iPad, Reading Horrors, Word Work, Out of the Minds of Babes

Let's start with the iPad. Do you have any idea how cool it is to snap photos of your students learning and then send those photos to parents via Edmodo? (if you do not know Edmodo, google it and check it out!) It's a thing of beauty. And blogging? I'm trying it out for the first time via the iPad. I can snap photos, grab links, add video....all with one piece of technology. beeeeeeYYOOooooUtiful! Find a way to get one. All teachers should have one.

 One of my firsties comes wailing to me across the room like a hysterical siren. All I could get out of him were the words "dead" "animals" and...well, I guess I really couldn't make out the rest. After a few minutes of hugs and dectective work, I discovered that the little guy had made a discovery of his own, and it is called Natures Monsters - Endangered Reptiles. The is what had him going:

 
And then there was this





 Yes, it is the rock star teacher that looks through her books for appropriateness before launching them into her class library. For the record, this was a book I got from Scholastic.

 I needed an activity for spelling that really got my kids engaged. All it took was some sharpies and blank cheap puzzles from oriental trading. The word that the puzzle focuses on is written onthe puzzle pieces, one letter per piece. It is written multiple times, each in a diffent color ink. Each color is sorted and the word put together before assembling the entire thing. Each time a word is put together the student has to write it in their Working with Word notebook. I put each puzzle in its own ziploc and numbered it, and wrote the word on the bag. Some puzzles had many different words on it.

 

And lastly, check out what one of my firsties brought for share. I do a big chicken egg unit, which i would have blogged about had I not been so tired. We incubate eggs, and the kids are put of all the processes. I taught them how to candle eggs, and the learned what to look for. This child made his len egg at home to show how candling works; he filled a plastic easter egg with stickers, and then used a flash light to candle it. Can you imagine the possibilities? This could make an amazing word work activity but putting words/segments/sounds in the eggs with wikkies or sharpie.




 I am feeling refreshed knowing that we have only this week left of school, and that there is a big shining light at the end of tunnel (and it isn't going to be a train).

D5 and guided reading fun

I thought I'd share a couple of ways we practice "Working with Words" in both our Daily 5 routine and during guided reading. I love Scrabble, so naturally I try to fit the tiles into our word work. Here is one of my students making words with them. We were working on the long o sound -oa.

Here is how I store the tiles. This divided container was part of the tool box I use for Guided Reading. I posted about it here.

Wonder how I came by so many tiles? Garage sales, baby.

 This is one of my favorite new ways to work with word families. I went to the hardware store and picked up some paint chips. Watch out, they don't like customers taking a huge stack. I've invested so much in Behr Paint that I don't feel too guilty. I got both the single color cards and the ones with multiple hues and shades of the same color. I punched a nice big round hole on the single color card, and wrote a word family ending on it with Sharpie. Then I added initial and ending sounds to the other card. The firsties slide the card with the punch over the other card, and in doing so, make words. Then they write the word they made in their "Working with Words" notebook. I love these because they are so pretty. Nice reason, huh? Pretty makes everything more fun! The cards are also very sturdy. They last a long time!

This is how I store the paint chips. This large coupon organizer was in the dollar aisle at Target a few years ago.

I'm always looking for new ways to make Working with Words fun and creative! Firstie buy-in is so much greater when it's fun and novel!

Epic Fail, Epic Success

Epic Fail:

Who knew? It wouldn't lay flat and it was impossible to read. Do not attempt this idea.

Reengineered, it now looks like this:

I'm not even going to bother printing it out. It will be shown on the smartboard. God help me if my smartboard fails. I had to manually rotate the activities, and save 24 files. They say from the ashes rises better ideas, so let's see if this one is a winner.

Epic Success:

This Firsties loved it, and after recess there was a line to put in a tattle. By the end of the day there were 16 in the box. 16 tattles that I didn't have to listen to! I did go through them, and there were no major offenses. So far, so good.

"What can I write about" table tennis balls. Several times kids grabbed one when they were working on "free choice writing". Cool!

The "I Spy" glasses from the Dollar Store worked fabulously! Pictured is a student wearing a pair as he edits his writing. Best 5 bucks I've spent in a long time.

Score!

So we're meandering through Home Depot, trying to get our Christmas shopping done. I get waylaid in the paint aisle collecting paint cards so I can do this, and on my way back to find my husband I spy this...

Call me crazy, but while my husband is checking off who this would be a good gift for, I'm thinking "Literacy Center!" It has all those pockets for sparkle pens, E.Z.Readers, Paint-chip word makers, stamp sets, crayons, markers, glue sticks, scissors, and whatever you fancy for teaching Guided Reading. Inside there are 4 divider boxes with room for magnetic letters, letter tiles, scrabble letters, etc. It is made for hauling tools, so it should be heavy duty enough for using with my Firsties. AND it has  carrying handles and a clip on strap. 

Best part? On sale for $19.00!! This will only seem like a deal if you've ever tried to put something like this together from School Discounts or Really Good Stuff. 

I can't wait to set it up.

Next, we went to Michaels (which is usually an extended but creatively inspiring trip). Tearing myself away from the Martha Stewart glitter and heading to the check out aisle, I spy small sets of alphabet stamps and ink for $1.00!! Holy guacamole! I found cheap little take-out boxes, and voila! cheap and simple stamping sets for Word Work. 

Don't you just love Christmas shopping?