“Rainbow Fish, Machines, and Handmade Things” Week 28 First Grade
Fish from the Rainbow (Fiction, Level 3) by Jeanette Cunis
Simple Machines (Non-fiction, Level 3) by Melvin Berger
Made by Hand (Non-fiction, Level 3) by Meish Goldish
This week was full of fun! We read a funny story about a lady who was walking her dog when all of a sudden she saw a beautiful rainbow with silvery fish leaping out. We took a trip to the playground to identify all the simple machines there. We investigated our home for items made by craftspeople and others made in factories. Yes! We always love the mix of fiction and non-fiction books in the AlphaSkills kits, but this week was especially fun for my first grader because of the “experiments” we turned into scavenger hunts.
The activity I want to highlight this week is Step 1 in the Read with Sarah model: Reading Practice of Previously Read Book(s). While this step is not one I blog about often, it is definitely one that we don’t overlook. Every day when it’s time to start AlphaSkills, we begin the lesson by pulling out another AlphaSkills book that my first grader has mastered and allowing him to read it aloud to everyone. He loves it because for a few minutes he is the star of the day – the expert – the ace reader, and he eats up all the attention. I don’t think I have to tell you what this does for his confidence level in reading, but beyond that, it also gives him the chance to practice his public speaking/reading skills too.
In addition, I would like to highlight a phonics skill that we really enjoyed this week in the kit for Fish from the Rainbow: substitution of final consonant. During this activity we were able to practice the following substitutions: run to rub, rain to rail, look to loot, had to ham. This was a great way for us to practice spelling multiple words at once and also learn that the same letter may make different sounds depending on what’s around it. For more information about the AlphaSkills Read with Sarah curriculum and our family, see the AlphaSkills Blog Introduction.