Short a week - Madeline

March 30 - April 2

Sound of the Week – short a
Book of the Week – Madeline
Habit of the Month – Truthfulness
Mom of the Month - Bonnie Pruitt


This week begins our specific look at short vowel sounds.  We will cover one each week…until the end of the year.  I can not believe how few weeks we have left! We’ll be focusing on one vowel per week – listening for short vowel sounds, reading and spelling short vowel words.

We will still have a Book of the Week:
a –Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans
e –Seven Chinese Brothers by Mahy
i –The Story about Ping by M. Flack
o –Bonnie’s Big Day by James Herriot
u - Rumplestiltzkin by Paul O. Zelinsky

We will not be sending home these books, as we want your children to begin to do Narration Journal entries from class readings only. So, just as with the books all year, please don't get the book to re-read at home. It will seem "hard" at first, but this really is part of the way we learn to process material. This leads to very valuable comprehension and study skills down the road! These are wonderful books, great authors, and important genre of literature you may want to explore this spring and summer!!

This week’s book is Madeline, by Ludwig Bemelmans.  This is a very special book for me!  I remember my Granddaddy reading this delightful story to me over and over again when I was a little girl. We will all have fun learning and saying this rhyming story of Madeline and the “old house in Paris that was covered in vines.”  We will revisit rhymes, explore the many sights of Paris found in the illustrations, and look in-depth at the Eiffel Tower.  We’ll look briefly at human anatomy – muscles, nerves, bones and organs – even pictures of a healthy and diseased appendix!  We’ll count by twos, talk about emotions and things that make us smile, frown or be afraid.  We’ll see that God made us “fearfully and wonderfully” – emotionally, physically and spiritually!  (It’s a good week to review home address and to learn your home phone number!)

There are several other Madeline books – Madeline and the Bad Hat (lots of short a words - and bad behavior - in that one!) and Madeline in London (a fanciful story with a delightful look at many of London’s famous sights!)  Explore – and enjoy!

Don't forget about Kite & Rocket day this Thursday, April 2!  This is a family event for K-2.  We will not be going as a class.  We will have regular carpool on that day.  Please pick your child up as usual, whether you are planning to attend Kite & Rocket day or not.  We will not be able to take students to the event.  As with any day, we also can not release kindergarteners to older siblings.  Thank you for helping us make certain all children are dismissed safely!

I enjoyed our conferences this week.  Your children are such a precious blessing to me!  I am so grateful for all of you!