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Week of October 18 This week we are having fun with some Halloween poems that have the "ar" and "oo" sounds. We can make lots of words with these sounds. The "bossy R" is being studied this week (ar, er, ir, or, ur). She is soooo bossy she does not let the vowels say their short or long sound. She tells them what to say!! We hope to make a learning video this week to help other students learn about the "bossy R" We continue to work on fluency in our reading. Using the book, More Spaghetti, I Say it presents the perfect opportunity to sound like we are talking when reading. The book, The Winter Wind, allows lots of opportunities to see the "bossy R" at work. SSSHHH... The passwords for the week is "children" and "child". Don't forget to ask your child what we are doing this week!!

Week of October 25

This week is filled with fun poems about goblins and skeletons to celebrate Halloween. Expect to hear some funny Halloween jokes! As you will see, a great deal of comprehension and prior knowledge goes into telling a joke "just the right way". We are focusing our phonics work this week on the rule about 2 vowels together. When 2 vowels go walking together, the first one does the talking (says it's name) - usually. This rule does not always work! We are studying one such exception, ou and ow. The game "Trick or Treat" will reinforce these vowel combinations.

We will be focusing on reading non-fiction books this week. There are many interesting features in nonfiction text such as the table of contents, glossary, index, captions, headings, diagrams, and labels. For many students, the increase in new vocabulary makes this type of book more challenging to understand. Please make sure to question your child about their reading each day. Asking for a retell is a good beginning to this activity.

The password this week is "sure". One way to practice this word is to have the word posted at the door of a well travelled room. Everytime they enter or exit, they must state the word before they can continue on their way.

Your child will not be taking part in the Empowering Learners Program on Friday. I am away at a meeting. This is great timing as your child will have the opportunity to take part in all of the learning activities centered around Halloween on this day in the classroom. Have a safe and happy Halloween!

Next week the Empowering Program will run Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Our time together just flew by! I have seen a nice improvement in the reading skills of all the students :)

Week of November 1

This week we will meet together Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. The afternoon group will finish up on Tuesday. I will collect homework on Friday as usually. Your child will then receive homework from their classroom teacher. We will spend these last few days reviewing the work that has been done over the last few weeks.