Fry's Instant Words Bingo Games

I created several sets of Bingo games for Fry's Instant Words and uploaded them to my TpT store. There are four sets of Bingo boards in each pack – one for each list in the first set of 100 words and then the second set of 100 words. Each set contains six boards. The games are meant to be utilized during small group lessons such as guided reading and tutoring.

 

Fry's Instant Words Bingo First 100 Words



 

Fry's Instance Words Bingo Second 100 Words

 

I will be adding additional sets in the coming days! Check out my TpT store for other downloads!

 

Classroom Management Downloads

I recently uploaded a few files to my TpT store that I have used the last few years for classroom management.

The first is a set of classroom helper cards to use when assigning classroom jobs. I display mine in a small pocket chart with student names next to each job. I rotate the names each week.

 

The next is a set of guided reading group signs. These signs are for grouping students for guided reading. I put Velcro tabs next to each sign and each student had a Velcroed name tag. The name tags could be moved from group to group quickly as their levels changed. I also used the grouping signs on the guided reading book baskets. Using colors for the guided reading groups kept the students from knowing which groups were high, medium, or low.

The last set is a set of cards I used for early finishers. These finished assignment cards are suggested tasks for students to complete when they finish work early. They are in card format to go in a pocket chart so that the teacher can use some or all to differentiate.

I'm Blown Away!

I am truly blown away by how far this group of first graders came in their reading this year. To celebrate, we went outside on the last day of school to blow bubbles!

A Story Before Bed

A while back I stumbled across a site called A Story Before Bed. The site is intended for parents and grandparents to be able to record picture books using their webcams to share with their children and grandchildren who are far away. I used it to record books for my class to use in Daily 5's Listen to Reading. I also used it for a couple of lessons where I knew students would be in and out of the class for various reasons (research, testing, etc.). I was able to play the stories for the students in small groups while I worked with other small groups. I could then go back and work on comprehension skills with them based on the book they hear read aloud. This site can also be easily used for flipped lessons. Students can access a read aloud at home and then do a follow up comprehension lesson in class. In addition to the website, they have an iPad app.

Phonics Genius iPad and iPhone App

One of my favorite phonics apps is Phonics Genius. The app has flash cards of short vowels, long vowels, blends, and digraphs. You have the option to have the words read aloud. This is great for introducing the specific sounds. The sound can then be taken off to have the students practice reading the words independently. The app also allows you to add your own phonics words. I plan on using the app for Daily 5, to introduce the weekly phonics focus, and in guided reading.

Word Work

During our Daily 5 time, our main focuses are Read to Self, Read to Someone, and Working on Words. During Working on Words time, the students enjoy a variety of hands-on practice activities. Below are a few examples of what the students work on while I am working in small groups on Guided Reading. Each group has a set of word wall and phonics cards to practice. They build the letters with pop cubes, write them in Rainbow Letters or Stair-Step letters, and much more.

 

 

Guided Reading Forms

Fellow teachers, I just uploaded a guided reading packet to my TpT store that I use in my class. In order to fit all my groups in, I came up with  a schedule to meet with my lower level groups four times per week and my higher level groups twice per week. I meet with each group for about fifteen minutes. The set also includes an anecdotal note recording sheet. My teammate suggested using labels to record the notes so that you could record info for several students at once. I loved that idea but needed a place to put the labels. Thus, this form was created. The third form is a quick and easy way to take running records for any text.

Independent Reading

For morning work before announcements the students may choose books from the classroom library or their book boxes to read from independently. Their book boxes are a part of our Guided Reading/Daily 5 lessons and include on-level, "just right" books for them. As you can see by the pictures below, the students are free to get comfortable to enjoy reading.

Literacy Stations: Creation Station

Each day during Guided Reading, the students have a variety of word work activities that they must complete. Those activities include creating foldables to retell their leveled readers, doing word wall puzzles with sentences, word finds, etc. After completing those mini-lessons based on our whole group word work lessons, they may choose a literacy station. Our main rule for literacy stations is that no matter what station you choose, you must doing some sort of reading and writing. One of the students' favorite stations is Creation Station. In this station there are a variety of art books along with paint, scissors, glue, chalk, etc. There are often thematic props in this station as well to help the students brainstorm story ideas that they can illustrate. Below is an example of a student writing a story about the ocean using various ocean animal toys. He used the toys to act out the story and then wrote about it. He later illustrated it. I love how he started the story with "Once upon a time..."

Scavenger Hunt

As a part of a lesson on how to follow multi-step directions, the students drew a map of familiar places in the school. After completing the maps, we went on a scavenger hunt throughout the school. The students were given directional words, as a review of Social Studies, to help them follow the map and find the hidden object. As we went on the scavenger hunt, the students identified various signs and symbols along with their meanings.

Humpty Dumpty Podcast

This is from about a month back but it is too cute not to share. When we were studying Nursery Rhymes, the students recorded themselves reading "Humpty Dumpty". We use Audacity recording software to record the readings and then I upload the to our podcasting site hosted by PodBean. You can visit the PodBean site to download the files to your computer, smart phones, or MP3 players.

Rhymes and Alliterations

Last week we worked extensively on rhyming words and alliterations. The students practiced finding rhyming words with the song "A Hunting We Will Go." They brainstormed rhyming words to insert in the song and sorted pictures that rhymed. For alliterations, the students brainstormed words that begin with the first letter of their name on a Circle Map. They then shared their words with the class. We wrote the words on a class anchor chart. We then brainstormed additional words for each letter of the alphabet. The students then used those Cirlce Maps and the anchor chart to write drafts of their own alliteration sentences in their journals. The students then met we me in small groups to edit and revise their sentences. They wrote their final drafts and illustrated it for publishing in the hallway. Their alliterations are very creative!