Elkonin Boxes in First Grade

It's no secret I love magnetic letters! 

I also love using sound boxes for hearing sounds in words.

Kiddos need tons of hands-on practice connecting sounds to letters

 and then sequencing those letters to make words. 

It's a Win-Win!

Click here to see my Sound Box packs!

Happy Reading!

TRACKING STUDENT DATA

Tracking and sharing data can be so time consuming. 

I like to use easy reader-friendly graphs and tables with parents.

It makes sharing information so much easier!!

You can find them here!

TEN FRAMES PRACTICE

Sharing a quick idea today for ten frames work!

I love using the ten frame in my classroom. 

It's such a powerful tool and leads to great understanding of number sense.  
If you don't have commercially made ten frames in your classroom,
 why not have the kiddos make their own?

We love breaking out the counters (aka-mini erasers) to practice number skills!

FYI: Clorox/Lysol wipes or shaving cream take the dry erase markers right off.
 Shaving cream smells really good, too!

TALLY MARK PRACTICE

Quick post today to share something that works in my classroom. 

Why are tally marks so difficult for some children?

I've found giving kiddos a chance to manipulate tallies helps bridge the gap. 
Simple materials like popsicle sticks (craft sticks) work well for young kiddos
...and they love it!
You could even use two different color sticks-one color for tallies 1-4
 and a different color for the 5th tally. Happy Counting!

Interactive Booklets Make Phonics Fun in Kindergarten and First Grade

Phonics has been around forever, right? 
So, why is it we haven't found the one right way to teach kiddos letter sounds AND blending AND substituting AND on and on??

Let's face it. Phonics is difficult. 
I have a friend who swears she still doesn't hear sounds in words.
She's 43. She also used to teach Kindergarten. 
She says teaching Phonics to Kindergarteners is almost impossible when you didn't learn to read that way. 

Today I want to share with you one way I've found to make Phonics a little easier.

If you've been reading my blog for a while, you know we use a lot of booklets in my classroom.
The kiddos love them. I love them. 
Learning happens. It's a win, win, win!

Last year, I created a set of Phonics Booklets aimed at aiding kiddos with the often scary task of hearing sounds in words and sequencing the letters that represent those sounds. 

I wanted my pumpkins to have meaningful follow-up to explicit instruction and guided practice with magnetic letters. 

We use magnetic letters every. single. day. 
Seriously THE most powerful tool for teaching reading and writing in my toolbox. 

My kiddos love mixing and fixing words with mag letters. 

I found this phonics booklet offered the perfect independent activity for students who:
1-had already received explicit instruction on specific word patterns
AND 
2-had scrambled and unscrambled words with the same phonics pattern using magnetic letters.

Students are still able to manipulate the letters, just in a less tangible way. Progress, you know?

Then the kiddos have the opportunity to practice writing the words as they build sentences using the words.



We begin with CVC words, of course, and make our way through CVCe, vowel teams, r-controlled vowels, blends, digraphs, and irregular vowels. 

My kiddos will make booklets with every phonics skill we cover in first grade. 

  
This booklet uses letter boxes. 
I love this sentence! Truth from children!

I plan to do a blog post covering Phonics instruction in my classroom, 
but these booklets give you a good picture of one of the activities we use on a daily basis.

 

 All my Phonics booklets are available in my TpT store. 

They are available individually or as a bundle. 
Skills covered:
CVC, CVCe, Vowel Teams, Irregular Vowels, R-controlled Vowels, Digraphs, L Blends, R Blends, and S Blends.

Click on the cover to take a peek. Happy Phonics!!

Have a wonderful week, my friends! 

And, thanks for stopping by!!