Phonics

Confused with the terms of phonological awareness and phonemic awareness? Phonology is the study of vocal sounds. There is no print involved in this stage of literacy.  It is an “eyes closed” stage in identifying and manipulating the sounds of oral language.  Beginning with sentences, words, syllables, onsets, rimes and ending with phonemes.

Managing Phonics Workshop supplies can be a challenge. If you are looking for a better way to organize your whole group supplies… if you are anything like me, saving minutes throughout the day is a struggle!  Transitions from one lesson to another while gathering and […]

Which are the best sight word activities to boost fluency? Is it the traditional word wall, a portable word wall, a phonics notebook, a word wallet or a personal word wall? Let’s take a closer look at all our options with a Word Detective theme! […]

When you are introducing your classroom rules at the beginning of the school year, you hope they stick! As teachers, we make every effort to repeat, rehearse and restate our classroom expectations, but will our students remember them and follow through? Setting personal behavior goals […]

In an effort to raise phonemic awareness, teachers are presented with the challenge of providing their students with a print rich environment that will provide their students with a variety of opportunities to see, read and most importantly interact with written words. How do we […]

Are you looking for a method to Improve sight Word Fluency while using differentiated sight word lists? I know what is holding you back…it’s work.  I won’t lie and say that it was easy coming up with this system.  It took me a few years.  […]

As Adults: Not many of us enjoy a challenge. Not many of us embrace unfamiliar territory. Many of us are creatures of habit and find security staying in our comfort zone.  Yet, as adults when we do encounter challenges, we work through them because we […]

Gumball Phonics™ is a unique color-coded phonics strategy to help young readers and writers DECODE unfamiliar words, rather than GUESS.   This FUN color–coded phonics approach will help your students discriminate between the various phonics and spelling patterns found in words they encounter while reading. […]

Are you looking for more opportunities to encourage your students to apply what they have learned from your phonics instruction while they read? Let me share this strategy with you!   We all know that children LOVE to read and be read to! The method […]

As requested, I have bundled up the ESSENTIAL resources you need to help with: planning organizing establishing routines and implementing   DIFFERENTIATED WORD STUDY GROUPS! You can find the complete bundle here at The K Files shop: Differentiate Your Word Study Groups:  The ESSENTIALS BUNDLE

If you run literacy centers or a Daily 5 framework in your classroom then you know the struggle of constantly planning and prepping engaging activities for your students to keep behavior problems at a minimum so you can meet with your small groups for Guided […]

Many of us Super Teachers have had Word Walls in our classrooms for years and years now. I have had one since forever! However, I have never found the Word Wall to be truly interactive for my students. Have you? Of course, we practiced our […]

Read to Self is an excellent opportunity incorporate additional word work. If you are looking for more opportunities to encourage your students to apply what they have learned from your spelling and phonics instruction WHILE they read, you are going to love this! We all […]

We all know and appreciate the benefits of providing our students with hands-on learning activities. Not only does working with manipulatives keep students engaged, but they also help students retain what they are learning and foster a love of learning new WORDS. As primary teachers, […]

As primary teachers, we spend most of our time teaching our children to READ, and READ some more.  This is not always an easy task.  We take on this responsibility and are continuously searching for the right strategies and tools that will provide our young […]

Why not take your Word Work one step further? I have disguised Read to Self as a bit more… Word Work… and my firsties don’t seem to mind. Yours won’t either. It’s a Win-Win!  Read on! Read to Self Word Study Assignments In addition to […]

Now that you have your Word Study routines in place it is now time to consider how you will assess your students and evaluate their growth. I have some simple solutions for you! Assessing Each Sort At the end of each sort/unit I administer a […]

Now that you have prepped your resources, you are ready to forge ahead with your differentiated Word Study groups. But before you do, I have some tips to help you motivate your students to achieve with goal setting! Motivate Your Students with a Theme and […]

Data drives instruction! You already have the data from the Qualitative Spelling Inventory. You already grouped your students. Your resources are ready. You are ready to “rock on”. Planning for Differentiated Word Study Groups I have a basket for each Word Study Group labeled with […]

If you haven’t already read Words Their Way– OUR Way PART 1: Getting Started, you may wish to start there to learn about how to administer the Spelling Inventory, analyze your data and form your differentiated Word Study groups. If you have read Part 1, […]

As teachers, we are always searching for the most effective program, and designing our delivery to best meet the diverse needs of our students. At the same time, we aim to go about each endeavor in the most effective yet efficient and time-saving manner. This […]

Now that you have motivated your students and set goals, you are ready to introduce your Word Study routines. I have some tips to help you introduce these routines whole group so that later on, your students will have clear expectations as to what they […]

As part of our Daily 5 routine my students follow a “Must Do” and “Can Do” list.   In addition to my students’ Word Work during our Daily 5, one of their “Must Do” items is to Read to Self. During this time the children […]

I’ve added QR codes to my existing Write the Room series!! Students love to Write the Room as much as they love to use technology. So I thought, why not add QR codes?!?!? And I did! These phonics review games are a great opportunity to […]

I don’t know about you, but my filing cabinet is a treasure chest of resources and goodies that are dear to my teacher heart. But it wasn’t too pretty to look at. So I created some fancy dividers to help me locate just what I […]

I am a huge fan of using Anchor Activities during my routine procedures for Words Their Way. When I am facilitating my morning tune ups (differentiated mini lessons) with my small Word Study groups, the students who are not working with the teacher are completing […]

I am so happy that I took the time to create these Slides and Ladders games for my firsties. They are truly enjoying interacting with each other, learning new social skills while reviewing the phonics rules they are learning in their differentiated Word Study Groups. […]

Students love to Write the Room. It is a great opportunity to get your students moving as they hunt the room for words that reinforce the current phonics rule they are studying. And it is so easy to prep! After hiding the words around the […]

My students absolutely adore our (beanie baby) Reading Friends and poster set! As I introduce the many reading strategies at the beginning of the year I always have a little help from our “Reading Friends”. Our reading buddies help the students focus on becoming good […]

At the start of the school year, I administer the The Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA2) to my students. After I calculate the results and determine their independent reading level I have a conference with each student and we discuss their level. If you look closely […]

Do you know these letter sounds? They will help you learn to read. Our word wall has evolved so much throughout the year! It brings me such happiness when I see my young writers looking at the wall to find the words they need in […]