Hump-Day Freebies!

A few days ago I was preparing for a presentation with all of my pocket chart word sorts spread all over the place...In the midst of sorting through baggies and baggies of words, I wondered why I never have created a "Word Wall" around the sounds that I'm teaching my kiddos? Why do I display words by their beginning letter? (It's definitely not how I teach…)

And...Because I've been stuck in my apartment because of this…

I created a 'lil freebie. No more "Word Walls" for this girl. Say hello to "Sound Stations".  In this download, you'll have the 16 vowel headers that look something like this:

…And over 300 word cards that look something like this:

Just head on over to Katie's TpT Store to download "Sound Station: Headers and Word Cards" for FREE! 

I also have been looking for just the right vocabulary tools for my 3rd Graders…after looking and looking and finding nothing, I decided to create a special dictionary of my own! I purchased one-inch binders for each student and printed all of the pages in this download. The first few pages are "tools" that can help them (Synonyms, Antonyms, Tier Words, Parts of Speech). I'm working with the lowest 3rd Graders in my building and they NEED as many visuals as they can get...

 

I wish I had a better pic of a student binder, but again, I'm stuck in my apartment. This is a rough sketch of what a sample page might look like. Please excuse my attempt to draw a fox! 

When it's completed, it would be filed behind the "P" tab! 

I hope you find this as helpful as I have…be sure to head on over to my TpT Store to download it for free.

Stay warm, friends!

Sight Word Flip It (Our App on iTunes!)

It's FINALLY here!

Our very first (reading) app is up on iTunes! If you heart our Reading Fluency Flash Cards, you'll LOVE our new app, "Sight Word Flip It!"

This app was carefully designed to help teachers and parents teach kids the advanced phonics patterns in words. The complex phonics patterns are what make reading difficult and this app brings these spelling patterns to life for kids in a systematic and easy to understand way.

You'll love this app because:

It organizes Dolch Sight Words and other single syllable words by sound.

It teaches ALL spelling patterns for every vowel sound in the English Language.

It incorporates four methods of multi-sensory prompting so kids can figure out the “tricky” parts of words independently.

It’s made by teachers for teachers and parents.

It works! Trust us, we teach kids to read for a living and use it daily with our own students.

Let "Sight Word Flip It" help your kids learn to read through sight, sound and touch just like it helps our students!

Sight Word Flip It...

*Common Core Aligned
*Research-based
*Multi-sensory learning tool combining seeing, hearing, and tactile feedback
*Allows kids to see, bold, and hear the letters and sounds in words.
*Allows kids to check their own reading accuracy
*Covers over 425 Dolch and Fry sight words, the most frequent words kids see
*Appropriate for grades K-3
*Professional voice artist keeps kids engaged
*Helps kids rapidly learn to read
*Recommended by teachers and parents across the country.
*Used in actual reading clinics
*Teaches all spelling patterns for all 17 vowels sounds in the English Language

Head on over to iTunes to snag the download!

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}.

Head Hunter

I'm not sure what I ever did with my free time before Pinterest...

A few days ago I pinned this activity from Hurray for FDK! on my Teaching Reading board and as I was driving to school today I decided it was necessary that I do this with my kiddos effective, today...So I quickly whipped together a list of the students in my classroom and some generic "Long I" words...Please excuse the font selection and lack of any graphic design. I taped these words to their heads (and by tape, clearly I mean packaging tape) and each student had to figure out by process of elimination which word was left on their head.

If you are looking for some better pictures, just head on over (no pun intended) to Hurray for FDK! I giggled quite a few times when I was walking around snapping photos. My girls here ganged up on me and asked to see the pic after I took it..."Hahaha Miss A, we know our word NOW!" 

Then there's Aidan...who always photo bombs my pics! I heart him.

I'm working on creating a math version of this for my kiddos that I will post when it's completed. Probably won't happen until spring break here in two more weeks...Got to survive assessments and report cards this week! 

Happy Monday bloggy friends.

Batter Up (Multi-Syllabic) Game

FREEBIE ALERT! We've added our Batter-Up Game to TpT. Click on the link below the pic to download it for free! 32 pages! (Please be sure to give us feedback if you download it!)

TpT Store

1st Quarter High Frequency Words

Over the next few weeks we will be learning new games and activities to practice our weekly high frequency words. You'll notice that the 1st Grade words are grouped by sound. I will be sending a letter with more detail about our First Grade Sound Focus soon! I wanted to post these activities on the blog because the files sizes in some are too big to send over e-mail!


My Great Word Race

For this activity, you will need a dice and a game mat (printed sheet from the above attachment). Make sure there are six words written on the sheet. If there are blanks, come up with your own words! One person rolls the dice, reads the number, and reads the word that corresponds with that number. The other person must spell that word correctly. If they are able to spell the word, they get to color the box beside that word on their own game mat. Players take turns repeating those steps until one player has filled up an entire row of boxes for one word. That player is the winner!

Phonemic Awareness

Help students learn the difference between letters, sounds, and syllables with this phonemic awareness activity. Students count the letters in each word (working on one-to-one correspondence) and count the sounds in each word. This helps children visualize that some words might have a lot of letters, but not a lot of sounds and vice versa. (Great tool when we move to teaching the advanced code!) 

Rainbow Words (Large) and Rainbow Words (Small)

Students can use crayons or colored pencils to trace the words with various colors to create a "rainbow word". Many teaching stores have specially made rainbow crayons that also work for this activity...I purchased large plastic crayons (piggy banks) at a dollar store that will be kept at the writing center for kids to "trace" the large rainbow words.

Rotten "Appel" Game

The directions for this activity are on the first page of this pdf. This game is usually a favorite and becomes increasingly more challenging when new words are added!

The Value of Words

This is an activity that we will begin in a few weeks. Students use the code to find the value of each letter in the word. Once all of the coins are determined, the students adds up the coins to figure out the value of each word!


To other teachers out there...What other activities do you use to help students with high frequency words? I love hearing new ideas! 

Sight Word Game

We've added a new FREE Tic-Tac-Toe Game to ReadingResource.net! Be sure to check it out! 

Click Here To Get It!

Break the Code to Enter

I am always trying to find new ways to help my kiddos with high frequency words.  I got this idea when I was talking with a colleague of mine...I created a "Break the Code to Enter" poster that I hung on the outside of my classroom (right by the door).  When kids walk in the room, they have to "break the code" by hitting each one of the hands as they read the high frequency words.


I purchased handprints from Lakeshore Learning and taped them to the poster.  The handprints and "Break the Code to Enter" sign were taped to a poster board that I cut in half.  (Double-sided tape works best!)  I then laminated and cut out the poster.  Self-Adhesive Labeling Pockets were applied to the laminated poster, reading for my words to slide in and out.  Each week I will be able to change the words for my kids to hit!