Using Phonemic Awareness to Construct New Words

Something that can be quite tricky to introduce to students (especially in Kindergarten) is switching phonemes within words. It is often something they need a bit of practice and support with. I thought this new pack would help fit the bill.

I have made this pack with 2 activity cards to a page but if you are printing (and laminating) conscious, they are still a pretty good size when you choose to print multiple pages on one page. I have also included both colour and black and white so you can pick which one you would like to print!!

Let's look at the activity :)

The card tells you to start with a given word. The students are given a picture clue to get them started as well as Elkonian boxes to write in (and these will also give them support with which 'size' letter should go in each box - tall, short or long)

Move to the second picture. It tell me to change a sound in the word - this time the beginning sound. I have done it with red here to illustrate what has changed. You might want your students to do this too or just do it all in one colour. Again, students are supported with pictures and Elkonian boxes. 

Now onto the third picture. This time it is telling me to change the ending sound. Throughout the activity cards, there is a mixture of changes to beginning, middle and ending sounds to keep it challenging and interesting.

Click any picture to go and grab it in my TPT store.

Setting Writing Goals

Students taking ownership in the classroom is such an important thing - even in kindergarten. At the moment, our staff is building these goal setting and bump it up walls for writing. But being me, I had to cutify it!

Before beginning the wall, I spent time to talk to each student in my class 1 on 1. I had their current writing cluster in front of me, plus what skills are required to move to the next cluster. I let the students have a say in what they wanted their writing goal to be, but had to keep it realistic and appropriate for their level. In all honestly, the time it took me was only about 1 hour in total and I did this over a week, just pulling kids here and there. The talk that it generated was awesome - "I've got a goal! Have you got one yet?"

Next I typed the names of my students onto a photo themed clipart piece. I laminated all of these so that I can write on them with a white board texta and once a goal is reached, can be easily rubbed out. The kids were intrigued.

Next was transferring those goals we had discussed to their picture. The kids were fascinated by now and we looked at it and remembered what our individual goals were.

Finally my title - Snapshot of KB's Learning Goals. We will refer to this each time for writing. If a student has achieved their goal in a writing session, I will stick a little camera (similar to the clipart one) into their piece of writing, as well as tick underneath their goal on the wall. If they can achieve this goal 3 times, They will be able to wear the goal necklaces.

The aim is to get students talking about their learning and achievements in class to EVERYONE!!! After they have achieved this, we will set a new goal.

I don't expect that this will be an instant success overnight, but I am determined to work at it. The conversation being generated is priceless and just can't be manufactured. And anything that makes students more self aware and in charge of their own learning is OK with me!

Do you have a goal wall? Is it something you would like to try? Leave me a comment about it.

Blocks on a bowl!

Do your kids need more visualising practice?

Blocks on a bowl is an awesome activity to help with this!

To introduce the activity, pair students up (I did similar ability levels). I gave each pair a plastic bowl and 5 counters.

One partner chooses some to put underneath (no peeking!!) and the other counters on top. The other student has to visualise how many are underneath. The first partner can then reveal if the answer was right.

1 on top, how many underneath?

4 on top, how many can you visualise underneath?

This activity is easy to differentiate for different levels and learners, simply by increasing the number of counters. We did do it for 6 counters so we could talk about our strategies of counting on and back, and then we did it again for 10 counters so we could talk about Friends of Ten.

You could also introduce a recording sheet or write on mini whiteboard

Why not try it?

Be a Word Building Wizard!

Sight words! We need them to help kids with all aspects of literacy. But learning them can be quite a chore for some. So why not give it an extra dimension?

You can use it with any set of sight words! Or use the ones I have included as they are a good size to put on the mat. I made multiple copies onto different colours of paper so that each student has their own set to work with AND there wouldnt be a set of words which at the end has 3 'the' words.....you know what I am talking about! You also need some magnetic letters/letter tiles and a whiteboard marker.

So let's make some words! Choose and word and put in the box. Read it!

Now let's build it! Find the magnetic letters to make the word. Encourage more repetition of the word.

Now it's time to write. Making connections to words is so important so the 3 types of practice will (hopefully) help kids understand the words better and have better recall of them next time. Plus it is a fun way to practice!

Click any of the pictures to go and grab them in my TPT store.

Secret Sight Words

Over the weekend I added a new sight word activity to my store. Let me give you a quick peek at

You will need the cards, magnetic letters and a white board (although if you laminated the cards, you could use a whiteboard texta!)

Choose a card. Each letter in the secret word is represented with a picture. Work out the initial letter for each word and find the right letter to place underneath.
 Build It!!! The secret word is be!

There is also a recording sheet for students to write their secret sight words on.

Keep making words. The cards are grouped into 12 words per coloured card, so you could just choose one colour per group or give each student a colour of their own.

It is a lot of fun and puts a new spin on sight word reading, while combining other literacy skills such as identifying initial letters/sounds, recognise and identify letters and reading sight words. Lots of fun and practice all in one activity :)

Click any picture to find it in my store. 

Currently July!!! and New FB Fan Freebie

Can you believe it is July? How fast is this year going?

I love linking up with 

Listening - My kids are really enjoying not having to rush to get ready for school in the morning. They go to before and after school care every day so we are normally out the door at 7.15 each morning. But today (its 8.16am now) they are in PJs dancing to One Direction! Love me some holidays!

Loving - My creative juices are going at the moment! I posted a new FB fan freebie this week which if you havent grabbed click HERE to go to my page and get it!. I am also working on a HUGE new pack...its going to be a long time in the making I think :)

Thinking - This term for the first time, we are going to be looking at DINOSAURS! I am so excited and I have so many ideas....how to get them all on paper? Our new syllabus for English has a huge emphasis on multi-modal texts so I am making a list of TV shows and movies to incorporate into the study. So far I am thinking TV - Dino Dan, Dinosaur Train and Movies - Land Before Time, Walking with Dinosaurs. Have you got some other awesome suggestions?

Wanting - It is the middle of winter, although sometimes its hard to remember. Yesterday we went to the park to play and I ended up in a singlet top I was that warm! You do feel it at night and in morning though. Bring on SPRING!

Needing - This year is my first year back at work full time since before having my kids and I am struggling a bit with keeping the house in order. Its all I can do to cook the dinner, run the dishwasher and wash the clothes. Any tips for keeping me more organised?

4th Plans - In Australia, we don't acknowledge the 4th BUT my kids are both going out with friends on Friday so I am planning on catching up on trashy TV :)

Friends of Ten Bracelets - Bright Ideas!

If you haven't seen the Bright Ideas link up before, you have been missing out! Ideas from 100+ bloggers for you to implement in your classroom and all the ideas are FREE! No products to buy! How great is that?

This month my Bright Idea is Friends of Ten bracelets. We have been talking about which numbers make ten in class and although we have been working a lot with ten frames, I thought we needed to see it a little differently.

You will need some pipe cleaners and some beads (here I had a jar of cut up straw which certainly worked fine!)

We sat in a big circle and talked about the Friends of Ten. Then I distributed bowls of straws and asked the kids to thread ten pieces onto their pipe cleaner (fine motor skills and maths unite!)

As we went through the Friends of Ten, we were able to separate the straws into two separate groups. Here you can see the friends of ten are 2 (on the left) and 8.

After we had had some fun moving the straws around, I handed out whietboards and textas and we recorded what we saw.

Of course sometimes we make mistakes, but having the concrete example there was easy to draw that students attention back to the friends of ten they had had a problem with and get them to remake it. Instant assessment!

If you liked this Bright Idea, make sure you follow me on Pinterest, Facebook or Instagram.

And for more Bright Ideas from over 100 bloggers, look through the linkup below for ideas that will suit your grade level.

An InLinkz Link-up

Do you GoNoodle?

Does your class need breaks between lessons? Sometimes they need to get moving to 'wake up' and sometimes they need they calming down time. GoNoodle might just be the answer!

What is GoNoodle?

It is a FREE brain break website which is used by teachers all around the world! The brain breaks range from dances (KooKooKangaRoo are awesome!) YouTube videos, athletics and even a calming series called Flow, you will find something to suit your class.

Why GoNoodle?

It is super easy to use. Just pick a champ, pick a brain break and watch your minutes accumulate. Your kids will stay focused (or even regain focus) AND have fun! Another great thing is that you can access great kid-approved brain breaks in one place so it is no-prep and ready to go!

We particularly LOVE Ninja Training and Dinosaur Stomp where the kids get to get up and dance, by following the simple and easy to remember moves.

Does GoNoodle interfere with learning time?

Not at all! We use GoNoodle as a lesson break or transition into a new activity. It help us settle down or get our bodies moving again after a long session on the floor. Most of the brain breaks are 5 minutes or less and are perfect to slot into those little spaces of time.

Here is our current champ!

How does Go Noodle benefit my class?

I have found that the best part of GoNoodle is the participation from all kids. As well as keeping them engaged and active, it can help kids achieve recommended daily activity levels without them even realising it! Incidental exercise like this certainly adds up.

What kind of brain breaks can I pick from?

The totally FREE brain breaks range from calming breathing exercises (like Flow which we LOVE) to yoga-like stretching with Maximo, fun and easy dances with KooKooKangaRoo (make one of your first brain breaks Ninja Training and your boys will be hooked!) and athletics training like sprint, hurdles, javelin and long jump! With many ways to keep kids engaged, you will be able to find brain breaks that your kids love and mark them as a favourite to come back to again and again!

Why not try it? Remember it is FREE! Click on the picture below or HERE to go and sign up your own class.

Snowman! Tuesday Art Linky

Last week we were looking at the letter S. We made this totally pinterest inspired snowman artwork :)

It was a very simple activity which combined cutting, gluing and the a little bit of paint right at the end. Super cute!

And I have uploaded the templates I made for the main pieces for you to Google Docs so you make your own snowman :)

Click the pic to go and grab your templates.