Tuesday, June 27, 2017

Word Patterns

Word Patterns:  Words change by substituting the initial sound (onset) while keeping the predictable ending pattern (rime).  As children listen to the sounds in words, they begin to hear predictable sound patterns / chunks.
One Syllable Onset and Rimes Reference Chart.  Rimes begin with the vowel /a/.
Guess My Word
Fun Sentences - Find the Rimes.
One Syllable Onset and Rimes Reference Chart.  Rimes begin with the vowel /e/
Guess My Word
Fun Sentences:  Find the Rimes
One Syllable Onset and Rimes Reference Chart.  Rimes begin with the vowel /i/.

Guess My Word
Fun Sentences: Find the Rimes
One Syllable Onset and Rimes Reference Chart.  Rimes begin with the vowel /o/.
Guess My Word
Fun Sentences: Find the Rimes
One Syllable Onset and Rimes Reference Chart.  Rimes begin with the vowel /u/ and /oo/
Guess My Word
Fun Sentences: Find the Rimes




Sunday, June 25, 2017

A Reference Flip Chart for Non-Fiction Text

 A Reference Flip Chart Children Can Make to Help Them Understand Informational Text Structures.
 Reference Flip Chart is a tool to help children determine: the topic, the main idea, supporting details and conclusion.
Definition of Topic (Section 1) and Main Idea (Section 2)  These two sections are often confused.


Supporting Details - Students are asked to show proof of their answers by citing where they found the evidence or how they were able to infer their answers.
Conclusion (Section 6) is the recap of the main idea.
Student is using his reference chart to help him answer questions about the read.
Below are the templates to create the reference flip chart.




Video













Friday, June 23, 2017

Making Letter Sound Cards and Activities

Have children make letter sound cards.  In this activity they choose the alphabet stickers that they want to place on the back of each letter card (printed on card stock, template available on this post).  There are several alphabet stickers children can choose from at the dollar store or Target. When they choose the stickers to make the cards they take ownership, are highly engaged and want to practice and learn all the letter -sound names.
Below are the two templates for the front of cards.
Second template.
After printing and cutting cards, have children place the selected alphabet/picture stickers on the back of the cards.  The picture placed on the back of each card must begin with the letter of the card.
Next, have children say letter name, letter sound and picture for each card.
Following the alphabet chart (template available on post), have children place the picture cards in the correct order.
This time you place some of the cards.  Children then have to find the missing cards. Have children say the letter name, the letter sound and the picture for each missing card.  Vowels are green and consonants are orange.  This can be introduced when children notice the difference in color.
Other fun activities to do at home to support children's foundational reading skills are:
Differentiating letters
Identifying beginning letter-sounds

Tuesday, June 20, 2017

Use Emojis to Teach Growth Mindset!

Emojis are images that express emotions / feelings.  Kids have many emotions / feelings.  They love emojis which make emojis the perfect engaging tool to teach kids to think in a growth mindset.
There are many emotions / feelings that kids have: fear, awesomeness, pride, anger, excitement, happiness....... for various reasons.
A toolbox consists of skills / actions that kids can implement  to create positive emotions/feelings and to change negative emotions/feelings to positive ones.
Teaching skills / activities provide kids with  tools to make intentional positive choices.
With effective tools, kids  learn they have the power to determine how they feel.  Is this easy? No. However, with practice they can choose actions that bring about positive emotions/feelings.
Example of choosing actions to determine emotions / feelings!

Example of choosing to change current emotions/feelings to positive emotions / feelings.
An example of how to set and accomplish goals to feel awesome ......
 ....... to feel excited
 Choose to think and act differently.
View Video to See Album
Cover and First Page
Classroom Bulletin Board
Below are the album pages that kids can fill out to determine their feelings, what they did to achieve goals, or what they can choose to change a negative feeling to a positive feeling.

Choose to Be These Girls

Choose to Be These Boys