Since today is my last day posting on this blog, I thought it would be appropriate to share the idea of popcorn reading. Popcorn reading isn't affective for everyone, but for some it truly is. When you do popcorn reading choose a text that is a little longer and make sure to have a group of four or more students.
WHAT TO DO... One student begins reading the text until they decide to stop. They can stop at the end of a page/paragraph/sentence or even in the middle of any of those. When they stop, they are to call out a name of someone else in the group to begin reading where they left off. It is a fun listening activity and a great way for teachers to see how students are improving in their reading skills. If they do a good job reading, maybe you could reward them with a tea party or something!
Thank you so much for looking at my blog! I have learned a lot this year and hope to some day use all of these ideas. Check out my new blog I have started with my sisters at the following website: http://sevenflakesisters.blogspot.com/ .
Enjoy!
Since I will only be posting one more day on this blog, I thought I would share five awesome ideas that I found blog hopping. All of these ideas can help your reader with sight words or high frequency words:
1. Where's the Bear?- Get about four Dixie cups and write a sight word on each one. Then hide a plastic bear under one of the cups. Each student gets a turn lifting a cup, reading the word, and trying to find the bear. You can read more about this game here.
2. Rotten Apple Sight Word Game- This game is played with a paper tree that has cut out apples on it. Each apple has a sight word written on it. A few of the apples have worms in them. Your student is to "pick" each apple off the tree and read the word on it. If your student can't read the word, the apple goes back on the tree. If your student gets an apple with a worm, ALL of their apples go back on the tree. You can read more about this game here.
3. Sight Word Island Jumping- Write sight words on index cards and tape them to pillows that are neatly placed in a circle. Say a sight word to your student and then they are to jump to the pillow that has that particular sight word. You can read more about this game here.
4. Sight Word Flip Books- Check out these awesome sight word flip books to help reinforce some of those tricky words. You can download the books for free here.
5. Clothespin Words- Write one letter on each clothespin. Then give your student a bunch of sight word flashcards. Have them match each letter of the sight word with the correct clothespin. You can read more about this game here.
I hope you enjoy these great games!
It's time to have fun learning sight words! Go to your local Lakeshore Learning store and invest in Sight Word Tracers. The tracers help children practice writing and recognizing sight words. They include dots to help children know exactly how to write and form each letter. Students write the letters with a dry erase marker, which allows them to write the words over and over again.
I like to lay the tracers out on the table (about ten of them), say a sight word, and then have my student find the correct word. Once they have found the word, they trace it with the dry erase marker. This is a great way to test your student's sight word knowledge and help them practice the spelling of each word. You can find these sight word tracers here. Enjoy!
If your student is a tactile learner, you should invest in some sight word tactile cards. Tactile cards can help your student see, touch, and trace each sight word. Your student will love practicing their sight words with a more hands-on approach.
Lakeshore Learning has a tactile card set that comes with 75 different sight words. There are three levels included in the set. Each level has 25 words. Once your student has mastered the first level of sight words, go on to the next! You can see what the cards look like here. Have fun!
I remember as a kid I loved getting kid magazines in the mail. It made me feel so grown-up! Magazines can be a great way to promote reading at home. Find something your student really likes (animals, sports, Disney princesses, etc.) and most likely you will be able to find a kid magazine that focuses on that. Maybe you have heard of some these kid magazines: Highlights, National Geographic Kids, American Girl, Time for Kids, Discovery Girls, Kids Discover, and Yum Food & Fun for Kids. These magazines are geared towards a young audience and include topics that your student may find interesting. Check out a list of kid magazines here. I hope you find one that your student will enjoy!
I really enjoyed reading this list about making reading fun for your child. I found it in the Reader's Digest. My favorite ideas were: find a cozy place to read together and talk about the book when you finish it. What great ideas to help promote reading! Sometimes it is the simplest things that can help get our students reading more. Have fun checking out the list. You can find it here.
Time for another fun sight word game. Try playing the game Spill and Spell. This game is for up to 4 players. All the players do is draw sight word cards, roll the dice, and try to spell the words on their cards. When the players spell the words right, they record them on their scorecards. Then they draw new cards and go through the process again.This game is super easy to play and is fast paced. Kids who are competitive would really enjoy playing this game. This game includes 100 cards and 2 levels. You can take a look at it here. Have fun!
