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.

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.