Memoria Press 1st read alouds

[lulalu]

I am looking at the 1st grade enrichment and read alouds. Wondering a few things:

 

1. How much time weekly does this take?

 

2. Are you able to have time for longer read alouds? (We did a lot of chapter books this year that we both liked and I want to continue this)

 

3. How is science tied in? Just through the extra reading or are there activities planned too?

 

And just any thoughts, reviews, and whatnot.

[ExcitedMama]

I’ve used MP Enrichment as a supplement. You can really spend as much or as little time as you want. The books follow a traditional school calendar so start it in the fall and tie the books with holidays and times of the year. When there isn’t a big holiday the books might have their own separate theme to tie the week together. If we liked the theme we might read more about it. If we didn’t or we were busy it was less time. I usually reserved the books ahead of time and added any more that went together at the library. It never got in the way of our chapter books. You could consider ELTL if you want to read through some classics. Science was usually part of a theme, like animals or planets, and they would suggest reading books on the topic and having discussions. We also did a separate science study but it depends on how you want to do it. It was great for me on covering extras like art and classical music I would have missed. Plus older books we probably wouldn’t have read. The discussion questions can help with reading comprehension and paying attention to details in illustrations. It’s a great option that you can really use how you want.

[nixpix5]

We are doing grade 1 enrichment and we use it as a supplement. We do it one day per week. We started it late so we just finished week 9 last Thursday but this is what we did:

 

I wrote the vocabulary words on the white board and we talked about what they meant and used them in sentences in a light way. I then talked over a few of the pre discussion questions before we read. I then read "The Caboose that Got Loose" (I think that was the name...)

 

As I read they love to listen for the vocabulary words and cross them off as they hear them. After, we breezing answer orally some of the discussion questions.

 

Our deep discussion was about "personification" this week.

 

Then we look at the art card and chat about it.

 

We listen to the link for the music enrichment if there is one.

 

I usually grab one or two of the other recommended books from the library so we read a book about trees and did a quick tree parts labeling activity. We chatted about trains and drew a pic of one since we had a drawing book on hand.

 

It probably sounds like alot but it usually lasts anywhere between 30 min to 1 hour depending upon what I add in.

 

My kids enjoy it. Even my 2nd grader does it along with my 1st graders. We will see if it is still fun in 9 more weeks :)

 

ETA: we have plenty of time for other reading. We do ELTL in a light sort of way as well and have been reading through those books as read alouds.

Edited January 30, 2018 by nixpix5

[lulalu]

Thanks

[mmasc]

The science is in the enrichment guide and loosely tied to the weekly read aloud. It’s not just reading books, though. There are little projects, demonstrations, etc. There is a list of *additional* books to read to expand on the science topic, but it’s definitely more than just reading. I found it to be a better use of time to do the little science study, and then only add in books if we were particularly interested in that topic. I thought it was just enough and also fun for first grade. :)

 

Examples: (my summary, directions in the book are much more detailed)

Week 11

Study islands

Gives directions for how to build a volcano.

 

Week 13

Review directions N, S, E, W

Draw or find a simple map and label directions from one point to another.

 

Week 31

Define and discuss clouds (cirrus, stratus, etc)

Indentify in the sky

 

HTH!

[lulalu]

Thanks! Looks like what I was wanting. Easy, open, and go. Two international moves coming up and I want something easy.....

[blondeviolin]

We've been using it this year during our morning meeting. I've got older kids and an advanced first grader so it only takes us 10-20 minutes depending on what we're working through. We don't do the comprehension questions since it's a supplement and my kids get it elsewhere. We do discuss the book and then do the enrichment stuff. They like that.