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Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Winter Sports Centers

After all the calamity days and 2 hour delays----and then the long weekend due to President's Day--I'm plum tuckered out!!   It doesn't help that there are no special or breaks of any sort for 3 days in my week.  LONG days with firsties...and if I think it's a long day, I can only imagine how they must feel.  I try to break our day up with movement, read alouds, centers---but they are still stuck with me all day long.  They need a change of pace sometimes
 (and I need to find a way to get a restroom break!)

This week, I steered away from my basal.   They were to be working on ai/ay patterns.  Friends, 3/4 of my little guys are still having a hard time mastering silent e. 
Why on earth would I move on if they aren't ready?
I feel that sometimes things move too fast!  I want them to understand it--not just keep pushing!

SOO---here's our day today!

My little ones worked hard.   We reviewed nouns, verbs and adjectives.
Sorted, graphed and tallied them!

In Math Intervention, we worked on comparing 2-digit numbers.

These two pages are both in my "Waddle We Do Now?" pack
I blogged about it HERE and shared a sample freebie from the pack.

My littles were introduced to American symbols in a our little reader.
(It's to the repetitive wording of Brown Bear, Brown Bear)

They were so excited about this story!!  
We also read this cute story about George Washington and his Dog.
 
Click the image above to read about it on Amazon. 

Tomorrow we will continue our discussion on American Symbols with 
another reader from my US Pack. 
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/The-United-States-Symbols-People-and-Landmarks-A-mini-unit-494356
You can read a little bit about this pack, grab a freebie and find a few other great things in 
THIS POST from last year.

Today we also worked on centers from Read like a Champion.
This is a phonics based pack.

Here is an example from one of the centers.
 This activity is called Medial Medals.  I worked on it with one of my groups today.
  I had the students tell me each short vowel sound.  They chose a word card and named the picture.  Then we sorted the pictures.  E and I are always hard sounds with my kiddos.  I had them tap the sounds out down their arm as they stretched the word out.  This helps them hear that middle sound.  It can be so difficult for something of them to determine that medial vowel sound.

Since I'm doing this as a reinforcement with a group of kiddos, I didn't place it at a center.
Instead, I took the activity and extended it during our group time.
I had them each choose two cards, gave them a dry erase marker and a board.
We divided our board in half (quick math review--symmetry, 1/2, two equal parts--lol) ;)
I had them place a card on the top of the board above each section.
Then they had to tap out the CvC words and record them on their board.
We repeated with two more cards.

Friends, let me tell you---they were spelling!  They were reading! 
They made me a Proud Mama Bear and I told them how proud I was!
Their smiles lit up my room!


If you're interested in checking out the phonics centers for Read Like a Champion, here is a preview.

Here's a quick break down of the activities included.
Long Vowel Luge is a sort much like the Medial Vowel Sort above, but they are working on the sounds of a, i, o, and u in long vowel form.  There is an activity sheet used as a follow up.

Bobsled Beginnings--Students will choose a picture card and record the beginning sound onto their recording sheet.  The sounds are consonants, digraphs and blends.  Choose from 3 differentiated sets.

Ski with Silent E--Students will read word cards and match them to their picture.  I've also included variations to the activities in the directions to help you differentiate your classroom centers.

Short Vowel Skate Mates--This station is much like Ski with Silent E, 
but it focuses on short vowel words. (CvC)

Snowboarding with Sight Words--Two variations are included for this activity for your students needs.  Students will determine the scrambled sight word, 
write it correctly and then use it in a sentence.


 I currently have this pack on sale for $4.
(because as always, I'm late to the party--one of these days I will be on time!)

Have a great night and a happy week!!
 

Saturday, February 8, 2014

Sight Words and Intervention

Sight words, trick words, popcorn words, sticky words---whatever you want to call them--are so hard for many kids to master.  I remember when my son was 3 or 4, we were working on sight words and such with him  (Yes, I'm that kind of mom---and his sister was already reading by that age) he had a hard time remembering the word THE.  For Connor, he just wasn't ready to read at the time.  I'm not sure how he did it, but he knew all his Dolch words before Kindergarten.

I was fortunate enough to have two kiddos who are high level readers--where it just came easy for them.  Unfortunately, it has made it hard for me in the classroom.  I try to differentiate their instruction.  I work with them during intervention.  Then I come home and try to figure out what else I can do to help them. 

You may remember the story of the little girl last year who struggled with sight words, and she made much growth through the sight word readers I created.  The books were easy, but built with repetition of previous sight words.  It gave her the confidence that she needed.  Her mom was proud of the growth she made last year, and so was I.  She's still holding her own as a 2nd grader right now!!  (I like to see how "my kids" are doing the following year!)

Well this year, I have some struggling kiddos again---the sad thing is, they have missed quite a few days of school (over 35--and that's not counting holidays, snow days and tardies) I know right?  So, I'm trying hard to get them caught up.

One of these kiddos has just recently been pulled for interventions by a resource teacher.  Our resource teacher uses Dolch words, so I needed to revamp some of my work I created previously so I can assist her when she comes back to the room.  I also wanted to create it in a manner to which  parents can help the kiddos at home. 

I think sight words need to be practiced often, repetition is key.  However, I don't want just drill, drill, drill with the use of flash cards.  I created a little pack (very similar to the Super Readers set)  for the first five words in the Dolch Pre-Primer list. 

I've considered revamping the Super Reader sets to resemble this pack, but I needed input from others.  Do you use Fry words or Dolch words?   

 To try this with your kiddos (As a parent or teacher) click on the image below.
 Dolch PrePrimer Sample Pack

What do you think of this little pack with the readers?  



Saturday, February 1, 2014

Valentine's Day Love!!

February is one of those mushy, gushy months.  And ya know-----I'm a mushy, gushy girl!   I mean there's something about reds and pinks and little hearts that make me so happy.  Not to mention the sweet smell of roses, chocolate covered strawberries, candlelit dinners.  I totally buy into the commercialism of Valentine's.  My poor husband, right?   It's totally a girl thing--I get it.  Though when my hubby and I were dating, he didn't turn down the romantic gift of video games I gave him! Or the homemade goodies---now that I think about it---he's totally digging this Valentine's thing too!


Well my friend Ashley, The Teacher's Treasure Chest, told me she liked my Sentence Puzzles...
Sentence Puzzles Workstation
..And casually mentioned that she'd love to see a seasonal version.

Hmm....Seasonal---Holiday--Valentine's---see where my head is going here?


How does it work?

The teacher will choose which version of the puzzles is best suited for the classroom.
There are two to choose from.
 One set uses capitals/punctuation and the other set has it missing.

The puzzles will be cut apart along the dotted line, and place the pieces in a baggie for each puzzle.
*I suggest labeling each set with a colored dot and then also place a dot on the bag.  This helps keep matching sets together and easier for students when cleaning up.

Then choose the recording sheet you would like for your students to use. 
This is a basic skill sheet.  Students will just copy the sentence in their best handwriting.
This page is an extension of the puzzle sentence.  
Students will create a story using the puzzle sentence as their story starter.
These are the other types of recording sheets in the pack.  These sheets model the puzzles that they will assemble.  There is a set for each puzzle in the pack. 

So---as I was saying--I LOVE Valentine's Day.
I would like to share these with you.
All I ask in return is that you are kind enough to leave MEANINGFUL feedback.

Allow me to demonstrate:
Oh, this is just FABULOUS!  I love the graphics and the time you put into this.  
Thank you for making this free!

or

This will really help my students as they are still struggling with proper sentence editing.
Thank you for creating these.


Heck, copy and paste! I don't care LOL---but it's discouraging to see that there are so many 
downloads on products and feedback isn't left.  I know, time is valuable.  So is mine--and I would love to create more freebies for you, but those comments really cheer me on to continue doing so! :)

If you made it this far, you are probably still wanting that freebie, huh?
Well, you can click on the image preview below to hop over to TpT to grab it!
Remember, please leave feedback! ;)
Valentine's Puzzles

OHH--if you're still reading---if you like this set,  you may want to check my other one.
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Sentence-Building-with-Puzzles-A-Differentiated-Literacy-Workstation-812414
Click the image to see it on TpT.

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