Dear Parents,
Below is the learning plan for the week of March 23rd.
Please continue with the morning verse, which can be said in English, then Spanish or German, as well as any unfinished work from last week, and continue to go at yours and your child’s own pace. If you have any questions or concerns, please do feel free to reach out to me. Here is the information for the PTC sign up to schedule a phone conference or a check-in call – both are welcomed.
At your call time, please call my home number - (212) 505-8199.
The physical package you will pick up tomorrow will include specific guidance for each activity. It will also include some supplies that I would request you keep together and help your child put away after each use so nothing gets lost. All supplies will need to come back to school once we are able to do so.
I would love to see the work that your children are doing! If possible, please save all loose work in a folder to bring back to school when we do so, but also if you are able to take a picture and email it to me, that would be great.
Lesson books with completed bookwork can come back to school next Monday and I will give new lesson books to use next week.
The following are links to audio that you will need for this week, followed by guidance.
Please allow your children to listen to audio files through a speaker, not with headphones.
Flute Practice
Songs
Tongue Twisters
Stories
Morning Verses
Verses, Songs, Tongue-Twisters, and Flutes
Links to these are above. Each should be practiced every day, but only as much as your child has the focus for. You could do both songs, one tongue-twister and one flute song each day and that would be fine.
Stories
There are two stories for this week. Please tell The Wolf and the Seven Kids on Monday, then on Tuesday recall the story with your child. Give help where needed, by asking about feelings rather than facts, e.g. “How did the youngest kid feel when it saw it’s mother again?” or “How did the wolf feel with all those stones in his tummy?”
On Wednesday have the child do a free drawing from the story, in their YELLOW MAIN LESSON BOOK and help your child come up with a sentence that describes their picture. Write the sentence for them, in UPPER CASE letters. Help them figure out how many pathways they would need in their book for the sentence. Create the pathways, seeing how that is done from other lesson books, with the mama bear side of a blue block crayon)
On Thursday, please tell them Sister-In-The-Bushes. I told them the first chapter of this book in the last week of school, and was intending to continue it with a chapter each week. No need for any follow-up bookwork, just for them to enjoy.
Main Lesson bookwork:
NB: My apologies for the confusion last week of receiving this info but no books in the package!
The following pages can be put into the main lesson book IN THE FOLLOWING ORDER. Your child may only have the focus for one piece of work each day, or they may want to do more. They are welcome to do more, as long as they are not rushing, and their work is carefully done.
These pages all come from stories that I have already told and we have already reviewed together, so they will probably know exactly what’s going on, but feel free to help them if they are confused at all.
There is a poem in the physical package called “Mary and her Mother”. Please read this poem to/with your child each morning before they start their bookwork.
Mikey Minus drawing
(on the blank page after the last work done)
Taking away cherries page
(on the page with 4 pathways)
Aunt Milly and Uncle David drawing
(on the next blank double page spread)
Loaves in the oven drawing
(on the next blank page)
Loaves in the over text
(on the page with 6 pathways)
Dividing the sacks double page
(on the double page spread with 3 pathways on each page)
BOOKWORK GUIDANCE:
All drawings use BLOCK CRAYONS ONLY
- Papa bear side for large shaded areas
- Mama bear side for most everything else
- Baby bear side for details
All writing use STICK CRAYONS
- Check your child’s grip – every time they pick up the crayon to write
- BEAK CLOSED? FEATHERS TUCKED?
- If not, put crayon down, wriggle fingers, pick up crayon
- Always go “from the stars to the stones”
- Always write in upper case, filling the whole height of the pathway
Make sure not to rush, do your best careful work.
Math Skills Practice:
Continue with counting activities from last week. New activities/games are included in the printed package.
Language Skills Practice:
New language skills activities will be included in the printed package.
SHORT VOWEL SOUNDS – the children know these anchors for the short vowel sounds, please remind them if they are struggling to hear a short vowel sound.
Short a - / ă / for ăpple
Short e - / ĕ / for ĕlf (“ĕh, ĕh, ĕh”)
Short i - / ĭ / for ĭtch
Short o - / ŏ / for ŏtter
Short u - / ŭ / for ŭp
Form Drawing:
There will be five more form drawings included in the printed package
.
Running forms – one each day
- Keep the crayon on the page the whole way along
- Go from left to right on the page
- Keep the forms even as you go along
- Practice first, then make your best form to shade
Nature and Family Time:
Please help your child spend 10 minutes, 3 times during the week, outside in a sitting observation period. Choose a quiet spot in nature where she or he can observe without distractions from other people, traffic, and so on.
When the observation period is done, please have your child share with you about the “things” she/he saw, “movements” she/he saw, or “sounds” she/he heard.
Have your child do a free painting inspired by something from their sit spot experience. The page should be completely filled with color.
Foreign Languages:
Dear First Grade Families,
For the week of March 23rd, your First Grader can speak the Morning Verse in Spanish and in German (it’s especially rewarding to speak the verses right after they speak the English version).
We are providing an audio file to listen to in both Spanish and German because your students are not yet reading and writing in the Foreign Language classes. Your students are very familiar with the Spanish and German versions, since they begin their Foreign Language classes with these verses and we hope that the audio files can help them remember the more difficult passages. Please feel free to contact us with any questions. All of you are in our thoughts.
Wishing you all the best,
Señora Concha and Frau Pilgrim
Lastly, I want to let you all know that I am thinking of your children and each of you during this extraordinarily challenging time. I am missing being with the class, but hope that we can stay connected through this time.
Warmly, and with deep gratitude,
Ms. Loshak
