“Trumpets, Katydids, Money and More” Week 33 First Grade

Jim’s Trumpet (Fiction, Level 4) by Joy Cowley

A Katydid’s Life (Non-fiction, Level 4) by Nic Bishop

Money (Non-fiction, Level 4) by Pam Bull

Charts and Graphs (Non-fiction, Level 4) by Rochelle Bates

We’re officially on the downhill slope to summer break! So how do I keep my first grader from the threat of spring fever? By using super interesting books, and thankfully this week’s kit was full of them. Jim’s Trumpet is about a guy named Jim whose music transforms his neighborhood. A Katydid’s Life shows, you guessed it, a katydid’s life, and surprisingly Money is about money and Charts and Graphs is about charts and graphs. Each one of them was different and fun.

The activity I want to highlight this week is Step 2 Word Recognition and Phonics Development in the guided lesson for Charts and Graphs. In this step we learned about consonant diagraphs (chart and each; show and push; this and path; which; graph), consonant blends (graphs, sports, class, trip, instead, play, draw, least, most), homographs (record, record; read, read; bow, bow), and using a Glossary. These items really show the value of AlphaSkills for me. It’s not just about the books; AlphaSkills is about so much more – the grammar, vocabulary, spelling, comprehension, writing, phonics, sight words, word analysis, punctuation, and the list goes on! When we use AlphaSkills all of these areas become so easy to teach and learn because every one is not housed in a different workbook, segmented from the understanding of the others. Instead, every concept can be taught through a few engaging, fun to read books that kids love. I’m surprised each week at the different skills taught through each book, and I’m always amazed at how the folks at AlphaSkills do it!

For more information about the AlphaSkills Read with Sarah curriculum and our family, see the AlphaSkills Blog Introduction.