Short Vowel Solutions: Ideas and Freebies

A quarter of our year has come and gone.  The first four to five weeks are really devoted to procedures and routines in the classroom.  Of course we've also been working on some of the standards.  A big focus during the beginning of the year is always short vowels.
One area many of my firsties struggled with this year was phonemic awareness of medial sounds.  They were awesome at hearing the initial sounds in words, but hearing that vowel sound in the middle was tricky.
To get more practice correctly identifying the vowel sounds in words, we did lots of listening oral segmenting of words.  We also did (and continue to do) lots of picture sorts.  Students need to be able to identify the sounds of the words, without having them written down.  Oral segmenting and picture sorting really helps with phonemic understanding of short vowel sounds.
If you would like a free set of my short vowel picture sort (seen in the picture below) you can click here.

Brain Pop Jr.'s Short Vowels video chip was an inspiration for another one of our activities to practice correctly identifying short vowel sounds.  In the clip, Annie labels objects in her classroom that have short vowel sounds.
I paired my students up to label short vowel objects in our classroom as well.  Students wrote their words on post-its and stuck them to the short vowel objects.  Then we gathered at group time to share what objects were labeled.  The class determined if the labeling was correct with a little thumbs up or thumbs down voting.

Of course we worked with actual short vowel words as well.  After we covered all of the short vowel sounds, we did a little differentiated Write the Room short vowel word sorting.   

I printed the short vowel words cards on two different colors of paper and posted them around the room.  My below level readers read and sorted the words that were printed on the red cards.  (The red cards include picture support.)  My on/above level students sorted words on the yellow cards.

My students always love Write the Room activities.  If you would like a free copy of my Sort It Out {A FREE Write the Room Activity}, you can click on the picture below.

During our word work time we did quite a bit more independent practice reading, sorting, spelling, illustrating, and matching short vowel words.
Click on the picture below to learn more about the independent tasks students completed to round out their understanding of short vowels.

Next week we'll start our work with digraphs.  We'll proceed with many of these same types of activities.  Listening for digraphs, reading words with digraphs, and spelling words with digraphs. 

Hopefully next time I check back in, I'll be writing from my new computer.   My dependable little MacBook is past its prime.  After making an update this summer (big mistake), any work I do on her (like this bog post) takes way longer than it should.  I'm not a big fan of change, but the time has come.  Fingers crossed all goes smoothly.  If you don't hear back from me for a while, you'll know why. ;)

Have a great week.

Just a Pinch of Grinch

Just unloading some pics from this week and wow, these past five days have been busy.  Christmas programs, parties, crafts, assessments, the flu, presents, special books, class visitors, and lots of repeating myself.  The week before winter break is crazy, but of course lots of fun.

Some of our time was devoted to the mean one, Mr. Grinch.  Most of my students know the Grinch, so they were super excited when I had "Grinchy Activities" up on our class agenda.  We started the day with a read aloud of How the Grinch Stole Christmas.  Then we moved straight to our craft.

Our Grinches were inspired by a Glyph Girls' project I pinned a few years ago.  I love how they turned out.  The kids loved making them and were totally cracked up when they realized their Grinches would not be wearing any pants.
We did these first because I wanted to pop them up around the room to Grinch-it up a bit before our other activities.

After finishing our Grinches, we moved on to a little literacy scoot game I put together.  I placed a Grinch word card at every desk, face down.  Students had to read the word on the card and determine if it has a long vowel sound or a short vowel sound.  Then they wrote their answers on a recording sheet.  When I gave the signal, everyone scooted to the next seat.
Since we just wrapped up the basic vowel, consonant, silent e pattern for all long vowel sounds, this activity was a perfect informal assessment.

We broke up the morning with a yummy pinspired snack one of my dear moms sent in.  The kids were really happy to get a treat.  (Maybe next year I'll let them put their Grinch treats together on their own.)

For math we got moving again with a write the room fact review.  I put addition and subtraction facts around the room.  (Some of my kids need lots more practice solving addition and subtraction facts when they are mixed.)  Just like in scoot, students started at one card, solved the problem, recorded their answers, and then moved when I signaled.
Since it was the week before winter break and my kids were a little more lively than usual, I built in another element of movement besides moving from card to card.  I printed a set of "Max cards" to help get out some of the wiggles.
The Max cards have various exercises on them.  "Do 4 squats."  "Do a plank and count to 12."  "Do 10 jumping jacks."  (You get the picture.)  After about for or five equations I would announce that it was time for a Max card and then I'd read the exercise.
The kids loved, loved, loved the Max cards.  It was something just a little different in our routine and it worked great.

Another activity with Grinch was an entry into our Elf journal, Diary of an Elf.  The kids wrote about what they thought was going on between the Grinch and our class elf.  They wrapped up their entries by telling what they thought might happen that evening, when it was time for our elf to return to the North Pole.  I got some very interesting responses.

We ended our Grinchy learning by watching the classic cartoon version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas.  After spending much of the day learning with Grinch, my sweet students were extra interested in watching the story unfold on screen.
Our time with Grinch was just what we needed this week, a high level of engagement with a beloved character and plenty of chances to move around.

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy your well deserved break.

Dominoes for Days (Freebies and Ideas)

I love things that you can use in lots of different ways.  It is so fabulous when you can buy something and put it to use in a few different activities.  Dominoes are one such item.  They can be used for so many classroom activities.  With a little creativity, dominoes can be a fun part of many math and literacy activities.
For math, they are a perfect way to work with math facts.  We use them for addition facts, subtraction facts, related facts, and fact families.
Before we started all of this domino math fact work we read, Domino Addition by Lynette Long.  This simple text helps students see patterns in the dominoes and how to generate addition equations using dominoes.

After reading Domino Addition, we played Domino Scoot (Addition).  I placed a domino at each student desk.  The students used their recording sheets to illustrate each domino and write two related addition facts to go along with that domino.  After about a minute, I signal them to scoot to the next desk.

We used the same setup to play Domino Scoot for subtraction facts.  After a little more practice, we will use this activity once again for fact families.  

Since the recording sheets are so open ended, I can use this exact activity again later for review or for reteaching purposes.  

At the bottom of this post you can find a link to my Domino Scoot recording sheets.  

Besides fact practice, we've also used dominoes for odd and even sorting.  This activity is super simple, with very little prep required.  Students just write odd or even on a note can and then sort the dominoes into the correct category.

You could use this same strategy with other skills as well, like less than 5/greater than 5 or doubles/not doubles.  Just think of different ways students can sort the dominoes.

Another low prep use for dominoes is to use them for word work.  They are very easy to arrange and use to make words.  My students like to use them to practice their spelling words.

Other domino literacy activities I've used require a little more work on the front end, but are fun and a great way to practice a variety of skills.  For example, we work on short and long vowel discrimination by playing domino match ups.  

I make dominoes with a picture on one end and the corresponding vowel sound on the end of another domino.  Students match the correct vowel sound with each picture.  When they complete the matching, there is an optional recording sheet.

I like to use these match ups as a partner activity with the whole group.  Which means, I print half as many dominoes as students so that all the partner sets can play at the same time.

I prep these by printing the dominoes on card stock, laminating, and cutting them.  However, for a quicker prep, you could print them and have students cut out their own sets.

Domino match ups can also be use for small groups, as centers, or as homework.

My young learners have also practiced contractions with domino match ups.  I printed dominoes that have two words on one side and the corresponding contraction on the end of another domino.  Students match the correct words with the correct contraction.  When they complete the contraction matching, there is an optional recording sheet.

If you would like a free copy of the Contraction Domino Match Up or the Long & Short O Domino Match Up, see the bottom of the post.

You can click on the pictures below for free domino activities for your classroom.

I hope you enjoy these activities or at least get some ideas to address your own student needs.  Thanks so much for stopping by.

Best.

Easing Into Summer

I don't know about you, but it seems to take me a few weeks to realize I've made it to summer break.  We've been off for about two weeks now and I have not completely unwound.  I've been working on a couple of school projects and trying to get caught up around the house.   A  and I are also spending some QT together; making crafts, playing some games, swimming, going to the park, reading, and doing a little pre-first grade academic work.
This week has also been Vacation Bible School at my church.  I've had a fabulous little group of kids in my "tribe."  It has been such a blessing to see their joy and excitement each evening.  Of course, being a leader in VBS keeps me in teacher mode (just a bit).  So, maybe next week I'll finish unwinding.

I have had a few minutes to start on my summer reading list.  First on my list is the new edition of The Daily Five by Gail Boushey and Joan Moser.  Ever since starting The Daily Five with my class, I try to reread the book each summer.  I especially like reminding myself about all the details of the launch period.  This summer I am so happy to have an updated edition to read.
One new part of the book that I'm extra interested in is chapter 8, The Math Daily 3.  I can't wait to learn about the authors' take on math independence in the classroom.  I'm using a lot of self control to keep myself from jumping ahead to that chapter.
I'll be sure to post about this book after I finish it up.

The other school related project I have spent time on is actually related to The Daily Five.  I started work on a series of word work packets called Words at Work.  Each of these packets include seven consistently formatted word work activities for each short vowel sound.  These activities are ideal for independent practice and are quick prep (just print and go).  I plan on using them as part of my word work time during Daily Five rotations.
A  has been my tester.  Seeing how a young learner responds to these activities is super helpful to me.   It's also a way to get in a little structured summer academics with  A.   Win.  Win.
All of these packets are available at my store, individually or bundled together in one mega pack.  If you would like to find out more, click on the picture below.

I'm planning additional Words at Work packets for long vowels, vowel variants, and more.  Hopefully I'll have plenty of time to get everything accomplished before school starts back.  But it's summer, so we'll see :) .
Thanks so much for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your week.