Fun with Christmas Carols!

Hello, everyone!  It's Andrea here from Reading Toward the Stars with some quick and easy ideas for using seasonal songs in your classroom.

I have been working with my kindergarten students with gaining concept of word.  This is something that our current reading program lacks, and it is heavily assessed throughout the year.  This past week we worked on using the song "Jingle Bells" for concept of word practice.  They used bingo markers to put marks under the words in the poem.

After doing that, we counted the words in each line and went back and read the poem, while they pointed to the dots as we said each word.

After reading through the poem, they then looked for various letters in the poem and marked them.

They really had fun with this and can't wait for the next poem.

This week with my older students, we are going to work on reading Christmas songs and not singing them.  This helps with fluency practice since the students have to attend to the words and think about what they are reading.

I am going to use my Fluency with Christmas Carols with them to help them with this.  We will READ the songs. Then they can fill in the blanks with words from the songs to practice.  You can grab this freebie by clicking {here} or on the picture below.

How do you use holiday songs in your classroom?

High Frequency Words vs. Sight Words with Jen from An Adventure in Literacy

We welcome another guest blogger to Literacy Land, Jen from an Adventure in Literacy is here to give us more information on the difference between sight words and high frequency words.

Hello Literacy Land readers! This is Jen from An Adventure in Literacy. I've had fun literacy teaching adventures in preschool special ed, kindergarten, as a K-2 reading specialist, and currently in first grade. I like to move around and gain different teaching perspectives from each grade I teach.  I'm excited to be guest blogging on Adventures in Literacy Land to share some activities I use with teaching high frequency words.

The terms sight words and high frequency words are often used interchangeably, but incorrectly, by teachers. I know, I know, it is so much easier to just call all those words our students need to know sight words, but I thought I would clarify the difference before getting started with the fun stuff .

High-frequency words are the most commonly occurring words in print. Fry's Instant Words and Dolch Words are examples of  high frequency words (the, of, and, to, in, etc).

Sight words are words that are recognized "at first sight". Any word can become a sight word once a student can read it instantly. As teachers, we want high-frequency words to become sight words so our students know those most commonly occurring words automatically.

The bottom line is we want our students to have a large bank  of words they know automatically. We want them to be able to read decodable and non-decodable words quickly and accurately at first glance. So here are a few instructional activities to learn those words.

CONCEPT OF WORD

One of the first steps in developing a large sight word vocabulary is having concept of word. Until students have a firm concept of word they cannot remember words in isolation. Carla did a great post a few months ago on developing concept of word. Many of the activities used to develop concept of word are also useful in building word knowledge.

READ, READ, READ

I always tell my students "The best way to become a better reader is to read, read, read!". Reading and rereading text at a student's instructional or independent level provides repeated exposure to words in context . Children begin to remember words they have seen in context.  Reading A to Z is a subscription site that has a wealth of printable and projectable leveled books including high frequency word books. There are many other publishers with great high frequency word readers too. Repetitive text gives students repeated exposure to high frequency words or phrases.  Highlighting targeted words or playing "I Spy" with engaging pointers is always a hit and really helps students focus on that word in context.

POETRY

Poems and songs offer many opportunities to read high frequency words in context. My students have a poetry notebook where they add a poem or song weekly.  They keep these in their book boxes for rereading and to help promote fluency.

PATTERNED WRITING AND CLASS BOOKS

Patterned writing with repeating phrases helps put the words in context and gives them meaning. Students always enjoy reading class books they have made. (I usually have the students do the writing, but these are some cuties from my days teaching preschool special ed.)

 

MUSIC AND SONGS

Teaching words through music gives students an auditory cue to go along with the visual. In kindergarten we had a class book called "The Words on the Bus" sung to "The Wheels on the Bus". As we learned new words we would add them to our song book and sing the words whenever we had a few extra minutes.

WORD RINGS

As teachers we do all of these great activities to make the words stick, but behold, there are still some students that just simply cannot remember the words. Or they may get stuck on just a few words.  It can be so frustrating!!!! High frequency words are tough for students because many of the words do not have concrete meanings that help students make learning connections. One of my favorite (and most successful) word activities is to have the students put those tough words in context on a word ring. This is individualized so it can be time consuming. However, the benefits far outweigh the time spent!

Choose a few words that the student is having trouble with. Write one word on the front of the card. I like to use these fun colored strips from Dollar Tree, but cut up sentence strips or index cards work well too.

Have the student come up with a sentence using that word. This part can take awhile, but DO NOT give the student a sentence-it must come from them so they construct their own meaning. (This is also a sneaky way to get them to practice constructing complete sentences.) Write the sentence on the back of the card making the target word bold. A double sided black sharpie is the perfect tool for writing the cards.

Punch a hole in the corner of the card and place the word cards on a ring. Read the word to the student and flip the card over and read the sentence. Repeat for the remaining words. Next, have the student read the word followed by the sentence for each word. Help them out if they get stuck. You will be pleasantly surprised at how well they are recalling the words because they have given them their own meaning.

I have my students keep the word rings in their book boxes so they are always handy to practice.  For extra practice I call them to read me their word rings frequently. Once the rings are made, it only takes a minute to read the cards so I can grab them at random times during the day. Even my struggling readers enjoy practicing the word rings because they had ownership is making them.

As students begin to learn the words you can have them transfer the known words to another ring or a word bank. Keep adding new words to the ring.

I'm a fan of the word rings because the custom sentences give students exposure to many high frequency words they may not have learned yet.  Reading the sentences also helps promote fluency, so double bang for your buck!

Thanks so much for letting me hang out in Literacy Land and share some of my reading adventures! I hope you've grabbed a new idea or two. Please share your thoughts and ideas for teaching high frequency or sight words in the comments. We'd love to hear from you!

Jen

Keeping Students Motivated Through the Winter Blahs

Hello Readers!  Carla from Comprehension Connection here to share ideas on how to survive and get the most from your students in the coming weeks.The holidays are approaching, and we are sure to see a decline in student motivation to read. The kids have one thing on their minds, and let me tell you, it is not homework!  So what are we to do to keep them on the right track? How can we mix things up to get the kids to buy in to our plan? What are the secrets to motivating them even when we are not able to remind them daily?  

One option many teachers try is to have vacation packages that include activities to keep kids busy over the break.  We've put together holiday packs with reading logs, project ideas, and math practice pages in the past, and one option you might try is to include options that get the rest of the family involved and that are different from the routines at school.  My students love to do book related projects, and if the directions are not that complicated, parents might actually appreciate materials that keep kids occupied and engaged. By involving other family members, kids will be kept on track with completing the work.

If families are part of the plan, one important thing to remember is to include them in the planning. We need to make the packets easy enough and small enough for the kids to not be overwhelmed by them.  They also will not be thrilled if it looks like "homework" to them, so including in the packet activities such as cooking, websites, writing, and art projects that are easy for families to do with the student may make a difference too. Kids can use critical thinking and creativity in these types of activities which keeps the brain stimulated.

For some students, incentives make a difference.  Having a surprise for work completion and effort goes a long ways with little people, especially if they get to celebrate with their classmates too. However, keep in mind that not earning the prize can be defeating, especially if it's not entirely the child's fault or lack of effort that causes him/her to fail in meeting the goal.  If incentives are used, I would recommend making the goal attainable for all so that it's a win-win.  

Make Reading Plans and Goals for the Break

As a group, brainstorm a reasonable plan for the break and set a goal together.  Include the goal in the packet that goes home as well as a plan to meet the goal. Good readers make plans, so mapping out when and how to reach the goal during break will be easier if the plan is developed with the group.  

Encourage the kids to visit the library and/or set them up with books for break

Now is the time to solicit parents for book donations.  Have the kids bring in books to trade with their friends, let them borrow from books that are donated, and/or borrow from your library.  Students need to be set up for reading, so sending them off with a great selection and perhaps a new book (gift from teacher) will make them excited to dig in.  Encourage the parents to give books as gifts too.

Give your students an author list to check out and give them a teaser before break begins
Just like a movie trailer makes you WANT to see the movie, we need to do the same with books. Showcase the best winter reads and share a little bit of each book to get your kids started.  I am giving my kids Shiloh (5th grade) and Stone Fox (4th grade) for Christmas (Sh!  Don't tell them.), but these two titles were $1.00 per book from Scholastic, so I was thrilled to find them.  I know the kids will enjoy them.  If they've read them already, no worries!  I have alternate books I can trade with them once the gifts are opened.

Talk about Great Books to Read

Invite your librarian and principal in for a little book talk.  Discuss their favorites and let the kids just talk about what they've been reading and what they'd recommend to friends.  That will build enthusiasm.  It's amazing how the reading bug spreads when we just let the kids talk with each other. My little guy, Gary, is the inspiration in my room.  He comes in each day bursting with energy (literally) and can't wait to share with me what he's reading and what he's finished.  He is a reader, and that is spreading among the others.

Make Sure Your Kids KNOW this is Important

Talk about your celebration plans with the expectation that ALL will meet the challenge, but also emphasize the greater importance...becoming a reader and enjoying it.  Share your reading plans and how much you look forward to the time off to read.  Share how schoolwork often gets in the way of time to read (nothing wrong with that as the kids are very important), but that you look forward to a few books you've had saved for the time off.

Match Interests to the Reader

Find out what your students are most interested in and help them find books that will "call them". Kids need to feel in control (and if they're "getting" to read what they want to read, then motivation increases), connected to the common goal, and confident they'll be successful with the plan.

The "best" books for winter may be tough to identify, but as teachers, we love to find great books for a bargain price. These books are what I could find available for a dollar each from Scholastic and from my other favorite vender, The Reading Warehouse. If you order soon, you should be able to get them on time.  These choices are available from both companies for $1.00 per book.  They are from the December, November, and October listings with Scholastic and the Bargain Bin with The Reading Warehouse. Some months are not appropriate for purchases now, but this is what is available at this time and are subject to availability I'm sure.  

Kindergarten:

    

First Grade:

    

Second Grade:

    

Third Grade:

    

Fourth Grade:

    

Fifth Grade:

     

Bargain Books from The Reading Warehouse 

*Note-there are many Curious George book titles available...perfect for primary.

    

    

  

Certainly, we may need magic to keep some kids going through the winter break and on those snow days, but if we build a culture of reading and involve our students in the planning, we are sure to be more successful than if we just dole out the packets and hope for the best.

If you have ideas that work, please take a moment and share them, and I wish each of you a wonderful holiday filled with time to curl up with your favorite book.  

Until next time...happy reading (and relaxing!)