Phonological Awareness (K-1 Common Core Aligned)

It's been quite a task getting this up and going...I've been working on bits and pieces since spring break. {Nothing like waiting until the end of the year to get it posted. Better late than never, I guess}. I've been compiling my favorite phonological awareness activities over the past year, some of which are new and some Steve and I already have on our website. (I tried to jazz them up a bit though).

Here are some sample pics of what's in our new 58-page Phonological Awareness Activities Download. 

This is my favorite part about our new download! You'll get a 30-page phonological awareness progression for ways to help your students at the word, syllable, and sound level. Simply cut the page down the middle, punch a whole in the corner, and bind with a metal ring! It's perfect to do with your students when you a few free minutes...and it's super handy. (Scroll down to see another pic!)

You can head over to our TpT Store to purchase this download!

Balanced Equations (Worksheet)

Today I sat in a 1st Grade meeting where teachers were frustrated with teaching their kids balanced equations. Since I was testing for a large portion of the day, I thought I'd help them out. 

(Plus I miss teaching math).

Instead of using addition and subtraction problems, I decided to get rid of the equations...Go back to the basics and use pictures! Not sure if it will help, but it's worth a try.

Feel free to grab the 2-page download...Leave some love...Let me know any tips & tricks you have for teaching balanced equations!

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!