Read it! Write It!

Hey guys and gals! It's Keri from Enchanted Kinder Garden.

I hope you're enjoying your summer if you're out. If you're not, hopefully you don't have toooooo many more days!

A few months ago, I needed something for my kids to work on in small groups and with a partner when they weren't with me that related to writing. I had a ton of those metal rings stashed away, toner to use, and some laminated sheets ready to be used. I decided to make what I call Read It! Write It! These cards and this book was a HUGE hit in my classroom. My students were motivated to practice writing out cvce words that we were still practicing as we neared the end of the year. I want to show and tell you all about one of my favorite tools!

Read It! Write It! has two components. The first part is a flap book. There are five sections to this book. CVC words, blends, digraphs, cvce, and rhymes. This book could be used for the entire year. You could add all of the parts or just add as needed.

Students use the book to read through each of the words with a partner. It can also be used in a spelling test type of way. One student can read a word while the other writes.

I also have made a set of smaller pictures. These can be used by the teacher or the students.

Here's how it works:
 Print, laminate, and cut all of the cards. Punch a hole in the corner of each of the smaller cards. Add these to rings. You do not have to add all of the same type of cards to the same rings. For example, you can have 8 cards on the cvc ring and add the rest to different rings.

 For organization, I've added which pile/type of words each card belongs to in case they are mixed up.

 

There is also a title page that goes with each tab. You can choose not to use this page if you'd like. To make your Read It! Write It! Flipper book, print, laminate and cut around each of the pages. Line up your cards in the same place and punch two holes. Add rings to make a book.



Here's how to use it:
 The small cards can be used in a partner style or with the teacher.  The students will flip through the cards and read each word. As they read it, they will write it. I let my kids get a sheet of writing paper, iPad with the Doodle Buddy app, or dry erase board to write on. If using with the teacher, the teacher can determine how and where they can write. I let my students write on our table with a dry erase.

With the book, the students will write the words as they read the picture. For the rhyming portion, they can produce a rhyming word or write a set of rhyming words. For the blends, students can just write the blend that they hear.

Playdough makes everything more fun! {Sample included}

Have you ever noticed how playdough makes everything more fun?!?! It is a HUGE hit in my class. So, to help bring the fun back into reading practice I made seasonal Read & Do Playdough Sets. The sets needed to be easy for differentiation while still being fun, so I have included 2 versions of most of the boards. This way teachers can choose which boards to include at a center depending on the needs & levels of their students. 

Krazee 4 Kindergarten did a blog post all about the spring set. You can read about how much her class loved the set HERE. Danielle captured some great pictures of how many of the boards are leveled.

You can see how in level 2, students have to read longer and more detailed texts. Some of the boards have supports while others do not.

Ready to give them a try? Click HERE to download a sample of the Read and Do Playdough Mats: Summer edition. 

If you like the sample, save money with the Read & Do Bundle.

Pete the Cat + a Subtraction FREEBIE



Hi, friends!  Ashley here from One Sharp Bunch!

 I know some of you are already finished with school and most of you are winding down... but this week, I am going to talk about the book Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons by Eric Litwin.  My kiddos L-O-V-E this book!  The ending is a hoot!  I won't give it away here, but I know your students will enjoy it!

I absolutely love the brightly colored illustrations in this book!  Plus, it is perfect for teaching the concept of subtraction.  First, I read the story, and my kiddos all giggled when we got to the ending.  Then, I pulled out the CD and we listened to the story again.  The CD is a must!  I ordered mine from Scholastic.  The kiddos absolutely loved dancing to the "my buttons" part!  It was PRECIOUS!  After getting all of our wiggles out, we began modeling the problems as we listened to the story for a third time.

I just happened to have some yellow work-mats from our math kit, which worked out perfectly since Pete was wearing a yellow jacket.  Plus, I have a GIANT bag of assorted buttons.  Can you say ZERO PREP?!?! I had planned to save the next part of this lesson for the next day, but my kiddos just couldn't get enough of Pete's groovy buttons!  This time, we used our dry erase boards to model the problems with a picture and a number sentence.  Of course, we listened to the CD just one more time!



On the next day, we completed the "Four Groovy Buttons" emergent reader.  We practiced modeling the problem with a picture and number sentence.  Then, we read the story with a partner.  I like to call this double-dipping (math and ELA integration). 

If you'd like a copy of this groovy emergent reader, click the link below!



Click here to download the "Four Groovy Buttons" emergent reader!

I hope your kiddos love the story just as much as mine did!  Happy end of the year! 

Blending Sounds to Improve Fluency

Hi everyone! I am Pam from Mrs. P's Specialties. I am so excited to be part of this group of amazing teachers and bloggers. There is nothing more exciting than hearing and sharing ideas!!

I'm here to talk to you about teaching students to move beyond individual letter sounds to blending sounds into a word. 

This Blending Sounds Fluency set has been so helpful in helping my students move towards fluent reading. In my classroom I have students of all levels and abilities, so I have designed this set to be flexible and easy to adapt. 

Here is how I use the set for students who know individual letter sounds:

Next, students slide their finger along the arrow as they say the three sounds quickly. This can be a hard concept for students at first. Sometimes, for my visual learners, I add a hand signal to help students understand that you say the sounds "fast". I move my hand from left to right quickly as I model saying the sounds quickly. 

Lastly, students find the picture that matches the word they read. 

Here is what it looks like after a student has read and found the matching picture:

If you have some students that aren't yet ready for this full center you can modify it in a couple different ways:

1. Have students only work on labeling the individual sounds.

2. Have one student sound out and read the word while another student is only responsible for finding the matching picture.

3. Give students the card with the matching picture already attached. Have students practice spelling the words or practice "reading" the word based on the picture. This option is a great time to talk to students about looking at pictures for clues when you come to an unknown word. 

This sound blending set has been very helpful in getting my students to become fluent readers. If you are interested in more details, click HERE.