CVC Sliders & FREEBIE

Hi, friends!  Ashley here from One Sharp Bunch.  Before I share my "Make-It Monday," I'd like to take some time to introduce myself.  Let's see...I honestly live a pretty normal life, nothing too crazy.  When I'm not teaching or creating, I like to spend time boating with my hubby.  It's my most favorite way to relax; and since the summers here in Michigan are relatively short, we try to hit the water as much as we can.  During the school year, I spend my time enjoying my sweet kinders.  I have been a kindergarten teacher for 11 years, and I can honestly say it is my passion!

One of the things I love most about kindergarten is the students' eagerness to learn.  They are like little sponges absorbing every little thing they hear or see.  Plus, everyone loves everyone, and that makes my teacher heart happy!  Kindness in kindergarten... it's the little things!

I take a very hands-on approach to learning.  I want my kiddos interacting and manipulating something while they are learning...so it is no surprise that I created these CVC sliders.

I wanted the beads color-coded, so that my students would know to slide the green bead for the beginning sound, the yellow bead for the middle sound, and the red bead for the ending sound.  Think of it as a stoplight...green means go and stretch it out, yellow means say the sounds slowly, and red means stop at the end of the word.  I actually made two different versions of CVC sliders. 

One set of sliders used wooden beads and shoelaces.  I, and by "I" I mean my hubby, simply spray painted the beads green, yellow, and red.  The beads are 20mm and came from Joann's.

The other set of CVC sliders were made with acrylic beads and pipe cleaners (again from Joann's).  I cut the pipe cleaner in half, added the beads, and knotted each end.  This set was far less time-consuming to make, and I am very certain my hubby thanked me for not having to spray paint anymore beads.  Ha!

If you all know me, I couldn't just stop there!  I HAD to create some CVC slider word cards with picture support...

word cards without picture support...

and picture segmenting cards.

The colored coded dots on each card are perfect for left-to-right directionality.  First, we touch each colored dot as we say each sound.  Then, we slide our finger across the arrow as we blend the sounds together to form the word.

We also use our color coded CVC slider as we segment the word.  The students will slide one bead for each phoneme in the word.  After sliding all three beads and saying all three phonemes, they will push the beads back and say the word.  In the beginning of the year, I like to use the cards with pictures to provide extra support.

As the students become better at segmenting and blending, we will use just the color coded word cards.  This is a bit more difficult, as the students are not able to rely on the picture support when blending the sounds back together.

To differentiate even further, we often use the CVC Slider picture cards.  These cards require oral segmentation of the word without letter support, which is a much more difficult skill.

I am so happy I made the CVC slider strings and cards!  They really have helped my struggling readers segment words and blend sounds. Feel free to grab the sample below to give them a try in your classroom!

I have discounted the full set of my CVC Sliders containing 107 picture cards and 150 word cards for today only!

I hope you have enjoyed this Make-It Monday!  Until next time!