Sight Word Dictionaries {dolch & fry}

My latest labor of love...  :)  I got so much great feedback on my Facebook page by asking about the sight word lists you all use in your classrooms.  And I hope I have accommodated everyone with my new sight word dictionaries!!

All of the packets include dictionary pages for each word with a place to read, trace and write or finish a phrase or sentence using the word in context.  There is also a large picture space for the students to draw meaningful pictures.  It is important that these dictionaries are personal to each student so it is more than okay if each child's picture or sentence is varied!  In fact, they should have differences.  Whatever will help that child understand what the sight word means - as long as it shows the right meaning - is ok!  :)  There are also a few different covers to choose from and flashcards of the words that you can put in a word work center or send home with your students.  They are color coded in case you end up getting more than one list and want to keep them separated...my OCD tendencies helping your organization!!

My ESL {English as Second Language} students have benefited from these SO much.  The phrases and sentences are very simple and often include other sight words.  Even if the phrases or sentences seem too simple for your students' reading levels, remember that the focus is on learning the sight words, so you don't want them to struggle with recalling the sentence.  Use your guided reading time to push them.  ;)

These can be kept at school, in your students' individual book bins or book baggies for independent reading time or they can be kept in homework folders.  Your students can add words at school with you then take them home to practice and study.  As of now, the dictionaries are available for....

{Dolch Pre-Primer}

{Dolch Primer}

{Fry Lists 1 & 2}

{Color Words & Numbers 0-10}

This totally came about as a fluke when I pulled out copy paper during Guided Reading one day because my ESL students were mixing up every sight word we'd introduced so far.  Once they had the words in an example sentence and a picture that made sense to them...bingo!  We're reading!!  :)  Please let me know how you like them and if you see your students' Sight Word fluency increase like mine did!!  This is by FAR one of my favorite creations...ev-er.  Check out more K faves at the Kindergarten Works Show & Tell party!!

at-home packets.

I spent my weekend writing sight word flash cards, highlighting activities that each kid needs to practice at home and making number cards.  Luckily, this was all work I could do while catching up on Bridezillas and watching reruns of The Cosby Show {for the ten zillionth time}.  Because today was...ta-da!...Parent-Teacher Conferences.

This is the packet I sent home at my conferences...a little varied based on each child's need.

{Reading A-Z books, sight word flash cards for 1st & 2nd quarter and number cards along with my Common Core checklist for parents - now available in Spanish too!}

I previously sent this packet within the first couple weeks of school for my few that were really struggling and not making appropriate growth.

 {tracing capital & lowercase letters and Handwriting Without Tears letter formation cues}

{I can Read It bag - letters or sight words mastered go inside to build confidence - and name from MyMoondrops}

 {cutting practice & Handwriting Without Tears number formation cues}

I also include a pencil, scissors, dry erase marker and crayons along with ABC flashcards {capital on the front & lowercase on the back}.  What do you send with your kids to have them practice at home??

like it. love it. {want some more of it?}

Do you like my new blog header?!

Now you can also like my new Facebook page!!

I have 3 days until Open House.  In a brand new classroom. This is clearly the perfect time to be working on my blog, right?!  ;)  I mean, come on.  How much more clean & organized can I get?!

Complete pictures of my room won't be up until Friday {or Saturday morning depending on how exhausted I am after Open House!} but here are few fun centers I put up today.  Woot woot!

My graffiti wall is perfect for the beginning of the year.  Especially for kindergarten when you're not sure whether they'll be coming in writing stories or not yet recognizing their own name.

The crayons are from my friend {and old art teacher} and they are made by Crayola.  They're called Construction Paper crayons and I use them almost solely on black paper.  Look how the colors pop!  This will be a writing or you-need-something-to-be-occupied center for the first couple of weeks.  The beauty of graffiti is...the messier, the better!  No need to switch this one out for a while.

I'm also super pumped to have 2 filing cabinets.  Even if they don't match.  And even if one was accidentally locked before I had the chance to add files.  {thank you to mr. custodian for picking the lock...and my personal MacGyver skills for removing it completely!}

Add some paper & border and voila!  Beautiful magnet center.  All set and ready for sight words, number lines, shape patterns...you name it.  Even I couldn't wait to play with it.  :)

Open House is Thursday night so the rest is coming soon!!  In the meantime, please go and like Little Miss Glamour's Facebook page.  I'll post secret sales, funny kid stories & other teachery things I think you'll like.  And if there's anything in particular you want to see, just ask!!  :)

Sight Wordgories. {win your copy!}

{Product still available but the giveaway has ended.}

Whoa!  I got so into finishing this game that I worked right through Live with Kelly!  Let me tell you, girls, that does not happen.  So obviously, I am excited about this one.  :)  I love my Candyland Sight Word game so much that it got my wheels a-turnin as to how I could use my other favorite board games in the classroom.

Ta-da!  I introduce to you....Sight Wordgories!

It's just like Scattergories in that your students will create lists based on a category.  I've included 20 categories so you can use it across the curriculum....science words, social studies words, math words, you name it.  For literacy practice you can choose initial, medial or ending sounds.  There are rhyming cards to practice word families and rhyming words or you can use the word wall for sight word practice.  And then some.  :)

It's up on my TPT Store but I am going to give some away next week before I go on vacation.  That's right.  {some}  Here's the deal...you have to officially follow my blog by clicking that "Join this site" banner on the left.  Then {leave me a comment saying that you do} and that's it! For every new 100 that I hit I'll add 5 more winners!!  ;)  I know you're out there reading this anyway so just clickity click and you're in!  I'll post the winner on Friday July 6th before I leave for the Caribbean!

UPDATE: Post about this giveaway on YOUR blog then come back & leave a 2nd comment with the link for another chance to win!!!  :)

literacy love.

workshop.  daily five.  guided reading.  whatever you want to call it.  here's some ideas for literacy love.  {in case you're all Christmas'd out or are already planning for january!}

{sight} word search:

I got this idea from Hello Literacy via Pinterest!  She has tons of anchor charts, educational apps, technology hints and {of course} literacy activities.  This one was super easy.  Pick a few sight words {more or less depending on the group} and write them all over chart paper.  I made sure to write each word in every color so they couldn't pick up on any kind of simple pattern.  In my group, I {re}introduced each sight word, we found it on the chart paper by pointing it out and then I turned them loose to find & circle each one with a yellow marker!  

They had to read the word before circling it so I could be sure they were making the connection.  Next time I might give each kid a different color to circle with so I can see who read which words.  {Did they choose the same word over and over?  Did they only do 2 or 3?  Instant assessing!}  ;)

Boomer goes to school {journals}:
We read Boomer goes to school by Constance W. McGeorge then used him as our writing topic!  Focusing on the sight word {is} and writing with sentence structures, we made "Boomer is _____" journals.

 We brainstormed a list of words on the board from our own observations and vocabulary in the story {big, curious, hungry} and the students were allowed to use some of those words in their sentences then sound out their own words on the last two pages.  Illustrations accompanying, of course!

{I Spy} with Environmental Print:
I asked parents to send in their child's favorite snack wrapper, cereal box or other familiar packaging from home.  {I also emailed our staff to help with the collection.}  After I used them in flashcard fashion to encourage the kids that they are readers I hung them up in the alphabet center.

Then I created a simple I Spy recording sheet to along with it.  The kids use their Word Windows to hunt for each of the four letters in words to write down in the boxes.  They really feel like readers, it's an independent center that doesn't require my immediate supervision and it's spread out enough for 3 or 4 students to work there simultaneously!

{at} hats:
so simple.  so cute.  diecut hats {or cats or bats or mats or whatever your school has} and write various -at words on each one!  My kids love a crown...and this was no exception!  The possibilities are endless: {ig} words on a pig, {up} words on a cup, {og} words on a dog or a frog, {ed} words on a bed...or just your head!  :)

Reading in a *snap*

When I was getting my master's degree last year, my big project was on sight word fluency.  If I have a soap box, that's it.  We teach around 100 sight words over the course of the year and I always have students who struggle.  Then I found SnapWords in my research and fell. in. love.

{click the picture to get to Child 1st publications}

With PTA incentive money we received from our fall fundraiser, I purchased the full set of SnapWords cards for all levels.  The flashcards {which all have a visual definition clue and action} were specifically created to reach kids who are right-brained learners.  While many of my students are not labeled or diagnosed with anything when they enter my classroom, those that struggle often end up qualifying for some additional services in later grades.  These were created for students with ADHD, autism or dyslexia but my higher level readers also enjoy the picture clues and movement.  Somewhere along the way I was sent a file with ch/th/sh/wh digraphs.  I decided to use them separately in a guided reading lesson so the kids would recognize those chunks when reading {the sounding out of t-h drives me bonkers!} but they've really started to utilize them a lot during writing.  Double whammy!

{church is my favorite because it has /ch/ at the front AND back!}

{this is also helping my speech students to not count one, two, free...}

{"shirt" is the reason I wrote the labels...we could not afford any misspellings!}

Sight Word Land.

I found a Candy Land sight word game on Mrs. Cooley's blog and LOVED the idea!  I, of course, had to change it a little to adapt it to my class.  I wrote sight words on the back of each card and students have to read the word before they can advance to that colored space.  I differentiated the game by creating 2 levels.  I wrote initial sight words from the beginning of the year {and those that can be sounded out phonetically} on cards with only one color space for  lower level students and harder words {those which can't be sounded out phonetically} on cards with two color spaces for higher students.  I saved the character cards for question words that we haven't technically studied yet since they have the best pay-offs in the game.  I want students to take responsibility for words they don't accurately read during the game so I created this recording sheet for words they need to practice at home.