Fun Little Alphabet Games
Kyle created this cute little ladybug for another activity and I thought he would be ideal for a fun little springtime and summer themed alphabet activity. When you download the ABC Ladybug game you’ll receive 4 free ladybug game boards and letter circles. To play the game, provide each child with a game board and place all the letter circles face down on the table. Players take turns choosing a circle and matching the beginning sound of the letter to the picture on their game board. The first player to have all the dots on their ladybug covered wins the game.
Click the following link to download this fun little freebie Ladybug Alphabet Game
Maybe your students are more into turtles than ladybugs?? They may enjoy the ABC Turtle game instead. Same idea–just a different twist.
Click HERE to download the ABC Turtle FREE from my TpT store
Hope your students have fun with these games. Enjoy the freebies!
Dolch 220 Sight Word Assessment
The Dolch 220 sight words make up between 50-70% of the words we encounter in text. Most of these words cannot be sounded out and students need to be taught to instantly recognize these words in order to be fluent readers. Because recognizing these words is so important during reading, it is important that we use a variety of activities to teach, practice and memorize sight words.
It all begins with assessment. Before you begin teaching sight words, it is important to know which words your student(s) already know. When you download the Sight Word Assessment and Progress Monitoring file, you’ll receive the assessment, student recording forms and progress monitoring charts. You’ll want to periodically re-assess you student(s) to be sure they are making progress. Students absolutely LOVE coloring in their own graph.
Click HERE to download the Dolch Sight Word Assessment and Progress Monitoring materials FREE from my TpT store.
To assess your students, you can use the assessment materials contained in the file above, or you can use the Dolch 220 Sight Word Flashcards. The flashcards can also be used for drill and practice activities. I color-coded the flashcards according to the lists to help with organization.
Click HERE to download the Dolch Sight Word Flashcards from my TpT store
Especially when working with struggling readers, it is important to engage parents in helping their child learn to read. Helping their child learn sight words is one way they can play a role in helping their child on the road to becoming a fluent reader. You may want to download this parent handout on Learning Sight Words. It contains ideas for fun ways for practicing words.
Click the following link to download the FREE parent handout on learning sight words Learning Sight Words
Using a multi-sensory activity to introduce a sight word increases the liklihood that the student will remember the word. We first introduce a word using a multi-sensory activity and then we use the drill and practice activities. Of course, it is very important that the student recognizes the word in text. The student needs to see the word multiple times in text before the word is learned to automaticity–so, be sure to read, read, read (and read some more).
Click HERE to download the Dolch Sight Words Multi-Sensory Templates from my TpT store
Fly Swatting Letters and Sight Words
So what can you do with a giant fly swatter??? Well, of course, swat giant flies! I was so excited to find these giant fly swatters at the Dollar Tree I almost purchased one of each color (ended up with the pretty red one). The table-topped sized fly swatting game has been an all-time favorite for both centers and small group instruction, so I thought I’d make it even bigger with the giant fly swatter with giant flies to match! Simply print the flies on either cardstock or office paper, cut them out and the activity is ready to go. Scatter the flies on the floor or tape them on the wall and have your students “swat” the flies with the words or letters you name. This game is so simple, but the kids absolutely love it!
Click HERE to download this activity from my TpT store
Click HERE to download the Giant Fly Swat game for letters from my TpT store
I love this game, too, as it is a fast-paced game with lots of opportunities for response. If you’d rather use the table-top sized version of this activity, just purchase a regular fly swatter and print the activities:
Fly Swatting Letters
Fly Swatting Sight Words
Fly Swatting CVC Words
Fly Swatting Numbers and Addition Facts
Springtime Vowel Sorting Freebie!
I was out shopping the other day and stopped in at the Dollar Tree. It’s so much fun when they change their seasonal items. The spring items are especially fun to use in some sort of activity. These cute little watering cans are ideal for a sorting activity. We have a few kiddos who are still confusing their short vowel sounds and this spring-themed activity will be great to use during small group instruction. When you download this freebie you’ll receive 32 flowers with short vowel pictures. Directions for assembling your activity as well as teaching directions are included in this file.
Click the following link to download this freebie Flower Can Freebie
Enjoy!
It’s a Soccer Shoot Out!
Soccer is my sport! I love, love, love soccer. My oldest child was five when we enrolled him in our city recreational league. Our family has been hooked ever since. You know how organizations are always short on volunteers? Well, the soccer league was short on coaches. When I was asked to coach I remember saying, “I’ll think about it” and the next thing I know I received a roster of 15 10-year-old boys. Having never played soccer, I did what any rational person would do–googled “how to coach soccer.” How difficult can it be- right? Well, ever since I’ve coached all three of my kids recreational league teams as well as Lizzie’s travel team. I loved every minute of it.
Here’s a picture of my travel team with my good friend, Mike, who I coached with for many years. Most of these little ladies are now playing soccer for their high school team. My daughter, Liz, however, traded in her soccer cleats for a tennis raquet and is now playing #1 singles.
So, being such a soccer fan myself, I really enjoyed creating these soccer-themed activities. Recreational soccer teams are just now forming in our area and the kiddos are so excited. Boy, it brings back so many wonderful memories. For my first grade friends now working with long vowel sounds, I created the “Soccer Shoot Out! Long Vowel Sounds” game. This activity addresses the common spellings for long vowel sounds. Students read the words on the soccer balls and match the balls to the corresponding soccer net. There’s also a fun little variation of the activity. There are soccer nets for all 5 vowels and 140 soccer balls!
Click HERE to download the Soccer Shoot Out! game from my TpT store
Here’s another one of my favorite activities. “Let’s Play Soccer! Dolch Sight Words Lists 1-9″ contains 220 sight words as well as “goal” and “penalty” cards. Students take turns choosing soccer balls and reading the words. If a student picks the “goal” ball, he/she can choose more balls, but pick the “penalty” card and all the balls are put back in the pile. The students absolutely LOVE this game. It’s a fast-paced game and offers lots of opportunities for response.
Click HERE to download this activity from my TpT store.
If you spend your evenings and weekends on the soccer fields–boy, am I jealous! Enjoy every minute of it- the years fly by so quickly.
Robin’s Nest Activities
I know the calendar says “spring”, but we still have 3 inches of snow up here in northern Michigan. To get into the “spring” spirit I thought I’d dig through my files and pull out all the fun bird, frog and bug activities. The Robin’s Nest activity is one of my springtime favorites. When you download the word families activity you’ll receive 15 different word family nests and 66 colorful word family pictures printed on robin eggs. Your students simply sort the eggs according to the word family.
Click HERE to download this activity from my TpT store
The Robin’s Nest Beginning Sounds activity contains 25 robin’s nests (x not included) and 119 blue eggs.
Click HERE to download this activity from my TpT store
The word families and beginning sounds activity can be easily differentiated as you choose how many nests and eggs to use. These activities are great for either small group instruction or as a center activity.
Here’s a fun Robin’s Nest freebie perfect for your math centers for practicing math facts to 12.
Click HERE to download this FREEBIE!
Here’s to hoping our snow melts soon.
