We Heart 1st: word work

Hi there! I'm linking up with the fab Tara of 4th Grade Frolics for this month's Monday Made It! I have a few "made-its" that I've been saving up... but it looks like I may have deleted some of the how-to parts. I am CONSTANTLY running out of memory on my stinkin' i-phone, so I guess I got a little carried away with deleting pics to free up space. I'll try and explain as we go.

Looking to add something new to your word work? Kids LOVE anything seasonal. Why not use Halloween erasers (or other manipulatives) on your play-doh mats? For this month, I simply printed my play-doh mats on orange cardstock and replaced our play-doh with these Halloween erasers from the Target Dollar Spot. The kids will love it! Looking for sight word mats? You can grab mine for FREE from my TPT store. (Be sure to leave some feedback while there!) :)

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Sight-Word-Play-Doh-Mats-1497519

My kiddos this year are super-talkative, so a few weeks ago I had to pull out the big guns: Quiet Monsters. I had pics of the creation process, but those were deleted. To make these sweeties, I hot-glued googly eyes and foam hearts (the feet) to the little fuzzies. Voila! You have a quiet monster.

These babies arrived mysteriously to our front office with a letter to my class stating that they'd like to live with us. Sadly, their little ears are super-sensitive, so we have to work quietly. In the mornings, as the kids come in, I pass out a quiet monster to those who are working quietly on their morning journals. If they are not following directions regarding noise level throughout the day, they can lose their quiet monster. Simple, yet effective!

Finally, I just had to show my little chair project! Everyone on my team has these super-cute chairs. I just can't bring myself to spend the money on a chair for my classroom, but I just couldn't take this ugly maroon chair ANYMORE! I found some fabric that I'd used to cover a table a few years ago and went to work. This was the easiest DIY project I've ever done.

For the top, I just pressed the fabric into the back using a flathead screwdriver. This was the hardest part, but a little muscle was all it took. For the bottom, I just pulled the fabric tight and stapled to the bottom. Easy-peasy! This chair is SO.MUCH.BETTER.

That's it for now! Let me know what you think, and head back to 4th Grade Frolics to check out some more made-its!

I had big plans to link up with Bloghoppin' for the "where" part of teacher week, but I'm just not ready! I think I will be soon, so a classroom tour is coming in the next few days!

I would, however, like to share a little about word work (spelling/phonics practice) in my classroom.

I was prepping my new word work bins today, and I thought I should take a few pics and blog about it! I absolutely love the Daily 5, and one thing my first graders really like is word work! This year, word work will be a "have-to" each day (along with read-to-self.) I decided to make WW bins for my kiddos. This way, when they choose WW, they have all the supplies that they might need. (I read about this idea on another blog, but I cannot for the life of me remember where!)

For now, the bins have magnetic letters and a magnetic dry erase board, dry erase sentence strips and play-doh. I'll be adding and changing out the goodies throughout the year to keep things interesting.

One additional option to the items in the word work bins is iPads. There are a few apps we use for spelling practice, such as Spelling City and ABC Magnetic Letters. My co-blogger also created these awesome QR codes for us to use at the beginning of this year when we introduce short vowels.

The codes will reveal a picture and the students will write the word on a recording sheet. We love using QR codes because we post them around the classroom so it gives the kids an opportunity to move around.

These are the supplies the kids use after finishing up any required spelling practice for the day. Here are some of the things that we do throughout the week. I always start the week with an anchor chart. When I introduce a new sound, I let the kids brainstorm words that they think fit that pattern.

(This is my beautiful co-teacher last year filling out the ou/ow chart.)

We have lots of activities that we work on throughout the week. Some are completed whole group, and some are done with me in our guided reading group.

This is a favorite game for guided reading groups. I call out a word, and they try to be the first student to find it. I also have cute fly-swatters that they use for this game. We call it "Slap It!"

Each week I add words that follow our spelling pattern to the word wall. I switch them out when we begin learning a new pattern, but the more exposure to the pattern, the better!

Throughout the week, students will work on many different activities that provide exposure and practice with the spelling pattern we are working on.

As they finish these activities, they may do an activity from the word work tubs. This worked beautifully last year. One thing I added to these units are my play-doh mats. I am super-excited about these! I plan to trade out the play-doh for different things like wikki stix, beads, buttons, etc.

Are you looking for some products to get you started? I have lots of word work activities in my TPT store. All of the units include the same activities and cards so that students can quickly build independence. I recently added a Short Vowel CVC Bundle and plan to continue adding units to include all phonics skills taught in 1st grade. I have units for all of the vowel teams and diphthongs as well! These can be purchased individually or as a bundle.