Week of May 13

We will work on the following this week:

1st LA-spelling words with the suffix -er and -est, reading and writing nonfiction texts

3rd LA-spelling words with -ge and -dge, reading and writing nonfiction texts

1st RTI-closed and open syllables

2nd/3rd RTI-reading and spelling words with ow

Upper level RTI-differentiating between -ge and -dge

Have a great week!

Week of April 8

The students have been working so hard the past couple of weeks on learning their long vowel sounds! This week third grade learned about dinosaurs and fossils, and they even became paleontologists and dug for "fossils" using cookies and toothpicks. They discovered that chiseling out something so tiny and delicate is not easy. First grade also got to experience the fun.

We will work on the following skills next week:

1st LA: words with oo (book, hood, hook, etc.), reading poetry, pronouns, and cause effect. First grade will also be researching three animals of their choice. The students will then create their own informational book.

3rd LA: words with y as a vowel (gym, penny, pony, etc.), reading nonfiction pieces, going back into the text to find evidence to support our answers, and text features. Students will also choose 3-4 dinosaurs to research and write their own informational books.

Students will have a sight word spelling test on April 18. They will also rotate reading the sight words with me that week for a grade. Continue to practice the words at home.

1st RTI: reading and writing words with v and y, fluency practice

2nd/3rd RTI: reading and writing words with vowel teams ai/ay, fluency practice

Upper Level: y as a vowel (gym, penny, pony, etc.), fluency practice.

Week of March 4

We will work on the following skills next week:
3rd Grade LA: reading fiction and finding the theme of a story, writing opinion pieces, spelling homophones, using adjectives in writing. Students will have an actual spelling word list for the week with homophone pairs in addition to five sight words.  

1st Grade LA-reading informational text about healthy foods, writing opinion pieces, spelling words with ai and ay (sail, pail, pay, say, etc.), using adjectives in writing.

1st Grade RTI: reading and spelling words with f and n

2nd Grade RTI: reading and spelling words with long e using ea (bead, read, etc.)

Upper level RTI: reading and spelling words with both ou and ow.

Have a great week!

Week of January 28

We will work on the following skills this week:

1st Grade Language Arts: long a vowel sound (bake, made, game, etc.), writing compound sentences, opinion writing, text features

3rd Grade Language Arts: spelling words with ur, writing compound sentences, opinion writing, text features, comprehension test for the story Technology Wins the Game will be Feruary 6.

1st RTI: writing and spelling words with j along with long vowel practice

2nd RTI: writing and spelling words with -ed where the final consonant of the base word is double or dropped (ex: dropped, skipped, baked, hopping, hoping, etc.)

Upper Level RTI: writing and reading words with ur

Have a great week!

Week of January 2 and 7

Welcome back! We will work on the following skills this week and into next:

1st LA-reading informational texts and writing a report about an ocean animal, reviewing nouns and verbs. There is no spelling test for January 4!

3rd LA-We have finished Flat Stanley. Our story for this week into next is about the job of an illustrator. This week we will review spelling patterns learned this year, particularly long vowels. Next week we will focus on words with -er. There is no spelling test January 4!

RTI-We will review skills taught this week. Next week we will work on words with the letter i (1st grade), suffix -ed (2/3 grades), and words with -er (4/6 grades).

Have a great couple of weeks!

Weeks of November 26 and December 3

3rd Grade LA: We will finish up our verb unit and move into subject/verb agreement when writing sentences. We started reading Flat Stanley: The Mount Rushmore Calamity. We will continue reading the book and discussing the plot. Students will finish our -oe word study and begin learning words with the vowel team ai.

1st Grade LA: We will finish up our verb unit and move into subject/verb agreement when writing sentences. We will continue to focus on short vowel sounds in our word studies.

1st RTI-We will work on words that have the l sound.

2nd RTI-We will focus on ending blends (-pt, -ct-, -mp, etc.)

Upper level RTI- We are finishing our study of -oe words. Next week we will focus on the vowel team ai.

Have a great week!

Week of November 19

Due to the snow days, we will continue last week  lessons.

First and third grade will have their spelling tests they would have taken Friday on Wednesday, November 21. We will also be taking our first unit benchmark tests.

1st RTI-continuing words with m

2nd RTI-continuing words with beginning blends

Upper level RTI-reading and writing words with oe and reviewing other vowel teams we've learned

Have a great week!

Week of November 5

We will be reviewing skills taught so far this year.

There will not be spelling words this week.

See  you all at conferences!

Week of October 29

We will work on the following skills this week:

3rd Grade LA: finishing Pop's Bridge (comprehension test on Tuesday), spelling words with oa, reading Roberto Clemente and focusing on character traits, writing a descriptive paragraph

1st Grade LA: fairy tales and reading Jack and the Wolf, spelling words with short a, double final consonants (ll, zz, ff, ss) and ck (rock, luck, etc.)

1st RTI: assessment week

2nd RTI: assessment week

Upper level RTI: spelling and reading words with oa, reviewing long e using ee and ea

Have a great week!

Week of October 22

We will work on the following skills next week:

1st LA-reading and spelling short u words (cup, hug, etc.), verbs (action words), plot of a story (characters, setting, events in order), writing sentences on the same topic to match a picture

3rd LA-reading and spelling words with ee, verbs (action words), comparing characters, story structure (characters, setting, problem, solution, events), writing a descriptive paragraph

1st RTI-reading and spelling words with g

2nd RTI-reading and spelling words with l blends (bl, fl, cl, etc.)

Upper level RTI-reading and spelling words with ee, fluency

Have a great week!

Week of October 9

We will work on the following this week:

3rd Grade Language Arts: reading Destiny's Gift and focusing on character traits (comprehension test  will be on Wednesday, October 17), writing an informational paragraph about bats, possessive nouns (quiz will be Friday, October 19), spelling words with magic e (continue to practice reading and writing these types of words at home, such as mistake, cupcake, compete, etc.), sight words again, goes, know, they, who.

***Please study sight words EVERY NIGHT for Friday's test!

1st Grade Language Arts: reading Curious George and focusing on character traits (comprehension test will be Friday, October 12), writing two informational sentences about bats, possessive nouns (the cat's tail, the dog's bark, etc.), spelling words with short o

1st Grade RTI: reading and spelling words with the letter a, comprehension and fluency skills

2nd Grade RTI: reading and spelling words with open and closed syllables, comprehension and fluency skills

4/6 RTI: reading and spelling words with long vowels using magic e, comprehension and fluency skills

Have a great week!

Week of October 1

We will work on the following skills this week:

1st Grade ELA: reading and writing short i words (him, if, Tim, etc.), singular and plural nouns (cat/cats) and using them in a sentence, drawing conclusions,

3rd Grade ELA: reading and writing two and three-syllable words with magic e (hesitate, contemplate, cupcake, etc.), writing a narrative, drawing conclusions, singular/plural nouns, sight words ready (review), about, knew, often, part, watch. There will be a comprehension test on our Cardigan Jones story on Wednesday, October 3. Spelling and grammar tests will always be on Friday.

1st Grade RTI-reading and writing words with the letter a (cat, at, pat, am, etc.)

2nd Grade RTI-reading and writing words with both open and closed syllables (lotus, mason, focus, etc.)

4/6 RTI-reading and writing two and three-syllable words with magic e (hesitate, contemplate, cupcake, etc.)

Have a great week!

Week of Setpember 24

We will work on the following skills this week:

3rd Grade ELA: reading Cardigan Jones, common and proper nouns, writing a narrative, spelling words with long vowels with "magic e" at the end (ex; bake, bike, made, etc.)

1st Grade ELA: reading The Storm, common and  proper nouns, writing a narrative, spelling words with short i (him, is, etc.)

1st Grade RTI: reading and writing words with short o (octopus, pot, cot, etc.)

2nd Grade RTI: reading and writing words with open syllables (be, me, lotus, open, etc.)

Upper Level RTI: reading and writing words with long vowels using 'e' at the end (mistake, bake, etc.)

Have a great week!

Week of September 17

Students will work on the following skills next week:

First Grade Language Arts:
-reading and writing words with short a
-writing a narrative
-identifying nouns

Third Grade Language Arts:
-continue to work on reading and spelling words with -ed (the first spelling test that will be graded will be September 21)
-continue to work on subject/predicate
-focus on character traits and using text evidence while reading Freckle Juice
-writing a narrative

1st Grade RTI
-reading and writing words with /k/ using the letter c.
-correctly writing the letter c

2nd Grade RTI
-reading and writing words with beginning blends

Grades 4/6
-spelling and reading words that use ph for the /f/ sound

Grade 5
-reading and spelling words with ending syllables consonant-le (-fle, tle, etc.)

Have a great week!

Welcome Back/Week of September 10

Welcome back to a new school year! This is my tenth year at OCS, and I can't wait to get to know your children and watch them grow as learners this year.

Each week I will post what the students will be focusing on during the week along with any important dates.

*Each student will have a spelling test on Friday. If your child is in my first grade language arts class, we will use the words from our Journeys program. These words can be found on their homework pages listed in their packet that goes home each day. PLEASE RETURN THE PACKET EVERY DAY. We will also use the packet for classwork.

If your child is in my third grade language arts class, we will use our Orton-Gillingham skill for the week for the words on Friday. Third grade WILL NOT receive a list of words to study from. They are expected to be able to apply the weekly rule to any word given to them on Friday. If the students are able to finish their Orton worksheet for the daily lesson, they will not have spelling homework. If students are not able to finish their classwork, the worksheet will be sent home to be completed along with the nightly grammar homework. Grammar homework will be listed on the front of the students' classwork/homework packet. PLEASE RETURN THE PACKET EVERY DAY.

Students will work on the following skills this week:
1st Grade LA-identifying nouns, reading and spelling words with short a, beginning to write a narrative

3rd Grade LA-identifying subject/predicate, reading and spelling words with the suffix -ed, reading the text Freckle Juice and answering comprehension questions

2nd Grade RTI-reviewing double ending consonants (-ff, -ss, -zz, -ll)

4/6 RTI-reviewing double ending consonants (-ff, -ss, -zz, -ll)

5 RTI-reviewing er, ir, ur

If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at jsaxton@oxfordcentral.org

Have a great week!

Week of June 4 and June 11

We will continue to work on the following skills this week:

1st Grade: reading and writing words with long vowel sounds using magic e (bake, make, kite, etc.)

2nd Grade: reading and writing words with the vowel team oa (oat, oatmeal, boat, etc.)

Upper Levels: read and spell words with -tch (witch, batch, catch, etc)

Next week students will  compelte group and individual assessments.

Have a great couple of weeks!

Week of May 21

We will work on the following skills next week:

1st Grade: reading words with vowel units ang, ank, ing, ink, ong, onk, unk, ung

2nd Grade: reading and spelling words with ee (tree, tee, bee, etc.)

Upper levels: vowel digraphs oi, oy (boy, boil, etc.)

Have a great week!

Week of May 14

Due to PARCC testing, I will not be seeing first grade or my morning second grade groups.

Upper levels of RTI and the afternoon second grade will work on the following next week:

2nd-review of skills taught throughout the year

Upper levels-reading and writing words with au

Have a great week!

Week of May 7

We will work on the following skills next week:

1st Grade: reading and spelling words with ending blends (-mp, -ld, nt, etc.)

2nd Grade: reading and spelling words with the vowel team ea (beach, beast, cream, etc.)

Third and fourth grade RTI will not meet due to PARCC testing. Get lots of rest and eat a good breakfast (or lunch if you test in the afternoon)! :)


Have a great week!

Week of April 30

We will work on the following skills next week:

1st grade: reading and spelling words with beginning blends

2nd grade: reading and spelling words with ph (elephant, phone, etc.) and -ck (pick, rock, block, etc.)

Upper levels: reading words with aw and a (awful, squawk, bald, water, etc.)

Have a great week!