T.G.I.F! I don’t know about where you all are, but
here it’s Friday afternoon and it just started down-pouring. Not a bad time to curl up on the couch with
my laptop and a snuggly blanket and introduce my first ‘Reading Snapshot’. Teaching reading is my PASSION! Obviously, duh. Probably every K/1st/2nd
grade teacher out there loves it, but I
am seriously OB-SESS-ED. Nothing makes
me happier than planning out each group’s week of lessons. Is there any better feeling
than finding the PERFECT activity for your kiddos on TpT?
I was gearing up to do a diphthong unit with my
little ones. I just finished covering digraphs and wanted a
similar high-interest unit for DIPHTHONGS. Unfortunately, TpT came up dry. I didn’t love the unit I used last year and
found that the kids were bored with the all the worksheets. After about 15 hours, my Diphthong Mega Pack was born! Woo hoo!
Here
is a “snapshot” into my finished product on diphthongs this week...
We
start off with the flash cards. I do a
fun little activity where I literally throw the flash cards at the students. They have to catch the cards, read them, then identify the sound being used and the letters that
make up that sound. For example “Coin,
/oy/ oi”. This takes about 10-12 minutes. I only focus on one or two
sounds per day.
Next
up, we create word sorts. I pass out a
few (6-8) word cards per child. DIFFERENTIATION
OPTION: For my support group, I will tell the students specifically how to sort
the words. For example, 1. Sort the words by
matching letters (all ‘oi’, ‘oy’, ‘au’, ‘aw’ ‘ou’ or ‘ow’, in one pile).
OR 2. Sort the words by matching sounds (oi/oy in one pile, aw/au in one
pile, ou/ow in one pile). My target group can create their own sort as long as
they can explain it to the group. And my
enrichment group creates two separate sorts independently and explains their rationale to
the group. This activity is another 10-12 minutes.
The
second day we will again review with flashcards, but this time we will practice
using my hysterical Hollywood Voices packet. We are in stitches laughing every time
we use this game. They are just so stinkin' comical, especially when they do the 'opera singer' or 'Queen of England". Each child picks a
diphthong flashcard and a Hollywood Voice card then has to read the card in "character". We also throw in a little “fun” sheet or two
on the second day, like Spin/Roll-a-Diphthong.
The
third day is some good old “I have, Who has?” games for review.
Depending on his or her ability level, each child is responsible for anywhere
from 2-5 cards. And again, some
worksheet fun.
The
last day is GAME DAY! We play either
diphthong BINGO or Connect Four.
{Even I play} Woo hoo! Party Time!
So, that about sums up this week's edition of 'Reading Snapshot'. I intend to make this a weekly installment of a little glimpse into my reading groups each week. Hope you enjoyed it and if you think this is something you would like to try in your class, pick it up here!
Have a spectacular weekend :)
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