Monday, February 8, 2016

Achhhhooo- It's been that kinda weekend!

Hey Everyone!

Sorry about the delay in posting.  I've been under the weather.  Wednesday night I felt something coming on, and by Friday afternoon I was taking a 1/2 day to head to the doctor.  I can't seem to kick the sniffles and I'm on box 3 of tissues!!!!

Last week we added to our Syllable Type Interactive Notebook.  I noticed that the kids needed an extra dose of closed syllables.  I added a new page where the kids sort syllables into either "closed syllable" or "not a closed syllable."  If you bought the closed syllable section, be sure to redownload the pack so that you can have the new addition.  I plan on adding it tonight.



Today I headed back to second grade to do the next page, two closed syllables together to make multisyllabic words.  I want the kiddos to start to understand that two syllables can come together to make a mutisyllabic word.  The next time I teach them (Wednesday), we will start talking about the Rabbit pattern.  Orton Gillingham uses animals to teach kids how the division patterns.  There are 6. Each animal name fits the pattern it represents.  If the word fits the rabbit pattern, it will have to consonants in between two vowels-- VC/CV.  I tell the kids that we are dividing the word between the consonants, which are the "rabbit's ears."  They catch on quicker that you realize!  I am adding more to the rabbit pattern section of the interactive notebook, and it will be free to redownload if you bought the Closed Syllable Interactive Notebook.  If you are interested in resources to teach the 6 division patterns, I have a set for each pattern (rabbit, tiger, camel, ostrich, turtle, and lion) and also bundled together.  

Here are pictures from today:


In other news, it is almost time for Parade of Readers.  This is a 5 week challenge for our first graders.  It originally began when a teacher from a neighboring city school developed an incentive based program to get their first graders to read and has since spread to other city schools and schools in the county (like us!).  The kids LOVE it.  Last year was my first year to plan it, and let me tell you, its a lot of work.  This year its been much easier to get everything together.  The kick off is February 26th and it runs through April 8th.  The theme is "Oh the Places You'll Go With Reading" and we will be Dr. Seussing it OUT. Here is a sneak peek of the decor- can you tell what it is??  My mom has been helping me, and I know the kiddos are going to LOVE it!!!!



Monday, February 1, 2016

Monday, Monday

Why do the weekends seem to FLYYYY by???  Today was definitely a Monday!!

Mondays and Wednesday, I teach second graders about syllable types and division patterns and I am working my way through my new Syllable Type Interactive Notebook.  I wanted to show you all how cute the closed syllable door page of the Syllable Type Interactive Notebook turned out!  The kids thought it was SO COOL that the door opened and closed!  We first discussed what closed syllables were.  Then we cut out and coded each of the closed syllable examples and glued them underneath the "door."  We often say that in a closed syllable, the consonant "shuts the door" on the vowel, making it short.  It closes the vowel in.

In another second grade class, I taught a small group lesson using my Camel Syllable Division Pattern pack. We were on the last part of the pack....dictation.  It is amazing how much you can learn about a student from dictation words and sentences.  I use a dictation routine that I learned from teaching SPIRE. SPIRE is a Tier 2/Tier 3 intervention program that follows a 10 step routine.  Our school has experienced huge gains using this program, and I really believe in its methods and routines.  Anyway, I discovered today that these second graders are still confusing e and i!  In both of the words "went" and "closet," multiple students wrote "wint" or "whint" and "closit."  Now, we are from Alabama, and sometimes our accents affect the way we hear or pronounce words, but regardless I need to pull those kiddos back in a Tier 2 small group to practice e and i!  I think that dictation is an imperative part of a small group routine that often is left out.  Try it friends, its worth every minute!

I'm adding to my Syllable Notebook each day.  I decided that the kiddos needed an extra dose of closed syllables before moving on to the rabbit pattern.  I also am working on the rabbit pattern lessons.  Its a work in progress!!  I plan to include all of these goodies in the pack that is already on TPT, so if you downloaded it, be sure to get the updated version by the end of the week.

Hope you all had a great day!  Thanks for reading! :)


Here are pictures of the "closed" syllables!