G1M2U1_ModuleLessons_OverviewforFamilies-0519 - Accessibility
Overview
This is a REMIX of a resource from EL Learning that is part of a module where students build their literacy and science skills as they engage in a study of the sun, moon, and stars. The full Module can be found here - https://curriculum.eleducation.org/curriculum/ela/grade-1/module-2
The intent of this REMIX is to allow participants to make a copy and make edits to increase accessibility.
Letter to Families
This is a REMIX of a resource from EL Learning that is part of a module where students build their literacy and science skills as they engage in a study of the sun, moon, and stars. The full Module can be found here - https://curriculum.eleducation.org/curriculum/ela/grade-1/module-2
The intent of this REMIX is to allow participants to make a copy and make edits to increase accessibility.
Notes to Teacher:
Making connections between home and school is vitally important in supporting students’ learning. The following suggestions and materials represent some of the ways you can support these connections during this unit.
Suggestions:
- Copy the attached family letter and send it home with students after teaching Lesson 1 (this letter can be used as is or as a model). Consider having the letter translated for families whose first language is not English.
- Encourage students to share any at-home learning with the class. They can do this orally or by sharing writing, pictures, or artifacts. Example: Consider providing time for students to share experiences they have with the sun and moon during times when they are not at school. Students can document by writing and drawing pictures.
- Create a display board featuring pictures of the sun, moon, and stars. Provide a label for each picture written in several different languages.
- Take pictures of the sun, moon, and stars during various times of the day and throughout the month and post them in the room or hallway.
- Depending on the needs of your students and the expectations of your school community, consider assigning additional homework. Examples: open-ended activities that help students read, think, talk, write, and ask questions about the topic instead of those that simply test students on their content knowledge (see suggested activities in the family letter).
- If using EL Education’s K–2 Reading Foundations Skills Block, consider sending home a copy of the Decodable Student Reader used each week and encourage families to have students read these texts aloud to them.
Dear Family,
During Unit 1 of this module, your student will generate questions about the sun, moon, and stars and begin to consider how the sun and moon have inspired storytellers. Students examine and read various narrative stories about the sun, moon, and stars, and build skills of retelling role-playing and writing in response to text. By the end of the unit, students will be able to participate in a discussion about the unit guiding question: “Why do authors write about the sun, moon, and stars?” I am writing today to explain what your student will be learning, describe the activities that will support this learning, and suggest how to support this learning at home. I hope that you will plan to join us at the end of our deep study to celebrate all of your student’s learning!
What will your student be learning?
Students will begin to study the topic by reading various narrative stories about the sun, moon, and stars and considering how they inspire each story. As students read, they gather and record descriptive language used to describe the appearance and position of the sun and moon, and work to retell key events from each story. The learning will be focused on these ideas:
- The sun, moon, and stars are always there and affect our lives in different ways.
- The sun, moon, and stars inspire us and make us imagine.
Students will also practice these reading literature skills:
- Retelling stories, including key details and demonstrating an understanding of their central message or lesson
- Describing characters, setting, and major events in a story, using key details
- Identifying words in stories that suggest feelings or appeal to the senses
How will your student be learning?
Throughout the unit, your student will read, think, listen, talk, write, and ask questions about the topic of how the sun, moon, and stars inspire storytellers. Students will participate in these activities, among others, to build their literacy skills:
- Listening to read-alouds of a variety of texts about the sun, moon, and stars
- Closely observing and examining pictures of the sun, moon, and stars to generate notices and wonderings
- Singing songs and engaging in movement routines about the sun and moon
- Engaging in role-play with peers to act out and retell various parts of stories read aloud
- Responding to text through writing and drawing
What can you do to support your student’s learning at home?
Here are a few activities that you can do at home with your student to support his or her learning:
- Ask your student to talk with you about this question: Why do authors write about the sun, moon, and stars?
- Read books and sing songs about the sun, moon, and stars from home or at the library.
- Observe the sun, moon, and stars at different times of the day and discuss their appearance and position in the sky.
- Encourage your student to read the weekly Decodable Student Reader or a letter book to you every night.
Please let me know if you have any questions or would like to discuss your student’s learning.
Sincerely,