New Student Reader-"I See"

Now that assessments are done and I have added new kinderkids to my caseload, new groups and routines are underway.

I really wanted to start reinforcing concept of word with some of my groups, so I wrote a new Emergent Student Reader called, "I See".

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I will be using it to reinforce:

~  concept of word, sentence, and space 

~  sight words:  I, see, the, a

~  1:1 correspondence when reading

~  use of picture clues when reading
~ onset-rime blending
~ rhyming

I start by writing out the sentences on sentence strips and placing them in the pocket chart.  I model how we point to one word at a time when reading.  Of course I make a mistake or two (I read "a" instead of "the" and insert the word "can") for the students to correct me.  This helps ensure they are focusing on the words.

I then have each student come up and read with a pointer.  Once done, they receive their own copy to begin their Student Reader folder.  (As we read additional Student Readers, they will be added to the folder.)  They will also be taking home the Home Reader to read to someone special.

 This reader is a bit more simplistic than the first one included in my Emergent Student Readers Set 1. If you want to learn more about the Student Readers I have created and use with my students, you can click on the pictures below:

Thanks and enjoy!

Snowman Letters and Sounds

At school, we just completed our AIMSweb Benchmarking.  
Most of the kiddos had a great deal of difficulty with Letter Sound Fluency (LSF).  If you are unfamiliar with AIMSweb, this is where the student is presented with a random series of upper and lower case letters and they need to produce as many sounds as they can in 1 minute.  

When I assessed them with my Letter-Sound Assessment to see exactly what letters and sounds they knew, I found that many of them simply didn't know many letter-sound correspondences.  So they really need a boost in this area.

One game that I like to play with my kiddos is the, 
"Hide/Find the ____" game.  
This game has been around for years and years, but I just love how you can make simple changes and the kids continue to love it each and every time they play it.

I didn't have any fun alphabet cards to use for the winter season (well, none that wasn't currently part of an activity I would be using), so I made these Snowman Alphabet cards to place into a pocket chart and play, "Hide the Penguin" to reinforce letters and sounds.

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How do I play, Hide the Penguin?

Well, do you see that little penguin above?

He is the little guy who I hide behind the cards.

I simply place the letters I want to reinforce  into my pocket chart, as seen below (I play this game with sight words too).

  I then hide the little penguin behind one of the cards.

The kiddos take turns naming a letter and/or producing a sound trying to find the penguin!

Have you played this game before?  Do your kids like it as much as mine?

If you are interested in my Letter-Sound Assessment, you can find it in both of my shops!

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Updated Snowman Letter Identification-LiPS

Hello there!

Completely unrelated to teaching, I wanted to share some of my favorite pictures from the past few weeks of my little ladies.  

Paige was an angel in her school Christmas play and she lost her first tooth (she pulled it out all by herself).  She has been loving the snow that has been falling for the last few days and is excited to celebrate her birthday just next week.  Saydie is also enjoying the snow and the Christmas season!  
She LOVES to open presents, too!

Do any of you have to complete an Evidence Binder?  In case you have no idea what I am talking about, it is now part of New York State's new teacher evaluation plan.  Since the beginning of the school year I have been shoving my "evidence" into the front of my binder.  I really need to sit down to sort through and organize what has been collected so far.  

I added some fun game cards to my Snowman Letter Identification!

Now in addition to using the letter cards with the alphabet charts, you can also use the letter cards with the new game cards to play a fun card game to reinforce letters and sounds.

You can find my Snowman Letter Identification in both of my shops, just click on one of the links below:

Teachers Pay Teachers

Teachers Notebook

Last, but not least, before break I was able to attend a one-day training for the Lindamood-Bell Phoneme Sequencing program called LiPS.  Do any of you currently use the program?  I would like to start incorporating it into my instruction with some of my kinderkids who are REALLY struggling with letter identification, but would love some feedback from real teachers who are using it!  What are your thoughts?

Silence for Sandy Hook Elementary

God Bless!

Sleigh Full of Goodies-Presents!

Thanks for continuing along the

If you missed the two stops on the blog hop from Day 1,
make sure you click on the picture above!!

In my sleigh, you will find my 
Christmas Present Letter Identification pack 
This will be FREE, for the next 12 days!

In addition to the blog hop, I am also linking up with Day 1 of 

hosted by Amy of Teaching My 3.

Click on the picture below to hop over to The Lower Elementary Cottage to see what she has in her sleigh!

Thank you Beth from Thinking of Teaching for hosting this merry blog hop!!

Do you have something you would like to share?  

Please link up and join in the fun!!

Are You Ready for the Holiday Season?

Getting ready for the winter and holiday season?  
Well here are some products that I use with my little literacy learners to help reinforce letter, sound, and sight word identification.  

Here is my newest product:

This pack includes cute penguin versions of both upper and lower case versions of:
~  Letter Finds (alphabet charts)
~  Letter Mix-Ups (letters are mixed up)
~  Letter Cards
~  Brr... Game

I use the following for both letter and sound matching:

Here is a cute little FREEBIE:

I use this to reinforce letters, sounds, and sight words:

And don't forget the three sets of 
Winter Wonderland, 2 Games-in-1 Packs
to help reinfoce the first 300 Fry Sight Words:

Finally, don't forget to hop over to TBA to check out Freebie Friday!

Color a Turkey FREEBIE

When reviewing foundational skills with my students in my small groups, I like and need to hear responses from each student individually.  To give it an extra boost of fun, I reward my students for correct responses by having them do the following:

How do you use this?  

Simply print the document and cut it into the four strips.  

Have your kiddos write their names on the back.  

As you complete your planned activity, have the student color in a turkey for each correct response.  

So simple, but the kids love it!!

This could be used in so many ways, with any type of skill!!  What will you use it for?

And don't forget to head over to Teaching Blog Addict for some other great FREEBIES!

Hurricane Sandy-Teachers Help Teachers

Hurricane Sandy was nasty.  

She came and left a path of destruction in the Northeast that it has never seen before.  Some of my loved ones are still without power and/or are displaced from their homes.  It has been almost two long, and cold weeks.  Others lost every little thing they own.

Laurah over at The ESOL Odyssey is organizing a movement to help other teachers affected by Sandy, called:

She is reaching out to those who have create materials to share or own a store on TPT or TN, and would like to donate some products to help other teachers in need.  

Click on the picture above and then follow the directions on Laurah's page.  It is so easy and every little bit helps.  She will be working hard to gather the products and distribute them to schools and teachers in need.  Teachers of all grade levels are encouraged to participate.

Will you help out too?

Thank you Laurah for doing this!

Turkey Letters and Sounds

One of my favorite holidays happens to be just around the corner!

Thanksgiving of course!

I love gathering with family and eating delicious food!!  
What can be better than that?!

Are you working on introducing and reinforcing letters and sounds?  I created a Turkey Letters and Sounds Pack just for Thanksgiving, with cute little turkeys!  

Don't forget that I also included some cute Thanksgiving pages in the Roll and Say activity to help promote fluency with letters and sounds.

Finally, I have a game board that could be used when reinforcing almost anything.  It is available for FREE!!

Gobble!  Gobble!!

Fluency with Letters and Sounds

Today was a short day at school.  We were dismissed early and will not have school tomorrow due to Sandy.  Being in the northeast, we luckily we have emergency days built into our school year for snowstorms and other emergencies.  Who knew we would use the some of those days for hurricanes two years in a row?  Good news is that it has given me time to let you know what I've been up to!!

I have mentioned in previous posts that my district has adopted and implemented AIMSweb for the first time this year.  Through this assessment, many of my firsties showed weaknesses in both Letter Naming Fluency (LNF) and Letter Sound Fluency (LSF).  For those of you who are not familiar with the assessment, the students are presented with rows of random upper and lower case letters and are asked to name as many letters as they can in one minute for LNF, or as many sounds as they can in one minute for LSF.

LNF and LSF does not tell me what letters and sounds my students know or continue to need more practice with.  To help learn more about this, I also assessed them with my

I found that they did know most of their letters and sounds.  When I put the results of the two assessments together, it showed me that they need extra practice naming their letters and producing their sounds automatically and fluently.  

As a reading teacher, my time with students is limited.  So in addition to providing instruction to my firsties, I also want to provide them with some time for extra fluency practice.  The first few minutes of my intervention time is devoted to practicing this fluency through a quick activity, depending on the day of the week.  
Here is what I have started to do:

Here are some examples of quick activities I do each day:

On Move it Monday, I generally play a quick game where the students are moving game pieces or their bodies.  For example, games like 

and

On Time it Tuesday I have been using my 

I just updated this pack to include a combination of upper and lower case letters.  

For One Breath Wednesday, a wonderful colleague and I created several little ticket-sized boxes with two rows of letters.  My students select their "ticket" and then read each line in one breath. 

Totally unrelated to letters and sounds, I wanted to share with you that we created these tickets after downloading and using Donna Coleman's fabulous "One Breath Boxes" for sight words! 

For Throw it Thursday we will play 

This is a brand new pack that I just uploaded to TPT.  I included two versions for the months of October, November December.

Flip it Friday is usually done with some type of alphabet letter cards.  I have many different sets with different themes, so they are "new" to the kiddos almost each and every time.  I quickly flip through the pile for my students to name the letters or produce the sounds as quickly as they can.

Hopefully these quick daily speed drills will help my firsties increase their automaticity and fluency with their letters and sounds!  What are some activities you do to help promote these skills?

And for those of you who are also affected by Sandy, my thoughts and prayers are with you!  Stay safe!