Happy New Year! We had a wonderful and engaging month in January as we explored our unit, “Heroes in Our Community.” Throughout this unit, students learned about the important roles that community helpers play in our everyday lives and how they make a difference in keeping us safe, healthy, and supported.
Our young learners built on their prior knowledge of the topic and made meaningful personal connections to their own lives. We focused on developing language skills by learning and practicing new vocabulary related to community helpers, as well as discussing examples using complete sentences. Students also practiced active listening skills while watching videos and were encouraged to share details and ideas collaboratively with their classmates.
In literacy, we explored informational texts and learned how to identify the topic, main idea, and key details. Students practiced summarizing and discussing what they learned, using academic vocabulary. We also worked on understanding basic concepts of print, such as recognizing words within sentences.
Our foundational skills included:
- Identifying rhyming words
- Identifying syllables in spoken words
- Recognizing words
- Practicing phonics with syllables that include the /d/ sound
- Learning and reading high-frequency words (“words I want to know”)
- Reading simple decodable texts
Additionally, students strengthened their oral language skills through active listening, visualization, and collaborative conversations with peers.
To wrap up our unit, students proudly presented to the class about what their grown-ups do for a living and how their roles contribute to the community as everyday heroes. It was such a meaningful experience for everyone!