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Saturday, July 12, 2014

Word Works Daily: Reading Skills Routine for Kindergarten (Win it!)


Wow, wow, wow! It has been a busy time. I haven't blogged in 4-EV-ER. I really don't have time now with working at Summer School every day, preparing for another year of Kindergarten and trying to take a breather while it is summer...... but some things have to be shared. This is it:


My baby is ready to enter the World!! No, I'm not pregnant (as much as I wish). I'm referring to my Reading Skills Routine BABY!!!

This is her! Isn't she gorgeous? (Click on any image to visit her on TEACHERS PAY TEACHERS!) 




This is the beginning of a REVOLUTION in Reading Skills Practice. We test over these skills, we know their importance in a child's ability to read, but do we really give them the attention they deserve on a daily basis? 

I didn't and I'm not ashamed to admit it. (Okay, maybe just a little.) :(

But, I do have an excuse. My excuse is, I didn't have the resources or the know-how to incorporate these skills daily. But, after many months of pondering, creating and prayers.. I'm here.
 
Here is a little more explaining: 


Here are some close ups of some of the skills that are included in Set #1.


Word Counting (Word Discrimination): 
When using this portion, I don't show the sentence at first. I read it to the students, they repeat it and then count the words. Students ten put their thumb up if the know the answer. 

I then choose a child to demonstrate. Before allowing them to come to the front and putting up the number card, we read the sentence (while I point to the words) and then we go back and count the words.
  

 Rhyming Word Recognition (and Production): 


This seems easy, but for beginning Kinders it is NOT. In order to master the skill of rhyming, it has to be encountered over and over again.  With this much exposure, students will definitely get the hang of it. Further continuing practice, internalizes those abilities even further. 
When completing this component, I remind students what rhyming words are and even ask for students to recall. I then say, "Find the word that rhymes with.." and put up my picture card. They then raise their thumbs when they recognize it. Sometimes, depending on the abilitiy levels and the pictures, I will dictate the choices. 
After a child has identified the answer, we sing a song with the two words inserted and then I ask for volunteers to produce other words that rhyme with the identified word. 

Syllable Blending: 

This component is referred to as "What's the Word?" In set #1, it begins as syllable blending. As students progress, this will progress into phoneme blending. 
As shown in the picture, it begins with two posted graphics. When students are listening, I then dictate the word I want them to choose as syllables. For example, I would say, "zip  -  per." The students would then raise their thumb and I would choose a child to come up and place the correct picture in the box. 
To take this a step further, I would then say, "Okay, let's try another without any pictures. What word do you hear now... trac-tor." This ensures that students are getting practice without the extra scaffolding that the pictures offer and that higher-performing students are being challenged a little more




Counting Syllables is a student favorite in my summer school class. During this practice, I first reveal the word by putting up the card. I say the word, students repeat, they "clap-it-out" and "chin-count." They then know to hold up their thumb. I choose a student to demonstrate the clapping and counting and they get to come up and add the number next to the picture. I do take this skill a step further by asking them to produce other words with two syllables. 

 Beginning Sound Recognition:


In this part, I simply have the two pictures on the bottom already up. When we get to this section, I then reveal the first word (hand). I do slow down the first sound for students to hear (if they need this extra help) and then dictate the other two words. When students get better at the skill, they won't need that. They then identify the right word and I have them come up. 
After that, we go around and produce other words that begin with that sound (/h/ in this instance).  






This part is identical to beginning sound recognitoin except for ending sounds. Becuase this skill is a little tougher, we do slap out the sounds of the words on our arm. (First sound is near the shoulder, second sound in the elbow, last sound on the wrist.) We catch that last sound and then test the other words to see which has the same ending sound. Once students get a solid understanding of this skill, we discontinue the slapping-out part. 


My product is very unique. I know this because I searched for something like it to use in my classroom and nothing surfaced. After using it in my Summer-School Classroom, I know its abilities and have seen a difference in my students. 



Would you like to have a free copy? If so, follow my BLOG and comment with your thoughts and e-mail and I'll choose three lucky winners to get this first set for FREE. Right in time for the new school year. You'll only be required to tell me about your endeavors with it. I'll choose the winners on July 18th and notify you by e-mail. 



Like my FB page for another chance to win as well! (Click on the FB symbol at the top of my blog.) These are two separate chances, both yeilding 3 winners each. That is a total of 6 WINNERS! :)






 
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43 comments:

  1. This looks fabulous! I'm a kindergarten Title I teacher, and this would be great for the kiddos. I "liked" your Facebook page. How do I follow your blog?

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    1. Hi Lee-Ann! All you have to do is press "Join this Site" under the "Follow My Blog" header on the right. It is near the top of the page. Be sure to comment with your e-mail address on the FB page too. There is a post just for this! So glad you like it! :)

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  2. This is very exciting to see!!! I am moving back to kinder after 9 years away. I know a lot has changed, but this looks revolutionary!!! I would love to try it out in my new classroom!!! Kudos for coming up with this fantastic idea!!!

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    1. I appreciate your kind words so much! Kindergarten is the toughest, yet most rewarding grade level. I'm so glad you like my creation. It is working wonders for my Summer School kids. :)

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  3. I LOVE this! An amazing idea! I love it and would love to try this out with my kids :) It really is a fantastic idea! I would love to tell you how it goes :)
    lauraschachter@gmail.com

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    1. Feedback is so important to me. If you win, you'll certainly have to keep me updated as the year progresses. :)

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  4. Love this! Great way to introducing concepts in new ways! I would love to implement this in my kindie class this year!
    diana.yake@gmail.com

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  5. This would be a great tool that I could use as a first year kinder teacher! If we don't win here, can we find this on TpT?

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  6. Absolutely! If you click on any of the pictures from this blog post, it should lead you to the TpT store. I can't imagine how much my life would have been simplified if I had a tool like this my first year in Kindergarten!! :)

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    1. That's exactly what I'm thinking!
      -Arianne

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  7. This looks fantastic. I would love to have a first grade version. Is there any chance of that?

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    1. Are there any skills in particular that you would like to see? I'm working on that now with the help of some First Grade teachers and our district reading specialist. I am basically using the assessments in our district to develop all of this but would love to know what you would like included. :)

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    2. I'm excited that you're working on first grade. It sounds like you've got some experts helping you. Off the top of my head I'm thinking: punctuation, capitalization, long and short vowel sounds, contractions, nouns, verbs, adjectives, syllables, beginning and ending sounds. I'm happy to preview anything if you'd like. Thanks for all your hard work.

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    3. I love all of your suggestions!!! :)

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  8. I cannot tell you how much I LOVE this idea!!! I am new to kindergarten and had to quickly scramble late in the year because I have never taught K as I took over for a fellow colleague. I think these concepts are so important and often just touched upon during the year instead of reviewed daily! I did learn that the more you review things, they become second nature! This is AWESOME!!! It will be a priceless part of my daily routines!

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  9. This looks like an awesome set to use in my kindergarten class. I am making this a personal goal to incorporate these skills on a daily basis into my lessons like it should be done. It would be great to win. kcorronk@gmail.com

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  10. I found your blog this afternoon fell in love with this idea Love this idea!!! Can't wait to try it out this year for my class!

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  11. I LOVE this!!!!! So much covered here, truly an amazing idea (you go girl!!) Fingers crossed for good luck :)
    Connie
    iteachkfl@yahoo.com

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  12. I love your idea and your video. Awesome job. Thanks so much for sharing. I am excited that you are making more.

    DonalynPogue@msn.com

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  13. This is my second year teaching, but last year I taught only science and social studies --- so it's like my first year all over again and I've been researching and finding new things and this word works daily would be an amazing touch to my reading program in the upcoming new year!!!!

    Lhill3190@yahoo.com

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  14. Hello from Canada!! Love this idea!!!! Daily practice of phonological skills will reap benefits! Research shows that future success in reading is based on the strengths of these skills. Great package! Thanks for the video too to show how the daily routine goes!!

    varthur@westman.wave.ca

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  15. Ok, i'm in. If it hasn't been awarded yet. I will purchase and spread the word regardless.:-) Kudos, great idea. Cleo
    Cleo77083@gmail.com

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  16. Hello from Korea!! I Love this very much~!!
    I want to give a chance for my students to learning english with your great ideas!
    actually we are not good at english...but your good ideas will help us!

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  17. bgoad8@gmail.com thinks this is awesome. I will tell all my teacher friends about this. I see this being great tool with vocabulary too.

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  18. I must me a little slow today. What kind of animal is that in the last picture. The one that looks like an ox or a bull.

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  19. I just love this and would love to use it in my classroom!!!

    Shonna-willow @scusd.edu

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  20. I am so excited about this! I can't wait to incorporate this in to my routine with my homeschooler! I found the video for instructions on Pinterest. Thank you for posting a video, too! I love the cues to help the children hear the syllables, # of words in a sentence, and the ending sound!!!!

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  21. This looks awesome. A question though, I have grade one, reading anywhere from A to G. Does it matter whether I get the kindergarten or the grade one?

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  22. Toni
    I love your program and would love to implement it into my Pre-K classroom, but do not have a smartboard. Do you have a printable PDF version like in your video for purchase? Thanks

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  23. Toni
    I love your program and would love to implement it into my Pre-K classroom, but do not have a smartboard. Do you have a printable PDF version like in your video for purchase? Thanks

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  24. This is fantastic! I am a new kindergarten teacher and would love to use this resource in my room.

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  26. This is fabulous! I would definitely use it daily! Here's hoping I win:)
    kristine.elzy@gmail.com

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  27. Bless you!!! I have been trying to create something like this for my classroom by putting together individual items from TPT but I have not been satisfied with what I have found. We are going to departmentalize our Kindergarten, and I am going to teach Language Arts. Since I no longer need my big board for calendar time, I wanted to replace it with a way to practice reading skills on a daily basis. It is going to be so great to have all of this already done for me. Thanks for your hard work!!

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  28. This project is amazing. I am a special education teacher and trying to get my daughter ready for school too. I cant wait to try this with my school kiddos. I have tried so many things in the past to help in the areas of reading and this looks amazing. Great job

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  29. Yes, this project is superb for developing reading skills in Kindergarteners. Being a kindergarten teacher I also use these kinds of things to build special skills in my students. Recently I am influenced by the stuff at http://www.kidsfront.com/class/6th-class.html.

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  30. I absolutely love is! All of these skills are so important for literacy and repetition is the key!

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  31. This is a great idea. It covers our standards. I adapted it a little to include medial sounds. Thanks for an awesome idea and resource!

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