprehension may be less than if you read to him. As the text material is read, always pause to discuss questions given in the Lesson Manual and to observe pictures and diagrams. If your student does not understand a word that is used in the lesson, pause and define the word for him. Science vocabulary is found in bold print in the reading, and the definitions for these words are found in the Glossary in the back of the textbook. The vocabulary words will also be listed in the Vocabulary section of the Lesson Manual. The sections I Read to Review and the Chapter Review at the end of each chapter in the science textbook can be used to review and reinforce concepts from the science lessons. It is recommended that your student visit My Calvert to access the website for the science textbook. This resource provides supportive activities such as animated reviews with interactive quizzes, a journal, science career information, and a glossary that includes audio word pronunciation.
Notes
Examining the Lessons Generally, your student’s First Grade Science lessons may include the following sections: Materials: This is a list of all the items your student and/or you will need to complete the lesson. A comprehensive, lesson-by-lesson Science Materials List appears in the Appendix in the back of the lesson manual. Objective: Each lesson begins with one or more objectives that describes what your student will be learning. The objective should serve as your student’s learning goal for that lesson. Introduction: This section often includes science background information. This background information consists of more indepth material than what is covered in the student textbook. The information in this section is mostly provided by the textbook publisher. This information is not to be read aloud to your student before the lesson begins because he will be discovering and learning the basic concepts throughout the lesson. This section will sometimes include a warm-up activity for your student as well. Vocabulary: The vocabulary words for the lesson will be listed in this section. Instruction: This section provides the information that you will use to conduct the lesson. It will indicate when and how you and your student are to use the textbook. It will provide guided reading questions for you to ask the student while reading as well as other activities that will assist in facilitating learning. Application: This section is designed to enhance your student’s knowledge of the concepts. It may also serve as a review for the material covered in the Instruction section. This section may include discussion questions, an activity page, or a 01LMA
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hands-on activity. When your student completes the Application section of the lesson, he may refer back to the textbook if he needs help answering a question. Assist your student by directing him to the appropriate page in the textbook if he is having difficulty answering a question. Enrichment: These activities are considered optional but are there to enhance your student’s learning. Looking Forward: This section appears when you may need to prepare or gather materials for hands-on activities or experiments, or library materials before the next lesson.
Today’s Science Lesson Objective: to identify two skills that scientists use every day: observation and comparison Introduction: Tell your student that this year in Science he will learn about many interesting topics. Turn to the Table of Contents beginning on p. vi in the Science textbook and point to each of the topics in the textbook as you read the following list aloud to him. Tell him that he will be learning about these topics. • plants • animals and their homes • our Earth • weather and sky • matter • motion and energy Tell your student that before he learns about these things, he will first learn how to think like a scientist does. To begin today’s lesson, ask your student to look around the room and tell you what he sees, hears, feels, and smells. Tell your student that he will make observations. Have your student record what he observes by drawing or writing what he sees, hears, feels, and smells. Your student will use one of the skills that scientists use to make observations about the world around them. In this lesson, your student will learn two of the skills that scientists use to learn about how things in the world work. Vocabulary observe compare classify Instruction: Read Be a Scientist on pp. 1–2 of Science: A Closer Look. As you and your student read p. 1, discuss what the boy could be doing, what tools he is using, how they might help him, and where the setting of the photo is located. Move on to p. 2 in the text, and ask your student if he has ever wondered something
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about animals. Have him give you one or two questions, for example: Why do zebras have stripes? Follow up his question by asking him how he might go about answering it. Ask him to tell you something he notices about the animals on p. 2 just by looking at them. He might say that they are both cats, there is a mother cat with a baby cat, they live in a grassy place, and they have fur. Read p. 3 in the textbook. Complete the Explore activity on p. 3. Have your student add at least one more animal to each group. For example, if your student groups the animals as hair or fur and no hair or fur, then he could add a horse to the hair or fur group and a fish to the no hair or fur group. Actual responses will vary depending upon how your student grouped the animals. Read pp. 4–5 in the textbook. As you finish p. 4, ask your student to discuss what he observes about the animals: for example, the dog is running; the fish is orange and white; the parrot is looking at something below him; the butterfly is standing on a flower; the koala is resting in a tree looking at something below him; the flamingo is pink; the ladybug is walking on a flower; and the snake is blue, black, and red. Your student may only be able to use single words to describe his observations: bear, big, brown, and furry. On p. 5, ask your student to sort the animals into groups: for example, Animals with Feathers, Animals with Fur, Animals without Fur or Feathers. Answers to the exercises on pp. 4–5 have multiple correct responses. Application: Have your student complete the experiment described in Science Activity 1: Observing Without Your Eyes in the Activity Pages. Tell your student that he will use some of his senses to complete this activity. You will need a sliced apple, lemon, and orange prepared for the activity. Other fruits or vegetables may be substituted. You could also substitute chocolate and strawberry milk for the fruits and vegetables.
Notes
BrainPOP Jr Activity • Making Observations
Discussion Questions: Discuss the following questions with your student. Your student may use the textbook to help answer these questions. 1. What is an observation? (An observation is when you look, hear, taste, touch, or smell something to describe it. You use your five senses.) 2. What senses could a scientist use to make observations? (Scientists use their eyes, ears, mouth, fingers, or nose to look, hear, taste, touch, or smell.) 3. What do you do when you compare things? (You tell how things are alike and how they are different.) Enrichment: Take a nature walk with your student. Ask your student to describe what he observes during the walk. He should use his sense of sight, hearing, smell, and touch (where appropriate) to make his observations. Looking Forward: For Lesson 8, you will need dried spaghetti pasta, a tall glass jar, food coloring, and clear carbonated soda for the lab activity. You will also need 2–3 pictures of animals or a book with animal pictures such as Weird Animals by Tammy Everts (Crabtree, 1995). Complete Science Checkpoint
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Games and Activities Various games and activities, often correlated with the day’s reading, will be suggested in many of the following lessons. Additional instruction and materials for some of the activities may be located in the Activity Pages. They are optional, but most children enjoy them. If you are not pressed for time, try to complete some of them. Simon Says: Today, play “Simon Says.” If you say, “Simon says, ‘Put your left hand out!’” your student should do the action. If you say, “Simon says, ‘Put your left hand down!’” your student follows the action. But if you just say, “Raise your right arm sideways!” and your student follows, he has been caught. Your student tries to play the game for as long as possible without being caught. Try to catch him by giving several directions from “Simon” in quick succession, and then suddenly give one from yourself. The game can be played without referring to the left and right, but since your student should develop consciousness of right and left, using these terms can be beneficial. If your student moves the wrong part of his body, such as moving the foot instead of the hand, this, too, should be called a miss.
Games & Activities & Computer Skills Objectives: to demonstrate how a computer mouse device can be used to move a pointer and to select, open, drag, and drop items on a computer screen; to develop fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination Key Terms mouse
pointer
click
double-click
drag and drop
select
objects Note: Most of the key terms in the lessons will be defined within the online lessons. Definitions can also be found in the glossary in the Computer Skills and Application section of the Activity Pages. Introduction: Inform your student that now that he has practiced following directions and telling his left from his right, he will use these skills to explore computers and an important computer device called a mouse. Ask your student if he can point to the mouse on the computer you are using for this lesson; if he is unable to do so, show him where it is. If you are familiar with different types of computer mice, such as those built into the keyboards of notebook computers, you may also discuss these differences with your student. If your student is unfamiliar with mouse usage, show him how to hold the mouse correctly. Review the Computer Health section in the Learning Guide Portal for information on proper mouse usage as you help your student get comfortable at the computer. Computer mice can be used with either the right hand or the left hand, so encourage your student to use the hand that is most comfortable for him. If he chooses to use the mouse with his left hand, you will
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need to position the mouse to the left of the keyboard and change the mouse settings in your computer’s software. This takes only a few seconds, but it is an important step toward avoiding injury or discomfort in the future. Please refer to the instructions in the Computer Health section on the Learning Guide Portal. To avoid cumbersome sentences, the online lesson and the lessons in this manual are worded as if your student is using the mouse with his right hand. If your student uses the mouse with his left hand, you may need to alter the wording of your instructions accordingly. Again, refer to the Computer Health section for more information. Be sure your student can identify the left mouse button; you may wish to mark it with a bit of construction tape if your student is still struggling with the concepts of left and right. Show him how to softly click down on the left button using his index finger. Then have him practice clicking two times quickly without moving the mouse. Tell him this is called a double-click. Explain that double means “two times.” (Note that if your student inadvertently clicks the right mouse button, he will invoke a display of menu options. Explain that the right mouse button is also used for certain jobs, but that the left mouse button is used most often. To exit this menu, move the mouse pointer to any blank area of the desktop display and click once with the left mouse button.) At this time, you may also wish to go over appropriate posture for working at a computer. Following good ergonomic habits and holding a computer mouse properly will help your student stay healthy and avoid the aches and pains that many computer users experience. You will find more information about these topics in the Computer Health section in the Learning Guide Portal.
Notes
Instruction: Remind your student that during the game of “Simon Says,” he practiced following directions by doing what he was told. Say: A computer mouse is an important tool that helps a computer user communicate with a computer. By moving the mouse and clicking its buttons, a person can “tell” the computer directions to follow. If your student is familiar with computers, you may also want to encourage him to identify another common device people use to communicate with the computer (a keyboard). Guide your student to summarize which directions in the game “Simon Says” he was supposed to follow and which he was not. (He was supposed to follow only the directions that began with the words “Simon Says.”) Explain that just as in the game “Simon Says,” there is a correct way to give directions to a computer by using a computer mouse. Tell your student that he is going to view an online lesson that will show him the correct way to use a computer mouse to tell a computer to do different things. Note: If you have not already done so, refer to the sections detailing Minimum System Requirements and How to Use the EasyTech Lessons in the front of this manual. These sections will help you prepare your computer to view the online lessons. When you are ready to begin the online lesson, follow the procedures outlined in How to Use the EasyTech Lessons. After the information loads, click on Select, Drag, & Double-Click to begin the first online lesson. View the lesson with your student.
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Application: After viewing the lesson, help your student practice what he has learned by opening and closing programs on the computer desktop. First, have him double-click on the screen icon to launch your web browser (or another program, if necessary). Then have him close the browser by clicking once on the X in the upper right corner of the screen. Tell him that he can always close a computer program by clicking on the X in the upper right corner of the screen. Next have your student click only once on the screen icon for the word processing program on your computer. Ask him to describe what happened. (The icon changed color, but the program did not start.) Then have him double-click on the icon to launch the program. Help him type his name. After he has finished, ask him to close the program by clicking on the X in the upper right corner of the screen. When the pop-up window appears asking if he wants to save changes to the file, guide him to click on the No button to exit the program.
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Student Assignments
crayons 1/2 orange 1/2 lemon 1/2 apple small piece of construction tape
❑ MATHEMATICS ❑ READING ___Complete Work Page 1–5, Reading Work Pages ___Read “Tam Cat,” Phonics Library ___Complete exercises and answer questions ___Complete Reading Checkpoint ❑ SCIENCE ___Read pp. 1–5, Science: A Closer Look ___Complete Explore activity, p. 3, Science: A Closer Look ___Complete Science Activity 1, Activity Pages ___Complete Science Checkpoint ❑ GAMES AND ACTIVITIES ___Play “Simon Says” ❑ GAMES & ACTIVITIES & COMPUTER SKILLS ___Hold a computer mouse correctly and practice moving it ___View the online lesson Select, Drag, & Double-Click (length 8 minutes) ___Practice opening and closing software programs
Books Phonics Library Reading Word Cards Reading Work Pages Science: A Closer Look Activity Pages
Mathematics
Notes
Complete today’s Math Lesson in the separate Math Lesson Manual.
Reading Introduction: This First Grade Reading course is designed to offer your student a research-based reading program. It features explicit phonics instruction using outstanding literature that motivates students and develops a lifelong love of reading. The course provides purposeful reading instruction evidenced by systematic, explicit daily lessons. Included in the course are a variety of materials to be used for different instructional purposes. Rich literature as well as informational stories are laid out in the multiple Houghton-Mifflin readers. Appealing, decodable stories are included in the Phonics Library textbook. The opportunity to practice reading skills using these materials will help your student develop fluency. Fluency is the ability to read a text accurately and quickly. Your student also will use Reading Work Pages to reinforce the skills and strategies introduced in each lesson. Reading Word Cards will help introduce your student to words and allow him hands-on practice as he gains familiarity with them.
Reading Word Cards Throughout the lessons two types of vocabulary words are introduced. The highfrequency words are to become part of your student’s sight vocabulary. These special words should be displayed on a “Word Wall.” You will also be given story words prior to reading many of the new stories. These words are not displayed on the Word Wall, but are a necessary part of the daily lesson. The words are often specific to the story and do not require memorization 01LMA
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or mastery before reading. The Learning Guide may assist the student with the story words as he reads. As the words are introduced, follow the procedures given in the lessons. The lessons are designed to prepare your student for upcoming reading selections so he is comfortable with the words when he encounters them. Although the high-frequency words and story words will be unfamiliar to your student, always encourage him to use his reading strategies in decoding a new word. ENCOURAGEMENT and POSITIVE SUPPORT are essential! Your student will become a self-confident, fluent, and well-rounded reader with your help. Keep in mind that your guidance will ultimately yield reading independence.
Word Wall A Word Wall is a designated wall space or bulletin board located in your student’s study area. The wall should be large enough for your student to place the highfrequency words in alphabetical columns. Post the Alphabet Cards (also found in Reading Word Cards) along the top of the Word Wall. Also create a “New Words” section, which will be used for placing each week’s new high-frequency words. The New Words section could be on a wall, on the chalkboard, on the refrigerator, or any place the words can be easily seen. Your student will be learning a large number of words, so designating a special section for new words will help keep them separate and organized while he is still learning them. At the end of various lessons, or at the end of a week, your student will be asked to move the new words and place them among the permanent words on the Word Wall. He should organize the words according to their first letter. Follow this procedure for new and old words throughout the year. If space is not available to keep all of the words posted, “retire” some of the earlier words or the words your student has mastered into a file box or notebook where they can be pulled out and reviewed when necessary. Letter Cards Letter Cards are also included in Reading Word Cards. Your student will use these cards to make words as he learns new phonics skills. You may want to cut out and store the Letter Cards in a small plastic bag or envelope for quick access. Reading Strategies Your student will be introduced to six reading strategies that will aid him in comprehending the selections he reads. To help you to better recognize and reinforce certain strategies, the type of strategy may appear in parentheses before story questions. 1. Predict/Infer: Your student will learn how making predictions not only adds to the enjoyment that comes from reading, but can also help in comprehension. He frequently will be asked to make predictions about stories based on their titles, illustrations, and what he has read. 2. Summarize: Your student will learn that summarizing is an excellent skill when trying to remember what happens in a story. Periodically, he will be asked to stop reading midway through a selection to summarize the main idea or important facts using his own words.
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3. Phonics/Decoding: Your student will be asked to apply phonics and decoding skills when encountering new words. Strategies such as examining a word from left to right, thinking about the sounds the letters make, blending sounds, and considering if it is a word your student knows or a word that makes sense in what he is reading are essential skills when deciphering a new word.
Notes
4. Evaluate: Your student will be called upon to decide if he likes a story, if he likes and dislikes certain portions of a story, and if he likes how the author has communicated his or her thoughts. Your student will be asked to explain why he feels the way he does about a story. 5. Question: Your student will learn that asking questions as he reads along will help to clarify the material. 6. Monitor/Clarify: Your student will learn that good readers make sure that the words and ideas in a story make sense. As he is reading, he should ask himself if what he is reading makes sense. If he doesn’t understand something, he should reread, read ahead, or use the illustrations.
Comprehension Skills In addition to the comprehension strategies your student will be learning, he will also be learning comprehension skills. The lessons contain modeling techniques so that you can help your student to best use the skills. To help you to better recognize and reinforce the skills, the type of skill is noted in parentheses before story questions. During the course of this program, some of the comprehension skills your student will learn are: • Distinguish Between Fantasy and Realism • Compare and Contrast • Predict Outcomes • Understand Sequence of Events • Recognize Story Structure • Determine Cause and Effect • Categorize and Classify • Note Important Details (in order to recognize a main idea, topic, and supporting details; make generalizations; and differentiate between fact and opinion) • Draw Conclusions Introduction: These first five lessons focus on the skill of sequencing. Your student will be asked to retell stories according to what happened first, next, and last. He will apply phonics and decoding skills as he encounters new words and he also will be asked to predict, evaluate, and summarize. The selections he reads will be about animals and people and fit the theme “All Together Now!” which will be introduced in tomorrow’s lesson. 01LMA
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Today your student will blend phonemes and identify rhyming words. A phoneme is the smallest unit of sound in a word. For example, in the word hat, the phonemes are /h/ /ă/ /t/. He will review the sounds for the consonants m, s, c, and t and will blend and read words with short a. He will practice reading to improve his fluency.
Phonics Review Objective: to review the sounds for consonants m, s, c, and t Provide your student with Letter Cards for m, s, c, and t. Point to each letter, model how to say it, and have your student say it with you. Remind your student that the sounds for letters can come at the beginning or at the end of words. Use these examples, emphasizing the sounds as shown: mmmat-hammm, cap-Mac, sssat-gass, tap-hat. Application: Have your student say the beginning sound and name the corresponding letter in sun, ten, car, make, and cup. For ending sounds, use drum, hit, but, gas, and foot. For more practice with the sounds of the consonants m, s, c, and t, have your student complete Work Page 1–3 in the Reading Work Page. Phonemic Awareness Objectives: to blend phonemes; to identify rhyming words Tell your student that you will say three sounds that make a word. Say /k/ /ă/ /t/. Repeat the sounds and blend them to say the word cat. Then have your student repeat the sounds and blend the word. Have your student repeat the following sounds and blend them to say each word: /s/ /ă/ /m/ (Sam) /s/ /ă/ /t/ (sat) /m/ /ă/ /t/ (mat) /h/ /ă/ /t/ (hat) /l/ /ă/ /p/ (lap) /j/ /ă/ /m/ (jam) /h/ /ă/ /m/ (ham) /n/ /ă/ /p/ (nap) /m/ /ă/ /n/ (man) /p/ /ă/ /n/ (pan) Listening for Rhymes Say to your student: Cat rhymes with hat. Does cat rhyme with bat? (yes) Remind your student that we say words rhyme when they have the same middle and ending sounds. Ask: 1. Which word rhymes with cat: sit or sat? (sat) 2. Which word rhymes with man: pan or pin? (pan) 3. Which word rhymes with hen: peg or pen? (pen)
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Continue with these words: fan: tin or tan (tan) big: pig or peg (pig) bread: sled or slid (sled) trust: must or mist (must) flat: bat or bet (bat) money: funny or Danny (funny)
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BrainPOP Jr Activity • Rhyming Words
Phonics Objective: to blend and read words with short a Connect Sounds to Letters a, /ă/ Review the short a sound by providing your student with the Alphabet Card for Aa. Explain to him that the a stands for the /ă/ sound as in apple. Have your student repeat /ăăă/ as you point to the letter. Explain that /ă/ can be at the beginning of a word, as in apple, or in the middle of a word, as in cat. Have your student repeat cat and say the sound he hears in the middle of the word, /ă/. Provide your student with the m, a, and t Letter Cards. Put the letters in order to spell mat. Have your student listen as you blend the sounds of the word, “stretching out” the word while pointing to each letter in a sweeping fashion, mmmăăăt. Then say the whole word naturally: mat. Repeat the process, having your student blend the sounds with you: mmmăăăt, mat. Then have him blend the sounds on his own and then say the word naturally. Finally, have him blend the word silently in his head. After he says the word aloud, have him use it in a sentence. Word Building Provide the Letter Cards C and c, S, and s in addition to m, a, and t. Repeat the procedure for the words cat, sat, and Sam. Point out that Sam starts with capital letter because it is someone’s name. Write the following sentence on a piece of paper: Sam can nap. Have your student blend the words to read it. Connect Sounds to Spelling and Writing Give your student a letter tray (found in Reading Word Cards) or have him use the tabletop. Tell him that he will now spell some words. Say mat and have your student repeat it. Have him identify the first sound in mat and put the letter that stands for that sound on his tray. Continue to spell the word sound by sound. Then write mat on a piece of paper and have your student check his work. Repeat with Sam, tam, sat, cat, and Cam. Application: Have your student complete Work Page 4–5 in the Reading Work Pages for additional practice with short a words. On Work Page 4, identify the animal in the instructions as a rat.
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Directed Reading Objectives: to apply the phonics/decoding strategy to decode text; to identify when events occur in a story; to reread to build fluency Remove the first Phonics Library story “Tam Cat,” from the book and give it to your student. Have him describe the cat on p. 5. (big eyes, a heart-shaped nose, long whiskers) Refer to the steps of the phonics/decoding strategy in Reading Word Cards. Then model how to use the strategy to read the story title. Say: I see two words. In the first word, I see the letters T, a, m. I think about the sounds for the letters and blend the sounds /t/ /ă/ /m/, Tam. That’s a name. Then I look at the second word. I see C, a, t. I blend the sounds together: /k/ /ă/ /t/, Cat. I know that the word Cat makes sense. I say the words together: Tam Cat. That is the cat’s name. Have your student read “Tam Cat.” If he has difficulty with any words, remind him to look at each letter and sound out the word. Discuss the following questions with your student. Encourage him to answer in complete sentences. 1. Where does Tam Cat sit? (Tam Cat sits on the mat.) 2. What is Tam Cat doing at the end of the story? (Tam Cat is sitting on the mat and drinking milk.) Build Fluency When a fluent reader reads, he recognizes words automatically and reads aloud effortlessly and with expression. Fluency is important because it provides a bridge between word recognition and comprehension. Because a fluent reader does not have to concentrate on decoding the words, he can focus his attention on what the text means. The earliest selections your student will read will be short in length, containing a few simple sentences. This will ensure that he will feel success as he gets started as a fluent reader. As the course continues and his skills improve, the selections increase in length and complexity. Read aloud pp. 7–8 of “Tam Cat.” Then have your student read the pages aloud. Have your student reread the same pages until he can read them aloud effortlessly. Complete Reading Checkpoint
Science General Course Instructions: Calvert’s First Grade Science course gives your student an opportunity to be a scientist. He will be using the skills of a scientist as you introduce him to the fields of Life Science, Earth Science, Physical Science, and The Human Body. Look over the Table of Contents in Science: A Closer Look with your student to see what topics will be covered in science. In each lesson you will notice Explore activities and Quick Labs, which are designed to enhance your student’s learning by using a hands-on experiment. One item your student will need for many activities in science is a Science Journal. Your student may use a compositionstyle notebook for this purpose, and this is what your student will use to record 01LMA
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data from lab activities and to write reflections or draw pictures about various science concepts. Several lessons reference a Quick Check question. This question is found in the science textbook and is symbolized with a red circle with a white check mark inside of it. The text material can be covered by having your student read aloud to you, by you reading to your student, or by a combination of the two. If your student reads aloud, his comprehension may be less than if you read to him. As the text material is read, always pause to discuss questions given in the Lesson Manual and to observe pictures and diagrams. If your student does not understand a word that is used in the lesson, pause and define the word for him. Science vocabulary is found in bold print in the reading, and the definitions for these words are found in the Glossary in the back of the textbook. The vocabulary words will also be listed in the Vocabulary section of the Lesson Manual. The sections I Read to Review and the Chapter Review at the end of each chapter in the science textbook can be used to review and reinforce concepts from the science lessons. It is recommended that your student visit My Calvert to access the website for the science textbook. This resource provides supportive activities such as animated reviews with interactive quizzes, a journal, science career information, and a glossary that includes audio word pronunciation.
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Examining the Lessons Generally, your student’s First Grade Science lessons may include the following sections: Materials: This is a list of all the items your student and/or you will need to complete the lesson. A comprehensive, lesson-by-lesson Science Materials List appears in the Appendix in the back of the lesson manual. Objective: Each lesson begins with one or more objectives that describes what your student will be learning. The objective should serve as your student’s learning goal for that lesson. Introduction: This section often includes science background information. This background information consists of more indepth material than what is covered in the student textbook. The information in this section is mostly provided by the textbook publisher. This information is not to be read aloud to your student before the lesson begins because he will be discovering and learning the basic concepts throughout the lesson. This section will sometimes include a warm-up activity for your student as well. Vocabulary: The vocabulary words for the lesson will be listed in this section. Instruction: This section provides the information that you will use to conduct the lesson. It will indicate when and how you and your student are to use the textbook. It will provide guided reading questions for you to ask the student while reading as well as other activities that will assist in facilitating learning. Application: This section is designed to enhance your student’s knowledge of the concepts. It may also serve as a review for the material covered in the Instruction section. This section may include discussion questions, an activity page, or a 01LMA
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hands-on activity. When your student completes the Application section of the lesson, he may refer back to the textbook if he needs help answering a question. Assist your student by directing him to the appropriate page in the textbook if he is having difficulty answering a question. Enrichment: These activities are considered optional but are there to enhance your student’s learning. Looking Forward: This section appears when you may need to prepare or gather materials for hands-on activities or experiments, or library materials before the next lesson.
Today’s Science Lesson Objective: to identify two skills that scientists use every day: observation and comparison Introduction: Tell your student that this year in Science he will learn about many interesting topics. Turn to the Table of Contents beginning on p. vi in the Science textbook and point to each of the topics in the textbook as you read the following list aloud to him. Tell him that he will be learning about these topics. • plants • animals and their homes • our Earth • weather and sky • matter • motion and energy Tell your student that before he learns about these things, he will first learn how to think like a scientist does. To begin today’s lesson, ask your student to look around the room and tell you what he sees, hears, feels, and smells. Tell your student that he will make observations. Have your student record what he observes by drawing or writing what he sees, hears, feels, and smells. Your student will use one of the skills that scientists use to make observations about the world around them. In this lesson, your student will learn two of the skills that scientists use to learn about how things in the world work. Vocabulary observe compare classify Instruction: Read Be a Scientist on pp. 1–2 of Science: A Closer Look. As you and your student read p. 1, discuss what the boy could be doing, what tools he is using, how they might help him, and where the setting of the photo is located. Move on to p. 2 in the text, and ask your student if he has ever wondered something
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about animals. Have him give you one or two questions, for example: Why do zebras have stripes? Follow up his question by asking him how he might go about answering it. Ask him to tell you something he notices about the animals on p. 2 just by looking at them. He might say that they are both cats, there is a mother cat with a baby cat, they live in a grassy place, and they have fur. Read p. 3 in the textbook. Complete the Explore activity on p. 3. Have your student add at least one more animal to each group. For example, if your student groups the animals as hair or fur and no hair or fur, then he could add a horse to the hair or fur group and a fish to the no hair or fur group. Actual responses will vary depending upon how your student grouped the animals. Read pp. 4–5 in the textbook. As you finish p. 4, ask your student to discuss what he observes about the animals: for example, the dog is running; the fish is orange and white; the parrot is looking at something below him; the butterfly is standing on a flower; the koala is resting in a tree looking at something below him; the flamingo is pink; the ladybug is walking on a flower; and the snake is blue, black, and red. Your student may only be able to use single words to describe his observations: bear, big, brown, and furry. On p. 5, ask your student to sort the animals into groups: for example, Animals with Feathers, Animals with Fur, Animals without Fur or Feathers. Answers to the exercises on pp. 4–5 have multiple correct responses. Application: Have your student complete the experiment described in Science Activity 1: Observing Without Your Eyes in the Activity Pages. Tell your student that he will use some of his senses to complete this activity. You will need a sliced apple, lemon, and orange prepared for the activity. Other fruits or vegetables may be substituted. You could also substitute chocolate and strawberry milk for the fruits and vegetables.
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BrainPOP Jr Activity • Making Observations
Discussion Questions: Discuss the following questions with your student. Your student may use the textbook to help answer these questions. 1. What is an observation? (An observation is when you look, hear, taste, touch, or smell something to describe it. You use your five senses.) 2. What senses could a scientist use to make observations? (Scientists use their eyes, ears, mouth, fingers, or nose to look, hear, taste, touch, or smell.) 3. What do you do when you compare things? (You tell how things are alike and how they are different.) Enrichment: Take a nature walk with your student. Ask your student to describe what he observes during the walk. He should use his sense of sight, hearing, smell, and touch (where appropriate) to make his observations. Looking Forward: For Lesson 8, you will need dried spaghetti pasta, a tall glass jar, food coloring, and clear carbonated soda for the lab activity. You will also need 2–3 pictures of animals or a book with animal pictures such as Weird Animals by Tammy Everts (Crabtree, 1995). Complete Science Checkpoint
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Games and Activities Various games and activities, often correlated with the day’s reading, will be suggested in many of the following lessons. Additional instruction and materials for some of the activities may be located in the Activity Pages. They are optional, but most children enjoy them. If you are not pressed for time, try to complete some of them. Simon Says: Today, play “Simon Says.” If you say, “Simon says, ‘Put your left hand out!’” your student should do the action. If you say, “Simon says, ‘Put your left hand down!’” your student follows the action. But if you just say, “Raise your right arm sideways!” and your student follows, he has been caught. Your student tries to play the game for as long as possible without being caught. Try to catch him by giving several directions from “Simon” in quick succession, and then suddenly give one from yourself. The game can be played without referring to the left and right, but since your student should develop consciousness of right and left, using these terms can be beneficial. If your student moves the wrong part of his body, such as moving the foot instead of the hand, this, too, should be called a miss.
Games & Activities & Computer Skills Objectives: to demonstrate how a computer mouse device can be used to move a pointer and to select, open, drag, and drop items on a computer screen; to develop fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination Key Terms mouse
pointer
click
double-click
drag and drop
select
objects Note: Most of the key terms in the lessons will be defined within the online lessons. Definitions can also be found in the glossary in the Computer Skills and Application section of the Activity Pages. Introduction: Inform your student that now that he has practiced following directions and telling his left from his right, he will use these skills to explore computers and an important computer device called a mouse. Ask your student if he can point to the mouse on the computer you are using for this lesson; if he is unable to do so, show him where it is. If you are familiar with different types of computer mice, such as those built into the keyboards of notebook computers, you may also discuss these differences with your student. If your student is unfamiliar with mouse usage, show him how to hold the mouse correctly. Review the Computer Health section in the Learning Guide Portal for information on proper mouse usage as you help your student get comfortable at the computer. Computer mice can be used with either the right hand or the left hand, so encourage your student to use the hand that is most comfortable for him. If he chooses to use the mouse with his left hand, you will
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need to position the mouse to the left of the keyboard and change the mouse settings in your computer’s software. This takes only a few seconds, but it is an important step toward avoiding injury or discomfort in the future. Please refer to the instructions in the Computer Health section on the Learning Guide Portal. To avoid cumbersome sentences, the online lesson and the lessons in this manual are worded as if your student is using the mouse with his right hand. If your student uses the mouse with his left hand, you may need to alter the wording of your instructions accordingly. Again, refer to the Computer Health section for more information. Be sure your student can identify the left mouse button; you may wish to mark it with a bit of construction tape if your student is still struggling with the concepts of left and right. Show him how to softly click down on the left button using his index finger. Then have him practice clicking two times quickly without moving the mouse. Tell him this is called a double-click. Explain that double means “two times.” (Note that if your student inadvertently clicks the right mouse button, he will invoke a display of menu options. Explain that the right mouse button is also used for certain jobs, but that the left mouse button is used most often. To exit this menu, move the mouse pointer to any blank area of the desktop display and click once with the left mouse button.) At this time, you may also wish to go over appropriate posture for working at a computer. Following good ergonomic habits and holding a computer mouse properly will help your student stay healthy and avoid the aches and pains that many computer users experience. You will find more information about these topics in the Computer Health section in the Learning Guide Portal.
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Instruction: Remind your student that during the game of “Simon Says,” he practiced following directions by doing what he was told. Say: A computer mouse is an important tool that helps a computer user communicate with a computer. By moving the mouse and clicking its buttons, a person can “tell” the computer directions to follow. If your student is familiar with computers, you may also want to encourage him to identify another common device people use to communicate with the computer (a keyboard). Guide your student to summarize which directions in the game “Simon Says” he was supposed to follow and which he was not. (He was supposed to follow only the directions that began with the words “Simon Says.”) Explain that just as in the game “Simon Says,” there is a correct way to give directions to a computer by using a computer mouse. Tell your student that he is going to view an online lesson that will show him the correct way to use a computer mouse to tell a computer to do different things. Note: If you have not already done so, refer to the sections detailing Minimum System Requirements and How to Use the EasyTech Lessons in the front of this manual. These sections will help you prepare your computer to view the online lessons. When you are ready to begin the online lesson, follow the procedures outlined in How to Use the EasyTech Lessons. After the information loads, click on Select, Drag, & Double-Click to begin the first online lesson. View the lesson with your student.
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Application: After viewing the lesson, help your student practice what he has learned by opening and closing programs on the computer desktop. First, have him double-click on the screen icon to launch your web browser (or another program, if necessary). Then have him close the browser by clicking once on the X in the upper right corner of the screen. Tell him that he can always close a computer program by clicking on the X in the upper right corner of the screen. Next have your student click only once on the screen icon for the word processing program on your computer. Ask him to describe what happened. (The icon changed color, but the program did not start.) Then have him double-click on the icon to launch the program. Help him type his name. After he has finished, ask him to close the program by clicking on the X in the upper right corner of the screen. When the pop-up window appears asking if he wants to save changes to the file, guide him to click on the No button to exit the program.
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