ILA

First Graders will be working in Integrated Language Arts to grow as readers. Throughout the year we will be concentrating on phonemic awareness, phonetic spelling, blending our words, vocabulary, comprehension and reading fluently.

Our year is divided into six themes. Each theme will have stories that relate to that theme’s title. Our themes are as follows:

Themes	Focus Skills	Focus Strategies
Theme 1 – Look at Me Now	Consonants m, t, p and hard c Short vowel a Inflectional ending s Word families am, at and ap	Use picture clues to confirm meaning Re-read aloud Self-correct
Theme 2 – Just for Fun	Consonants d, n, l, ll, ck and k Word families it, id, ad, ack, ick and all Short vowel i Contractions ‘s and n’t Word endings ed and ing	Use picture clues to confirm meaning Sequence events/summarize Use word order and context to confirm meaning
Theme 3 – It’s My Turn Now	Consonants t, h, p, m, s, g, n, f, b, w, and x Short vowels o and a PALS th, ing, ong, or and sh Blends for r and s Double consonants s, t, d, n, f and l Word ending es Contraction ’ll	look for word bits and parts self correct use picture clues to confirm meaning make and confirm predictions sequence and summarize events Look for words you know
Theme 4 – I Think I Can	ch, th, er, ir and ur Word endings le, er, est, s, ed, ing, arn, and orn Blends with l R controlled vowels Introduce y and qu Consonants f, r, j, z, v, k, and c Pals Short vowels u, o and e Long vowel o Word families oat, ot, at, ump and amp Contractions ‘ve and ‘re	Make and confirm predictions Use word order and context to confirm meaning Reread aloud Use picture clues to confirm meaning Sequence events/summarize Make inferences
Theme 5 – Hello, Neighbor	Long vowel e spelled ee and ea Review sh, s, ed, ing, es, j, z, zz, ar and qu Long vowels a, i and u Short vowel a Word families ake, ate, eed, eet, ast, est, ust, ap and ike Vowel sound y and ie Contractions ‘s, n’t, and ‘ll Pal wh	Make/confirm predictions Use picture clues to confirm meaning Create mental images Use word order and context Make inferences Look for words you knows Sequence events/summarize Reread
Theme 6 – Going Places	Long vowel i (igh), a ( ai and ay), e (ee and ea), and o (oa and ow) Short vowels a and e Blends with l R-controlled vowels Word endings ed, er, est and ing Contractions ‘s, n’t, ‘ve, ‘d, ‘re and ‘ll Word family eat Pal wh	Use word order and context to confirm meaning Make and confirm predictions Make inferences Reread aloud Look for word bits and parts Create mental images Sequence events/summarize Read ahead

Please be sure to talk to your child about the stories that they have read in school. Your child should read every night for at least 15 minutes. After your child has read, ask your child some questions about the book that they have read. Don’t forget to initial their homework sheet when they have read. Your child will stay motivated to read if you help them pick book that are on their level and contain their interests. The public library is a great place to find books for them to read. The librarians will even help you pick out books!