“Ransom Notes, Detectives, and Patriots” Week 25 First Grade

Chocolate Chip Muffins (Fiction, Level 2) by Joy Cowley

Garbage Detectives (Non-fiction, Level 2) by Meredith Costain

My Country, ‘Tis of Thee (Non-fiction, Level 2) Scholastic

I Pledge Allegiance (Non-fiction, Level 2) by Bill Martin Jr. and Michael Sampson

Have you ever heard of a little girl who loves chocolate chip muffins so much that she fakes her own kidnapping just to get her parents to bake a big batch? We never had either, until this week when we read Chocolate Chip Muffins by Joy Cowley. I must admit that was quite a surprise and a very good opportunity to talk about jokes and pranks that are fun and those that are not fun. Malachi learned that faking a kidnapping is definitely in the not-fun category.

The activity I want to highlight this week is the Linking Guided Reading to Social Studies that accompanies My Country ‘Tis of Thee and I Pledge Allegiance. This activity outlines three things to do together before reading the book and four things to do afterwards, and it also comes with pictures of eight historical figures and a copy of America the Beautiful. Through these activities we learned about why we have special songs to celebrate our country, what freedom/independence from Great Britain meant then and what it means now, how to decode old-fashioned words like amber waves of grain, and how important it is to have the following character traits like the historical figures featured: fairness, justice, respect for others, courage, equality, tolerance, and commitment. I was especially surprised at how fascinated my first grader was to hear me sing these old songs to him. We sing a lot in our house, but I don’t think we ever take the time to sing the old patriotic hymns, and it was so fun to see my little guy experience these for the first time.

 The skill I want to highlight this week is Step 2B in the Read with Sarah model: Structural Analysis/Punctuation/Grammar. Through just this one step for the three Guided Lessons provided this week we learned how to change y to i before adding an ending, how to spell food words, how to use bullets in writing, why some words have multiple meanings, how to use a semicolon, and when to use the possessive form. So much good learning! For more information about the AlphaSkills Read with Sarah curriculum and our family, see the AlphaSkills Blog Introduction.