Preparing for the new school year

Last year was my first year teaching, so this summer I have decided to get myself prepared for next year... What is summer without planning right?? 

Throughout the year, I created a lot of center activities to help my students focus on certain skills. One thing they loved to do was my Read and Draw Words and Sentences activity. So, I decided to create the Read and Draw Words activities for each phonics skill they will be learning this year. This way, when I am teaching the new skill, I can easily make copies and have a center available that they already know how to do. 

**This is a great way for students to show their understanding of different phonics skills too**

You can click here for this! 

I also have a similar activity for reading simple sentences here with a FREEBIE included in the preview!!

Also, throughout the year I sent home sight word activities for my students to do too. I decided that next year I am going to have my students focus on 4 words for homework each week. With this product students practice reading and writing their sight words, using the sight words in a sentence, and they can practice them as flash cards at home!

Find this sight word product here! :)

Thank you for visiting my blog. Let me know if you have any questions or comments about my products! :)

Animal Research Reports!!

In my classroom, my students chose books from the library to research their favorite animals. (I had my students work with partners, so they could help each other look up the different facts)

I noticed that some of the books they chose were difficult for them to read, so I created my own informational texts based on the animals they chose.


When my students were reading their informational texts together, I encouraged them to underline and take notes of important information. For this, I created a graphic organizers that they could fill out. 

My students then used the notes they wrote to create their animal reports. For their reports they created a book, writing about what their animal eats, what they look like, what their babies are like, and where they live. 

 

My students had so much fun making their Animal Research Reports together, and they really enjoyed sharing their reports with one another and learning about new animals. I can't wait to do this again next year :)

Click here for the full product :)

Also, please visit my store for more products!

Field Day/Butterflies

Today was such a fun day for 1st Grade! We had field day and got to let our butterflies go :)  Go team blue!!! 

SIPPS Reading Program

My school has recently started a Walk-to-Read program to help raise our students' reading scores. For this, we are having our students grouped together in classrooms based on their reading levels. For this, I have started using a new reading program called SIPPS. So far everything has been going very well! This reading program focuses a lot on phoneme segmentation, first grade phonics skills, fluency, and sight word memorization. 

When working with my kids in small groups, I have tried to find/create seat-work that is relevant to what they are learning each day. One of the activities I have created is to help them practice the new sight words from each of the SIPPS stories. 


Here I have a bundle including all of the words in the beginning level of of the SIPPS reading program. 

Fluency Practice

With DIBELs benchmark testing around the corner, I really wanted to make sure my students were prepared for blending the nonsense words. So, I have been having them practice reading CVC words that they already know, at a quick speed.

** I have used this as a whole group practice, and I have used it as a center for students to see how far they can read in a minute, using a sand timer**

For the CVC fluency practice pages, click here! :)

I have also created some fluency passages using first grade phonics skills and pre-primer -1st grade sight words. These can be a great activity to help students practice reading sentences and passages for DORF. 

For the Sight Word Fluency Passages, click here!

R-Controlled Vowel /ar/ Packet and Freebie!

My students were having a difficult time with r-controlled vowel /ar/ so I created some activities to help them practice the new phonics skill. In this packet I have a mini-book, a word maker, and word sort. 

Click here to view this product!

Also, I have a roll-and-read FREEBIE from this packet available on my TPT store here!