Sight Word Superheros!

We are really rockin' on our sight words and many of us are able to use sight words strung together in sentences to read fluently.  We have 67 words to know by the end of the year so multiple ways of practicing them is important!



I have (with the help of a very, very wonderful colleague) developed sight words kits to work with at home and in school. When playing sight word games there are a few important things to remember:

1. Make it quick! 10-15 minutes per day - it should be exciting, not a chore.
2. Practice everyday, try something new each day to keep it exciting.
3. Always start with a flash card review. Have your child sort his/her words into "Ones I know" and "Ones I do not know."


Alrighty...let's get started....

Easy peasy sentence strips. Just match the clothespin words to the sentence strip words and read! 

 Get a little silly! Put one of your child's flash cards in the front pocket of this crown.  If you wear it, your child has to say the word five times (use stickers to keep track) before the word is changed.  OR - if your child wears the crown, you can give him, or her clues to what the word is, until it is guess - its hours of effortless fun! ;o)

 Roll playdoh into a snake shape and then divide it up to form into the letters of a sight word. You can also use this to make word family words!

 Who doesn't LOVE playing with toy cars? 

Attach a sight word to the top of your car, and park that word in its parking space.  This is a fun way to match words! If your child cannot say the word after he/she park it, it goes back into the bag to try again!

So I definitely can't take credit for all these activities - Mrs. Borst from first grade uses these sight words kits with her kiddos, and I was so impressed I thought that they would work for us too!

I am going to send sight words kits home with some of the kids this week. Each kit is a little different and we will take turns bringing them home.  Have fun with these activities! Remember to make them quick and if your child is getting bored, move on!

Have fun!

Gingerbread Man

Happy New Year Everyone!

Over break, I have been working on preparing for our Mitten Unit with centers and activities. But I wanted to post this update from before break about the Gingerbread Man Unit!

As part of our unit, we got together with our 4th grade reading buddies to complete this science experiment and answer the question - "What will happen when a gingerbread man is submerged in water?"

The 4th graders helped us write our our predictions and observations as the kindergarteners dictated to them.  

...and here is what happened!

     

After the gingerbread man cookie was submerged in water it sunk, expanded, broke, floated back to the top and lost its coloring! Try it at home and see if you get the same results!

Polar Express Week

Ah! The holiday season is so short! We already explored various holidays so this week it was all Polar Express! We had Polar Express Math and Literacy Centers all week long (sorry no pictures in action!)

Oh, and Optimus (our Elf on the Shelf), was found riding the Polar Express on Wednesday!

To review our shape unit form October, we took various shapes and each student made a Polar Express train car.  Then we hung them up, connected them, and let the magic take over our room!

On our Polar Express movie day, the kids got tickets and bells from Santa's sleigh and we hopped aboard the Polar Express to watch the movie! Hot cocoa and 3 musketeer candies followed!

As you can tell... It was a fun day!