Check it out!

It is that time of year once again. The mad dash to the school year finish line. In the midst of all the madness, I created a new Pinterest board titled Let's Teach Reading! Click here to check it out.

Have a happy Monday!

P.S. I got the above photo from the best free photo resource I have yet found online. 
It is called Morgue File.  

Hello!

Just a brief pop in to say hello and give you a peek at a some of the hall art our Kindergartners did for Right to Read week. As the end of the year approaches (only 6 more weeks to go!), I find myself extra busy. Plus, now that the weather is finally turning warm, I am enjoying the opportunity to be outdoors more. 

These Truffula trees make me smile every time I walk by. We had so much fun building this giant graph! Each of the students wrote their name on a balloon, then stuck it above the type of habitat they would most like to visit. I was surprised that more students did not pick the beach. Always so interesting to see how young minds work. One little tyke actually said he did not want to go to the beach because he had been there before. I found that insightful since some of the other students were quite oppositely picking what was most familiar to them. Anyway, enough of my musings for today. The grill is begging me for some chicken....

Happy Tuesday!

Make Tracking Fun!

Early readers can experience great difficulty when attempting to track words through the pages of a book. I have several readers right now who are pros at reading sight words off of the card, but when all the words are strung together in a sentence the words become unrecognizable. I use a variety of interventions for students with this issue, but the first one I try is introducing the child to a fun reading tool I call the reading tracker. Students often get very bored when asked to point and follow each word with their finger. However, students are less hesitant to use this all-important early literacy skill when given a fun tool. As you can see in the picture above, the Dollar Tree is my friend! I have found magnifying glasses, rulers with a magnified strip, skeleton hands, zip ties, paint brushes, little critters, a variety of magic wands, and even crazy straws! The rocket and open book trackers I simple made by taking small bulletin board icons (again from Dollar Tree) and slicing a reading window into the center with an Exacto knife. That alone is usually sufficient, but I was overly ambitious that day and also glued a tiny zip tie to the back for added tracking appeal. Young children are motivated by the easiest (and thankfully cheapest) little doodads. Anything to bring visual appeal and interest to the learning scene, right? So, go raid your Dollar Tree today! 

Happy Wednesday!

Sensory Reading Fun!

I hope you all are enjoying your spring break as much as I am. We actually had some sunshine today and are rumored to have liberal doses of this long unheard of pleasure for the next several days! Before trotting off to enjoy the rest of my break, I thought I would quickly share a couple of fun literacy activities that also address the sensory needs of young learners.

Have you seen the large chenille stems that have become popular in the party sections of stores like Walmart and Dollar Tree? Kids of all ages (myself included) are fascinated by these large, furry bendables. In class, students each get one stem to form a letter. Then we work cooperatively to put the separate letters together to see how many words we can make. Working this way also saves a lot of time if each kid is making only one letter instead of every letter needed for a given word. 

Another activity I like to do with these stems is to have each child make two letters and then pick up the letter that stands for the sound she hears at the beginning (or middle or end) of a word. Not only addresses the sensory needs of students, but also their kinesthetic needs during a simple phoneme isolation activity.

Another item I love to use comes this time from the craft section of the store. Plastic canvas! I cut it into strips long and wide enough for students to trace their sight words across the canvas with their finger. Again, plastic canvas is also a great medium for phoneme isolation activities as well. I don't leave it accessible all the time, but bring it out for "special" times once or twice a week so it doesn't lose its allure. Plastic canvas is available in a rainbow of hues for a relatively cheap price considering you get a good 8-10 strips out of each sheet. 

Now, go enjoy the rest of your spring break and have a happy Easter! ;-)

Opinion Piece Writing Starters

Delving into the Common Core writing standards is quite the eye opener. No more endless free writing journal time (not that we've had much of that in recent years anyway). Time to read Informational Texts with a relish and be able to argue an opinion with logic and persuasion. I admit. Initially looking at this writing strand left me feeling more frazzled than energized. However, thanks to the wonders of the blogosphere and Pinterest, I have been able to gather a smattering of graphic organizers and lesson ideas that have piqued my interest in teaching the topic. Hopefully, these resources will do the same for my students as well!  

{here}

What kiddo wouldn't love to start using this versatile organizer with a tasty oreo to entice them into the world of artful persuasion? After luring them in with sugar, then we could brainstorm together as a class what other topics we would like to form opinions on through the use of this fun visual. 

{here free on TPT}

What I most particularly like about this highly versatile graphic organizer is that it has the connecting words because, and, and also in a bold box with a smiling bear on top so that students will remember to use one of those three magic little words opinion pieces so heavily depend upon. Brilliant!

{here}

My last opinion writing jump starter hails from the wonderful Johanna over at First Grade Fanatic! blog. She has three lovely freebie packets on opinion writing posted for download. Just follow the link under the picture above to find opinion piece writing packets that use yummies like s'mores, Hershey kisses, and Oreos as a starting point for students to get excited about writing opinion pieces.

I don't know about you, but after sifting through these fabulous websites, I am super eager to start teaching my kiddos the value of their opinion!

Happy Tuesday!