I'm going to share with you some fun and engaging ways to teach sight words. I mentioned in this post, that I LOVE teaching sight words!! There are numerous reasons, but one of them is the essential fact that learning sight words is just a hop, skip and a jump away from reading fluently! Edward William Dolch, in 1948, created a list of words that he believed to be essential for all students to learn first! Many teachers have found this to be true. Unfortunately, not all words can be sounded out.. so confusing! But, when you teach your kiddos sight words, and the simplicity of recognizing them by sight, they stand a better chance at becoming fluent readers! Here are 25 Ways to Teach Sight Words: 1. Word of the Day Consider a word of the day or week. Students can write a sentence with the word and add it to the class chart before, during a lesson or even as an exit ticket. 2. Sight Word Search These Kindergarten Sight Word Searches are a great review of the sight words. You can find these sight word searches here. 3. Sight Word Songs Click the picture to watch! My students LOVED these!!! 4. Sight Word Practice Pages I blogged about these here. 5. Sight Word Make a Match on Starfall This can be played individually on the computer, on an ipad, or whole group with an interactive board. 6. Use a doodle sketch or whatever you call these... These would be perfect to review sight words during small group time. Anything that keeps your students engaged and is hands on is perfect for reviewing sight words. 7. Spelling Practice on ABCya.com This is a fun game to practice whole group, small group or individually with a smart board, computer or ipad. 8. Another fun interactive way to ask your students how to spell a word. This game is also on ABCya.com 9. Playdoh Sight Words This photo came from Mrs. Bremer's Class blog. She found a freebie to use for making sight words out of play doh. Fun!! 10. Sight Word Necklace This idea came from Kinder by Kim. She says to wear a sight word necklace and as your kiddos enter the room they have to tell you the sight word. Great idea! 11. Literacy Centers There are so many fun ways to incorporate sight words into literacy centers. This activity is in my Fall/Halloween Math & Literacy Centers. 12. Interactive Sight Word Sentences If you have an interactive board-- this is one of the easiest centers to make! I would simply insert a picture per page, and separately type up the words in the sentence. Then, I made sure to mix them up and save the entire flipchart. 13. Sight Word Sentence Building Pages This particular page is from my Apple Unit. 14. Simple Sight Word Books I LOVED making these books! The student had to put the sentence in the correct order, match the picture, then read it to a few friends, to me or silently. 15. iPad Sight Word Games and Resources There are so many iPad sight word games. Just try googling it and see what happens!!! 15. Morning Messages Before each reading lesson, we always had a morning message. I would pick a few students to come to the board and circle/underline some of the sight words that were found in the sentence. 16. Using Sight Words with Crafts PS- I cannot for the life of me remember where this idea came from.. if it was you, feel free to comment below! 17. Tree Maps Tree Maps help teach your students/child how to write a paragraph. It all starts with the sight words. "Bats can fly. Bats have wings. Bats are creepy!" 18. Flashcards Let's not forget flash cards! Repetition is key.. so there is nothing wrong with bringing these bad boys out here and there! 19. Sight Word Songs to Review a lot of Words Click the picture to watch! 20. Homework Checklist of all Sight Words to Parents This comes from my Read like a Rockstar Pack. 21. Sensory Bin This would be so much fun for building sight words. Stick a little recording sheet at the center and call it common core (haha). Picture is from Mess for Less. 22. Sight Word Sticker Books This was another idea that came from Mrs. Bremer's Kindergarten blog. Give them a sticker for each word they can read. Over time they will be able to fill the entire book! 23. Water Color Sight Words This comes from Sharing Kindergarten. Kids love to paint, so this center is a no brainer for student engagement. What a fun center!!! 24. Magnetic Letters We can't forget those magnetic letters! This is a perfect hands on activity for those kinesthetic learners. 25. Websites: Pinterest & the SightWords.com Lastly, I almost always have to mention Pinterest.. I am such a visual person and it helps me to get ideas, inspiration, tips, tricks, etc.. with the millions of pictures. I just started a board for Sight Words. Be sure to follow it! Make sure to check out www.sightwords.com. They have so many games and resources for FREE-- yup that's right FREE!!! I hope you found some great ideas to implement into your own classroom. Be sure to check out my newest sight word unit below! Thanks for stopping by!
Procedural writing or "How-to" is one of my favorite units! Read this post to discover some fantastic mentor texts to use in your classroom!
So much Twitter love from my post about my walls this year. Y’all know how to make a girl feel good! I don’t have my lesson plans ready, and am not entirely sure what I’m doing on…
If you've come to my blog looking to teach your child or students to sew you've definitely come to the right place. I hope my Sewing with Kids Guide will answer all your questions about how to sew with kids and what to sew with kids! I love teaching children to sew and hope you
These all about me, back to school art activities for kids are engaging icebreakers. Encourage creativity and build community during the first week back
Choosing songs to teach from in the music room can be tricky business. For one thing, there are an infinite number of songs from which to choose. You can easily put your head down to think of one song to use in a lesson only to look up hours later with stacks of books and binders next to
I love finding games to play in our Sunday School class that are engaging and help kids remember the Bible story. The story of Ruth and Boaz is perfect
Disney/Pixar's "Inside Out" provides a great way to understand emotions. Download a free printable study guide on the movie for teens and young adults.
These all about me, back to school art activities for kids are engaging icebreakers. Encourage creativity and build community during the first week back
From teaching tips and parental strategies, to anti-bullying activities and games, these ideas offer great inspiration to help kids stand up to bullying!
Teach sight words with these fun sight word activities for kids in preschool, kindergarten, and first grade. I love how simple and effective these printables and games are! #sightwords #teachingreading #kindergarten
I love making snowflakes just for the joy of doing it. I love folding up some paper, randomly cutting and then opening it up to see my results. I don’t think one is ever too old for it, or …
One of my favorite lessons to teach in my short story unit is the Hero’s Journey. I enjoy teaching the hero's journey because I love seeing my students’ aha! moments - the moment when they get it, and they start making the connections between the content I am teaching and their favorite books and movies. Their faces light up, and faint chatter about Harry Potter, various Disney movies, and other stories slowly fills the room.
You can grab these geometric art printable...and let your kids imaginations run wild! A perfect free printable to let the creativity flow.
Liven up your next Socratic Seminar with these fun games and strategies to get students talking about ANY text!
We wrapped up Friendship Week today. We did a lot of discussing what it means to do a friend and what are some fun/safe things you can do with your friend. I created this fun matching game to use in our sensory bin. I dyed some rice for the first time and it turned out perfect! It also reminded me of grass, so I found pictures of kids on the playground. On the cards I wrote words that describe what a good friend does, like share, help, kind, etc. Then, we picked a card, read the word, and discussed the word more. I added these fun "Buddy Builders" from Amazon and they were perfect "friends" for our park. This book is a great way to talk about the nice things our hands can do. Especially, if you have any kiddos who like to use their hands in an unsafe way ;) I also dyed noodles for the first time, too! We used those noodles to make friendship necklaces! We also used a bead kit for friendship bracelets :) Click on image to grab this bead kit! These peanut butter and jelly color matching cards were a huge hit! We played restaurant and worked together to serve the correct colors. I got these from The Homestead Teacher! Grab them HERE! We like to think of words that start with each letter. When we are out, we will see a letter and I always have to think of something that starts with that letter. It totally helps connect learning, so I made these "F is for friends!" page and we decorated the 'f' different supplies. For our play dough invitation, I printed off this cute friendship clip art set from Creative Clips! We put the friends in our play dough and pretended we were playing at the park! The last game we did was this fun math activity! We had to help the boy get to his friends by rolling our dice and counting each circle. It was a great way to practice some counting, number identification, and taking turns! Grab these activities HERE! *NOTE: the play dough friends are not included in this due to terms of use, but they are free for you to download HERE!
One of the best ways to get to know your new students is through an interest inventory. I love to collect as much information as I can about my students at the start of the school year. I want to know about their likes, their dislikes, their learning style, and so much more. The Purpose ... Read More about Grab this Interest Inventory!
Growth Mindset: The Power of Yet Recently my 1st grade classroom has morphed into a K/1 combination classroom and then resulted in HUGE gaps (academically, socially, & emotionally) between my s…
I love busy bags to provide a quick activity for the kids. In our house I often use busy bags as transition activities between one set of activities and another. Busy bags are also super
Differentiating your instruction can be overwhelming. I get it. When you hear the word "differentiation" do you automatica...
***This post contain affiliate links for Walmart, Target, Creative QT, and hand2mind. By purchasing an item on these sites using these links, I will receive a small commission on your purchase.*** Are you interested in starting a classroom or school Makerspace OR maybe want to learn more about how Makerspaces work? You’ve come to the...
Brag Bracelets are an awesome classroom management tool and have been super popular in my classroom. Students work hard to earn them and are super excited when they receive one! I particularly love the fact that students get to take them home which helps to create a positive teacher/parent communication channel. Save 30% with the MEGA BUNDLE here: ♥ Brag Bracelets - THE MEGA BUNDLE This sampler pack includes 24 different BLACK AND WHITE brags bracelets to use for multiple occasions. I print them on bright colored paper and they look super cute!!! The brag bracelets that are included are: ♥ I am a Kind Friend ♥ I am a Helpful Class Member ♥ I am a Good Listener ♥ I am an Awesome Writer ♥ I am a Math Wiz ♥ I am a Reading Champion ♥ I am a Spelling Superstar ♥ I am a Neat Writer ♥ I am a Hard Worker ♥ I am a Terrific Leader ♥ I have an Awesome Attitude ♥ I am a Clean Desk Champion ♥ I am a Playground Hero ♥ I am a Great Team Member ♥ I am a Bucket Filler ♥ I had an Awesome Day ♥ Ask Me About: ♥ I lost a tooth today ♥ It’s My Birthday ♥ Happy Holidays ♥ Merry Christmas ♥ Happy Halloween ♥ Happy St Patrick’s Day ♥ Happy Easter ♥ Blank Need a specific pack? See it here: ♥ Brag Bracelets - Color Sampler Pack ♥ Brag Bracelets - Behavior Edition ♥ Brag Bracelets - Subject Edition ♥ Brag Bracelets - Special Days Edition Take a look at these Brag Awards too! ♥ Brag Awards ♥♥♥ Follow me to be the first to hear about FREEBIES and updates ♥♥♥ ♥♥♥ Earn TPT Credits when you leave feedback ♥♥♥ I welcome and appreciate any feedback, comments or suggestions. You may also contact me on [email protected]
No David by David Shannon is a classic book to read in kindergarten. Here are free No David activities, videos and book ideas listed all in one place.
Creating self portraits at the beginning of the year is a great way to have students celebrate their differences and what they like about themselves. Great back to school activity!
My faboulous summer holidaySketchnotes / doodle - ArbeitsblattIn meinem Unterricht benutze ich gern schön gestaltete Vorlagen für Kurzvorstellungen, Erlebnisber
The one night that is most stressful for me is definitely Meet-the-Teacher Night, but I have learned through the years that it can also be...
This collection of classroom resources covers a wide span of activities for visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learners. There are projects, games, videos, and hands-on crafts that are sure to delight learners of all ages. Students will learn about a wide variety of habitats from Himalayan mountain ranges to cold, brackish waters, and study animals as diverse as the American river otter and the ray-finned fish.
As gymnastics coaches, we know it is far more than just cartwheels and walkovers that we want teach our gymnasts. We are in the business of teach kids how to use their bodies! Gymnastics teaches gross motor skills easily -- it's the nature of the sport. "Gross motor (physical) skills are those which require whole
Everyone loves Wikki Stix! All of my kids – aged 12, 7, and twin 5 year olds all love these wax covered sticks of yarn. Ok, I admit it, even I love Wikki Stix. I love them both as a parent and I secretly enjoying playing with them myself. The first time I was exposed […]
This is a great back-to-school activity as everyone seems to love taking selfies these days! Put a fun twist on this new craze by having your students draw a selfie. Your students can use the template with the #selfie headline or they can use the blank template. Regardless of which they choose, they'll have a blast drawing and coloring their selfies!
From his perseverance and overcoming physical obstacles to his range as an artist and innovative spirit, student also, I love teaching young artists about the life and art of Henri Matisse. This ye…
10 inexpensive rewards to use in your middle school class.
Hello my lovelies, I’m excited to show you our first lapbook! I found all the components at homeschoolshare.com and I would highly recommend this website. There are LOADS of great lapbooks h…
Are you looking for the fast and easy way to teach multiplication facts. Times Tales is a completely fresh, fast, and fun approach that your kid will love!
The first week of school generally consists of getting to know one another, in addition to discussion and practice of classroom procedures and routines. We also got our creative juices flowing by creating summer reflection writing pieces, squiggle stories, and "All About Me" mini-posters. Students are getting to know one another and me, and we are learning to work together to build a successful and positive classroom environment. On Wednesday, I wrote out six questions, all having to do with how to make our classroom and ourselves function to the highest level, on six pieces of chart paper. Students, in groups of three, spent two minutes at each chart, collaborating and responding to each question on a sticky note. After all groups visited each chart paper station, I hung all of the charts up and we discussed each answer and noticed some very interesting trends. Here's the finished product, which you can click on to enlarge: Inspired by Life in 4B To tie into the previous activity, I was inspired by my wonderful teammates, Mrs. Fadden and Ms. Mattox, to develop at class pledge with my students. We reviewed our responses to the above questions, and then we put all of the ideas together to form a cohesive paragraph that we have all agreed will help us to remember why we are here at school and what our common goal is. Below is the rough draft of our class pledge (which I will type up, make pretty, and have all of my students sign): Since we were able to develop a class goal (to achieve success in third grade), I also had each student determine an individual goal after reading the story Matthew's Dream by Leo Lionni. I displayed our "Hopes and Dreams" for third grade near the classroom door, so that we can refer to, and revisit, them throughout the year. Lots of students are interested in learning how to sharpen their cursive skills, multiplication and division skills. I was very impressed by the number of students ready to take on our 40 book challenge! More on that later! Here's our class display of our hopes and dreams for third grade: Lastly, I read a book called Have You Filled a Bucket Today? The premise is that everyone carries an invisible bucket everywhere they go. When your bucket is "filled" you feel happy.When your bucket is "empty" you feel sad or upset. People can fill buckets by lending a helping hand, smiling, being kind, including others in games, and more. People can empty buckets by teasing, being ungrateful, acting disrespectfully, and more. I encourage my students to recognize the actions of bucket-fillers by writing them quick note and sticking it in their bucket display. This helps make everyone feel good. When we feel good, we want others to feel good. Therefore, kindess is passed from person to person. This is our bucket-filling display, complete with ways we can fill buckets and ways we can empty buckets: I look forward to more of these types of meaningful activities that promote teamwork, kindness, and achievement with your child!
