More Sight Word Activities

So, I have taken on the mission of providing my students with sight word activities. I have already introduced   Set #1 and Set #2. Now it's time for the next two sets: Set #3 and Set #4. The new sets are more challenging because they come from Dolch word lists for 1st - 3rd grade. I have a wide range of readers in my classroom. One of the realities is that I have some students that I can give my teacher resources from my 1st and 2nd grade hay-days and they would do a great job reading it. With that said, I created sight word cards that will give them positive challenges so the don't get "bored" reading the same words that they have already mastered. That is also why pictures are different on the cards. It allows me to differentiate Daily 5 stations when needed.

Now Introducing...

Shower of Sight Words #3

(I used simple cloud graphics which lends itself to many weather, spring, and monthly themes)

Shower of Sight Words #4

(I thought this graphic was really cute...children in rain gear;0))

These resources can be found at my TPT store (of course). Let me know what you think!

STAY INSPIRED!!

Renaada

Spring Break Sale

I am throwing a sale at my TPT store in mist of BLISS during my Spring Break. 

I know some of you have either already had you break or have a small case of SPRING FEVER.

So to celebrate our RENEWED SPIRIT, I thought a 20% off sale would do the trick.  

Take some time to stop by and stock up!!

STAY INSPIRED!!

Renaada

SPRING HAS COME!!

IT'S SPRING BREAK!!

You can only imagine how happy I feel to be able to sit down and do nothing (on purpose). I have been blog stalking this morning and found something that I thought would make my blogging life much easier. I found this really simple and very cute blog planner at The Flourishing Abode. Being able to keep ideas organized and focused has been a challenge for me as I am trying to find my voice in the blogging world. April Starr created a wonderful tool that I feel will help me stay on track as I continue on this journey. So if you are  looking for a resource to help you in your blog-venture, check out The Flourishing Abode. Thank you, April!!

Last week, I had a chance to progress monitor my student retention of sight words. It blew me away to find out that my students were not retaining the sight words as well as I thought. I realized that my students were not getting enough sight word practice. I also let me know that it was time to change my students seating arrangements as well. 

I know what you are thinking: SEATING ARRANGEMENTS?! It seems like that would be the last thing to think about when you have students who can't read basic sight words. Trust me it was, until I took a look around and realized that my readers were sitting in a more concentrated area of my classroom. Not because I put them there, but because those students were peer partners with other readers and had learned the sight words by working together. My other students we paired up with fairly okay readers but had not elevated their knowledge of sight words (independently/ beyond my help in guided reading lessons). They were stuck on a stage of reading: RETELLING. What looked like reading was actually them retelling the story. They were also paying little regards to the words of the story.

Don't get me wrong, we work in small groups. Through my daily walk-through,  I just failed realize that my centers for Daily 5 didn't have enough sight word activities to reflect that I not only wanted them to retain the sight words, I wanted them to USE them daily in everything. I  also failed to pair my okay readers with readers who have grown into very confident and fluent readers. Usually, I try to pair my children with a higher level reader for two reasons: to read words correctly and to encourage each other. The fluent reader will always make sure the other is reading the words correctly. When they are reading the books together; and both are reading words correctly, it encourages them to want to read MORE. This is why I do a walk-through after assessments; it allows self reflection and student observation at the same time.

So I began putting some ideas together and came up with a simple game format that I feel will help and it allow my students to be more actively engaged in their learning of sight words. In the spirit of April and weather, I created Shower of Sight Words. So far I have created two set of the game. The first set features the Primer Dolch words, number words 1-5, and color words. I chose umbrellas for this set. I thought it would go well with weather themes, weather units, Spring themes, and April Showers thematic units.

 The second set reflects Prime Dolch words, number words 6-10,  and shape words. I chose rain boot graphics. (So cute!!)

I plan to try this with my students when we return from spring break. If you would like to try this with your students, stop by my TPT store. There will be more to come; and, as always...

STAY INSPIRED!!

Renaada

March Madness

I know that I am not the only one that is already looking ahead to March. March is not only crammed with wonderful learning possibilities; it is also my month to celebrate....MY BIRTHDAY! I am so excited I can't stand it. My husband has things planned for me for the whole weekend. I know there is going to be a southern style cook out and fish fry. What can I say...I love to eat. Once I have stuffed myself with all of that grill-fry goodness, I am back to business on Monday.

I have been getting ready for Read Across America Week. Mrs. Bowman (another fellow Kindergarten teacher) and I will be doing the following activities:

Monday (March 4^th)-Cat in the Hat: Dress as Things and teachers dress as the cats (All classes in K are doing this)

Purpose: Teach about being honest; introduce Dr. Seuss and his book collection

Tuesday (March 5^th)-The Lorax: Wear orange and I will have moustaches provided

Purpose: Teach students about keeping the Earth clean, taking responsibility for our actions, seven habits-be proactive

Wednesday (March 6)-Fox in Socks and Wacky Wednesday:  Dress wacky (mismatched clothes and crazy socks).

Purpose: Teach students about tongue twisters, what's wrong with the picture.

Thursday (March 7)-Oh the Places You'll Go: Dress to show what you want to be when you grow up.

Purpose: Teach students about having a goal, seven habits-think with the end in mind, and how do can we reach our goals.

Friday (March 8)-The Sneeches: Wear yellow and I pin green stars on their shirts

Purpose: Teach students about being different and that it is okay! We are all are unique!

We are also doing t-shirts as a grade level (THING "K"). We are very excited with what's to come. We are also Having Dr. Seuss Movie Marathon. Can you imagine how wacky the first week of March is going to be...MARCH MADNESS!!!

More to come; so in the meantime...

STAY INSPIRED!!!

Renaada

Busy as a BEE

Hi everyone,

As you know I am completely new to the blogging experience. With that being said, I have not learned how to balance all of the things I have been working on with my students and be a mom/wife/blogger.
I am sincerely sorry for not keeping up with this as I should. But I did come to the realization that once a week may work out for me until I can get the hang of this.
Now, back to business...
Is it me or has February turned into the busiest month. in between Dental Health, Presidents' Day, Valentine's Day, Black History month, math, science, reading, social studies, Literacy Lab... I think you get the picture. I had a moment of panic. However, a great since of calm came over me... I am only human. THAT'S RIGHT PEOPLE... I, a teacher, am ONLY HUMAN. I continue to have meaningful lessons with my students, I try to keep them engaged, and I assess their knowledge so that they are prepared for the things to come. I feel that if I do all of those things, I have accomplished my goal for the students. (thinking: Just keep swimming, just keep swimming...;0))
Our school system has decided to adopt the JOURNEYS reading series. If there is anyone that has some insight as to how this works with your students, let me know. Do you like it? Do the students stay actively engaged during learning? How does it support your tier 1, 2, and 3 instruction? Do the students enjoy it? i would love to hear some feedback.

As always...

STAY INSPIRED!!!

Renaada Spears

Time for "Teeth"

I am so worn out from this Super Bowl weekend. I was ready to throw in the towel after the first half (upset with the 49ers). The power outage during the game just added fuel to the fire. Despite my disappointment (disguised as frustration), the 49ers gained their bearings and went to work. They showed so much heart; and, although they didn't win, they made great gains during the game.

This made me think of my Kinders. There are times when I get so frustrated with them because I know what they are capable of and they don't seem to put forth much effort. Then there are times when they get frustrated because they are not getting it. Now that we are in our second half of the year, I am starting to notice PROGRESS. Even at its smallest scale, my Kinders are showing signs of awareness in our lessons. It is because of this that I stay INSPIRED to teach another day.

Now that I have had my testimonial for the day...

My students have been engaged in Groundhog Day activities. I was able to find 2 videos online in conjunction with my activity pack I posted last week. My students really enjoyed it. I also had a game that I played with them that I found by Angela Rubin. My students used unifix cubes as game pieces. If they won a game, they received a cube to make their game piece taller. The first person to make a cube train of ten is the overall class winner. This was my students favorite game so far (thanks A.Rubin).

I am now starting my Dental Health activities. We have a dentist that will come this Friday. Feel free to check out my TPT store to preview some of its content. Let me know what you think. I am always open to feedback.

As always...

STAY INSPIRED!!

Renaada Spears

In A Whirlwind

The weather here in Alabama is getting really hard to prepare for. One day it is 30 degrees; the next day it is 70 degrees. One day it snows; the next day we are having severe weather/thunderstorms. It has put a real damper on how much I get taught in a day due to early release times or late school openings. Not to mention the meetings that are scheduled to add to the mix of all of this randomness.

(Now BREATHE!)

Despite all of this, I was able to get my Groundhog Day Activity Pack completed. you can find it at my store on Teachers Pay Teachers. I will be using it with my students during the month of February. I wanted to make something that my students would like and something that I can use for more than the month of February. Here are some pictures of some of the activity pack's content:

I have a really hands-on oriented class this year. So anything that I can laminate and reuse throughout the month/year works best for my current class. There are 20 number cards, 20 number word cards, 20 tally mark cards, 20 ten frame cards, 4 Count by ___ (1s, 2s, 5s, 10s) puzzles, anchor charts and printables. Please feel free to leave comments on this pack. I am always looking for ways to improve my products; so, feedback is really important to me and appreciated.

STAY INSPIRED!!

Renaada