Instagram (Teacher Talk Tuesday)

We finally did it. (That's Katie speaking of course). 

You can find us on Instagram. I'm going to go ahead and blame Amanda for getting me started. I swore I'd never use it...and well, she goes and has a linky party with What the Teacher Wants and Apples and ABC's...and now I'm hooked. I'm sure Steve is going to jump on this quickly (insert sarcasm of course) but for the time being you can catch a glimpse of what my reading intervention room looks like...mainly just a bunch of bins filled with books. 

Be sure to follow us on Instagram (readingresourcedotnet) and head over to Amanda's blog to link up! 

Visualizing High Frequency (or Sight) Words

So this probably isn't a new for most of you, but when I heard it last week...I thought it was the greatest thing...And I wished I would've used it with a few kids in the past! 

If you read my last post, you'd know that I went to a PD and thought it too, was the greatest thing. There were many strategies presented for helping visual learners. One way to do this with high frequency/sight words is to have students draw a picture or cartoon to go along with the word. Details of the pictures will help students trigger the words in their head! I tried this with some second graders (and let them pick the words)...This is what they came up with:

On the left is the word "hot" which is falling into the fire. On the right is the word "mess" with dirty clothes laying on the floor. {I'm pretty sure they planned these two words together}.

I'm thinking next year I am going to have these as my Word Wall Words and Words on a Ring...Thoughts?

{On a different note, some 4th Grade teachers came across this OAA video that I thought I'd pass along to you Ohio bloggers}.

Pound the Sound

Last week I had the opportunity to go to a PD by The Therapist's Toolbox called "Autism, ADHD, Dyslexia & Right-Brain Thinkers". It was quite honestly one of the BEST presentations I've been to! The presenter provided so many tips and tricks that I can't wait to use and share with my kiddos. (Unfortunately, I'll be giving the OAA...So it's not going to happen this week!) I wish I was able to tell you everything that I learned, but I'm not sure I could do it justice. I am however in the process of making some things for my kindies and firsties...I promise to share. 

One of the things that was shared (which most of you already know) is that these students need information provided to them visually...and that black & white text is usually very difficult for them to read. The subtle change of color for the background also is best. These students also learn best when colors are associated with learning tasks. (Hence, the colored circles with numbers). I have a few students who are STILL having difficulty with many phonological skills. I've tried every strategy and tool known to help with segmenting sounds in words. Pound the Sound is my next attempt! I will prove students with a word with 2-5 sounds and have them tap (pound) the circles as they say them out loud.

More to come later...If you are OAAing this week...Good luck.

Creativity In Education Is As Important As Literacy!

Thought provoking presentation I viewed just before a week of standardized testing begins in Ohio (sigh). 

Read-O, Math-O, & Write-O Revised!

So, a while back I posted a sample of "Read-O" and "Write-O" that I created for my kiddos over winter break...They looked something like this:

It was a freebie that I linked to Scribd for downloading, but apparently you have to pay...Fail. I said if you e-mailed me, I'd send you the PDF. Yeh, well I'm getting tired of doing that. Today I decided to repost Read-O, Write-O, & Math-O with an updated version. That's because I heart my followers so much. I even got smarter and put them all in the same file. If you'd like the free download, click here.

Oh, and here's what it looks like:

If you want a entire year of Read-O for your class, you can head over to our store to purchase it! (It's our best seller!)

Happy Wednesday bloggers!

All Bundled Up!

Even though Katie and I are officially on Spring break, it doesn't mean it is warm here in Columbus, Ohio. I told my 2 year old son Maxton that it was "too cold" this morning at 7am to play outside, so he took matters into his own hands and proceeded to tell me, "My all bundled up and ready to go, Daddy!" 

 

So in honor of Maxton and the ridiculous weather in Ohio, I took to our ReadingResource.net Store and put together a product "bundle" that blows away the 20% maximum allowed at TpT.  

If you are interested in snagging ALL 17 of our digital reading products (including teacher favorites READ-O, Sight Word Uno & our Fluency Builders) at one fantastic price, check out our new "Product Bundle" and save yourself some serious cash.  And yes, I did end up playing outside....once I put some pants on, me figuratively and literally on Maxton.