Daily Schedule - Sight Words and Poetry/Phonics

One of my projects this summer was to plan out how I wanted to teach sight words and phonics skills next year. My curriculum does not dictate what phonics skills we have to teach and which sight word lists to practice, so I came up with a yearly scope and sequence that I am pretty happy with! At the end of this post you'll find a link to a bunch of freebies. This chart is in there (and it's editable).

I have set aside about 20 minutes a day for sight words, poetry, and phonics. It usually works out to be about 5 minutes sight words, 5 minutes poetry, and 10 minutes phonics.

My plan is to teach five sight words a week. My word lists come from Dolch, Fry's, and a few randoms thrown in! The phonics skills are based on what I feel my students need to work on Grade 1. We spend the first few weeks reviewing the alphabet sounds (I like Beverly Tyner's sequence.) Then we move onto short vowels, silent E, digraphs, long vowels, blends, bossy R, and some diphthongs. Even though I teach this stuff whole group, I do spend time in my guided reading groups doing more focused work on sight words or phonics skills too, depending on the group's needs. 

Each week I display the five sight words of the week on this little board. I bought a little white board from the dollar store, added the title and some clipart, and stuck on five little Stikki Clips. (Have you heard of these things? They are pretty neat. I bought them from Really Good Stuff. Apparently they stick super well to cinder block walls!) Each week I just stick the words in the clips. Easy peasy! At the end of the week we retire the words to the word wall and on Monday we put up five new words.

Here's a peek at what we do all week long with these words:

On Monday we introduce the sight words and practice them using some free chants from Cara Carroll at The First Grade Parade. Then we make a little mini book. Students cut apart the squares, staple it in the corner, and then practice tracing each sight word and colouring it (or rainbow writing it). They keep these mini books in their book boxes for a couple weeks to practice the sight words. They can read them during "read to self" time. 

On Tuesday we make and break the words. I scramble up the letters in each word and we practice putting them back together. I do this on the Mimio, but you can just use magnetic letters. 

On Wednesday we play Guess the Word. It's like hangman. I put dashes up for each letter in the word and the students take turns guessing letters. I cross off the letters they guess and cross off a section of the picture each time they make an incorrect guess. There are ten different monthly themed pictures. I don't just use the words of the week--I take any word from the word wall! 

On Thursday we read the Mystery Sentences. I write five sentences that each have one of the words of the week in it. We read the sentences together and try to figure out the missing word.

On Friday we play Swat the Sight Word. On the projector I display a page with the five words all over it. I choose two students, give them each a fly swatter, and call out one of the words. The students try to swat the word. I love this because there's not one winner; they can both find and swat a sight word! :) They love this game!

**I don't have any of the Mimio files for you to download, but I have put a blank PDF version of the four activities (Tues-Fri) into the freebie file. You can import the PDF into Mimio or Smart Notebook and add your own text to create the activities yourself. I have also included my sight word books and an editable version so you can put in your own five sight words.**

I keep all of my sight word stuff for the week in page protectors in my Phonics & Sight Words binders (blogged about this here). The sight word lists are three weeks of sight words. I use them during Word Work. I'll blog about this more later!

I number the back of all my word wall cards so that at the end of the year I can easily organize them back into the proper week.

After our sight word activity, we look at the poem of the week. I have poems from a variety of different sources, but mostly I use Deedee Wills' Poetry Station Packs. They are amazing! I place the poem onto sentence strips and display them on a large pocket chart. On Monday we read the poem together, on Tuesday we look for certain letters or phonics skills, on Wednesday we ready in different voices for fluency practice, on Thursday we highlight our word wall words in the poem, and on Friday we put the poem in our poetry folders. Sometimes we will highlight the word wall words in our folder or draw a picture to go with the poem. 

Then we have phonics time. On Mondays I usually introduce the phonics skill with a story, such as the Scholastic Phonics Tales. Then we brainstorm a list of words that contain that phonics skill on chart paper.

On Tuesdays we usually do some sort of phonics activity. My students love Babbling Abby's Highlight a Word from her Word Work packs. 

On Wednesday we usually do a read and match activity together. These cards are from Reagan Tunstall's Big Phonics Bundle. I love this bundle! It has so many activities for so many phonics skills!! It is well worth the price.

On Thursday we do another phonics activity... this might be a cut and paste activity or a read the room activity. I have so many things in my files from The Mailbox Magazine or other TpTers. I might also have a Phonics Read the Room pack in the works... but we'll see about that! ;)

On Friday we usually play Roll & Cover or Roll & Write. I photocopy the black & white versions of these games onto coloured paper so we can play as a whole group. Then I place a few laminated, coloured versions of the game in our word work centres so students can play them again during guided reading time.

I keep all of my phonics stuff for the week in page protectors in my Phonics & Sight Words binders (read about this here). 

The first five weeks of school are a little bit different for phonics because we are reviewing our alphabet sounds. We still do sight words each work (although the very first week of school we just focus on our names) and we do a poem of the week, but each week we focus on five (or six) letter sounds. I like to use Beverly Tyner's sequence. (If you haven't read any of her books, check out Small-Group Reading Instruction. It's really great!)

I'm planning on using activities from my new Alphabet Practice pack. Each week the activities are the same, but it focuses on a different set of letters. The first week is BSMAC, then TDLRI, JGHON, PUQWY, and lastly ZXEVKF.

On Monday we will practice the sounds that each letter make by chanting "b says /b/, m says /m/, etc." We sometimes add an action to go with it, like biting an apple for /a/ or bouncing a ball for /b/. Then we do a card sort in the pocket chart. We will sort the picture cards based on their initial sound (or final sound with X).

On Tuesday students will do a colour code activity. They have to write the initial letter of each word, then colour the picture using the colour code. Great practice for those colour words as well! Then when they are done, they can play Spin to the Top. They spin an uppercase letter and practice tracing the letters. When one letter reaches the top, they win!

On Wednesday we do a read the room activity. I place 12 cards around the room. Students find the card and write down the letter the word starts with beside the correct number. When done, they do a letter search on the back. They circle and count each type of letter and write number beside it. Great for identifying letters in different fonts!

On Thursday we do a cut and paste sort. Students have to glue the correct lowercase letter and two beginning sound pictures beside the correct train engine. Then when they are done, they can play Roll to the Top. They roll a die and practice tracing the correct lowercase letters. When one letter reaches the top, they win!

On Friday we play a game. Either small group beginning sound BINGO (included in my Alphabet Practice pack), Roll & Cover, or Roll & Write. Check out these products by clicking the pictures below.

     

Well I hope that gives you some good ideas for teaching sight words, poetry, or phonics! Click the picture below to download some of the freebies from this post.

Christmas Is Coming Early This Year!

Did you know that there are only 73 days left until Christmas? I need to start my shopping soon! Please don't tell me you are already done your shopping. I am one of those middle of December shopping people. Although being on maternity leave, I can take baby Zoe shopping in the middle of the day while people are at work! Woo hoo! ;)

Anywho, the reason I talk about Christmas is I am sooooooooooo excited about my newest pack! I have been working hard on it for months now and it is finally ready! Christmas Around the World is one of my favourite units to teach. It gets students excited about Christmas and incorporates many Social Studies standards into it! I loved my scrapbook & craft pack, but I wanted a solid way to teach about the countries that we studied. I had a file folder full of video links and pictures and websites, but wanted a way to tie it all together. Insert my new pack.... It is called "Christmas Around the World Interactive Slideshow or Informational Text".

It is a companion pack to my best-selling item "Christmas Around the World Scrapbook & Craft Pack". It is a non-fiction text/slideshow that teaches about various countries and their Christmas traditions. It is listed separately from the scrapbook & craft pack. {Or you can purchase the two as a bundle.}

Inside the zipped file you will find three PDF files. The first is just an introduction that shows you how to use the other two files and lists the credits and other information. The second file is an interactive slideshow that is designed to be used with a projector or interactive whiteboard. There is an interactive menu and links to various YouTube videos that correspond with each country. The third file is exactly same as the slideshow, but without the interactive features and links. It is meant to be printed out and bound as a book that you can read to your students while studying the various countries.

In the slideshow/text, there is a title page, introduction page, all aboard the Polar Express page (with a link to the theme song), and a menu of all the countries.

Then there is the starting/home country to begin your trip around the world. There is a U.S.A. or Canada option. Students discuss (or write about in their scrapbook) their own family Christmas traditions.

Each of the other countries has four pages. The first page is a welcome page that has a real-life picture, a map that shows which continent the country is located in, and a coloured version of the country's flag. The second page has some basic information about the country, such as the capital city, languages spoken, traditional food, and other cultural facts (with real-life pictures!). The third page shows how to say "Merry Christmas" in the language of that country. On this page is a link to a YouTube video that corresponds with the country (some are Christmas songs or short videos about a tradition). The fourth page describes some of the various Christmas traditions of that country. If you are using the scrapbook from my other pack, the answers to the fill-in-the-blank sections are in red font, so students can easily fill in the answers!

The slideshow/text has pages for all the countries that are included in the scrapbook: U.S.A./Canada, Mexico, Brazil, South Africa, Germany, Sweden, The Netherlands, France, Italy, England, Australia, The Philippines, China, and The North Pole. You can still pick and choose which countries you want to study.

The slideshow ends with arriving at The North Pole! Students can imagine what they think happens at The North Pole during Christmas time!

This companion pack is SEPARATE from the scrapbook & craft pack. If you have already bought the scrapbook & craft pack, it is not necessary to purchase my new slideshow/text pack, but it is an excellent way to go a bit more in depth into the country studies. It definitely makes teaching this unit a bit easier because all the resources are there for you in one neat little package! And there are fun extras, such as links to Christmas songs and videos on YouTube! If you haven't seen my scrapbook & craft pack, you can check it out by clicking the picture below. It includes a scrapbook for all the countries listed, 12 craft instructions, a suitcase to keep students' crafts in, and country stickers to decorate the suitcase with! It also includes Polar Express train tickets to make your trip around the world even more enjoyable!

These two packs are meant to complement each other. I designed the slideshow/text so it would correspond with the scrapbook. It shows which continent to colour on the world map, how to colour the country's flag, how to say "Merry Christmas", and the answers to the fill-in-the-blank section. It does all this PLUS gives more information about the country and more about the Christmas traditions.

You can purchase these two packs separately, or I have listed them as one big bundle {in which you save $1!}. Check it out here on TpT!

Now, for being such awesome blog followers I have two early Christmas/Canadian Thanksgiving presents for you! First up, seeing as it is Canadian Thanksgiving today, I am having a short two-day sale! Everything in my TpT store is 20% off for today and tomorrow! Go check it out HERE!

And now I have a little Christmas freebie for you. This is a little Polar Express Sight Word Game. Students take turns reading sight word cards (Pre-Primer, Primer, and First Grade words included). If they get the word correct, they roll a die and move that many spaces. The first player to move their marker from Santa to the Polar Express is the winner! Click any of the pictures below to download it for free on TpT!

Merry Christmas, Happy Thanksgiving, and see you soon! :)

Five for Friday on Friday

It's here! It's Friday! The weather is beautiful! :) The sun is shining. And I get two days without my little monkeys... hehe. It's also time for Five for Friday with Doodle Bugs. Can't believe I made it on time today! Woo hoo!

{1.} On Earth Day, we watched the free movie of the week from Brain Pop Jr. on Recycling. We also watched this cute video on YouTube from Loop Scoops on PBS. Oliver has one minute to reduce a large pile of trash. This was a perfect lead up to our recycle/garbage sort.

We sorted images of common items into the recycling bin or the garbage can. Then we took a look at the items in the garbage can to see if we could reduce the trash further. We talked about composting, reducing, and reusing. You can download the sorting cards {here}.

{2.} Our grassheads are growing! Ok, yes, the grass is growing right on their faces, but it's still growing!! I succeeded! Woo hoo! :) The kids are pretty excited about these little guys.

{3.} This is the first year I have tried a take-home sight word program. I have been using A Teeny Tiny Teacher's awesome pack {found here}. I love her pack! When my students complete all their lists, they get a Sight Word Champion Trophy and Certificate. {You can download my ceritifcate here.} I just had my fourth student complete all the lists. On the other hand, I've also had six kids not bring a single list back. Oh well, what can you do?

{4.} For the last two weeks, we have been reading various versions of "The 3 Little Pigs" and doing some reading/writing activities from my new mini-unit (out sometime in the next week). Today we graphed which story was our favourite and write about why we liked it. Next week will start writing our own version of the story. The kids are pretty excited to start their stories!

{5.} Here's the view from my front door. The snow is finally melting! We can see grass! I don't want to jinx it, but I think spring might be here! Yipee!

Have a relaxing weekend! I'm off to help build the basement bathroom walls! :)

March Currently and New Products

Hello March! Hello Spring! Good-bye Winter! Good-bye Snow!... Oh wait, we're suppose to get 10-25cm of snow tonight. Grrrrr! No more snow please! Unless we get a snow day. Then it'll be worth it. I'm linking up with Farley for her Currently of the month. Here we go...

Way back in September, I saw this great idea floating around to make "new student" bags full of everything you would need for a new student--classroom handbook, desk name plate, hook tag, etc. So when I was getting everything together for my new class, I created five bags for new students. I thought I was being overly cautious, but figured if I didn't use them next year, I'd probably just use them again the following year.

Well turns out someone installed a revolving door on my classroom this year and I have had a total of 7 students move out and 6 new students move in. So I ran out of new student bags and have to make all new stuff for my 6th new student starting on Tuesday! Errrggh! Right before report cards too... So stressful!!

Anywho, my three A's. I like animals, especially my adorable puppies (see left side bar if you have not seen their adorable-ness before!) and I love awesome friends who are always there for me to rant and rave to. I hate annoying people... who complain about things that don't matter and who treat people like they don't matter. Boo to them!

Seeing as it's report card month I have been really procrastinating (of course) so I have put together a few new products for TpT. First up, I finally finished my St. Patrick's Day Word Work Centres. Click the picture below to check them out at TpT.

Included in this pack are a stamping centre, mixed up sight words, long i word family sort, scrambled sentences, and ABC order.

I needed to make some sight word cards to practice with my lowest reading group, so I put together some bright and colourful rainbow sight word cards. I made two different packs--Dolch word list and Fry words. Click the pictures to check them out.

I have also been working on my Year-End Memory Book. This is a pack of pages to create a keepsake for your students to take home at the end of the year. They get to reflect back on their favourite activities throughout the year. There are 57 different pages--some for each month, season, and holiday. There are also pages for each school subject and activity.

And of course I had to leave you with a freebie. This is a little how-to writing activity I put together. We start out graphing how we like to eat our Oreo--by splitting, dipping in milk, or biting. Then we put together a little circle book with directions on how to eat an Oreo. Of course we have to do some Oreo tasting to go with out writing! Yum! ;) Click the picture to get your free Oreo writing activity.