Sight Word Activities

Hey Y'all! I thought I would take the opportunity to post some of the things my kiddos do with their sight words.

Sight Word Hamburgers
Many of you have probably seen sight word sandwiches done before, but I decided to mix it up a bit. My kids are OBSESSED with hamburgers (probably because that is how we "write" in my class). Anyhow, this is a super easy activity to make and play. Find construction paper. I used Manilla for the buns, orange for cheese, brown for the meat, green for lettuce, white for onions and red for tomatoes. Trace your shapes and add words. I made 12 of each (24 of the manilla buns since there is a top and bottom) I found my words on this website http://www.mrsperkins.com/dolch.htm. I really liked it because it sorted the words in all ways and also included common nouns that are helpful. I also added contractions to mine. Before you laminate, be sure to add you sesame seeds to the top buns!

To Play: kids lay out all the pieces in a pile and build their burgers. As they pick a ingredient they have to say the word. Their partner "checks" their words as they go and helps them if they get it wrong. My kids somehow started making a "eating sound" after they made a complete burger. It brings a smile to my face, so I don't discourage them! Ha!

Sight Word Swat:

Buy two fly swatters for a dollar at the dollar store. Write words on the board. Divide the kids into 2 groups. Say a sight word (or vocabulary, etc). First kid to "swat" the word earns a point for their team. This is also fun to play with synonyms and antonyms. Makes them think!

Sight Word Bingo and Board Games:

I found some fabulous board games and bingo templates especially for second grade here!  I believe they are designed for grades K-3 if you don't teach second grade but want to get in on the fun (or differentiate!). Kids love these games as well. For bingo markers we use some of our math manipulatives.

Sight Word Typing:

This is one of my favorites! I originally saw this idea on pinterest. I changed it a bit to fit my kiddos more. When a student pulls a word form a bag they follow the following procedure:

1. Say the word
2. Type the word
3. Write the word

I LOVE this one because it has them speaking, recognizing where letters are on a keyboard (technology is PAINFUL with my kids!) and also writing them- great for spelling and handwriting!

To make these computer stations I printed the keyboard, trimmed it and glued it to a piece of card stock. Print the sight word cards from the same website you got your keyboard at. I added to mine just like I did in the sight word hamburgers. Be sure to laminate the computer screens so words can erase easily! 

Here is a picture of mine:

Popcorn Sight Words:

For this fun game I saved myself lots of time (why re-invent the wheel?) by downloading this FREE and fabulous set of popcorn words and printing them on card stock. Laminate and cut out. Put them in a popcorn container. I found mine 2 for a dollar at the dollar store (can you tell I'm a big fan of the dollar store yet? ha) but I have also seen them on occasion at Target in the dollar spot. I really like the size of these at the dollar store. Directions come with the printout and are easy to follow and fun to play! Kids love choosing pieces, saying the words and trying not to get a "POP!"

Those are just a few of the activities I do in my classroom for sight word practice. What types of things work for your kids?


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Daily 5

I first heard about Reading Cafe and Daily 5 during my senior year of college. When I began teaching I was so focused on getting my class started that I chose to put both Cafe and Daily 5 on the back burner. Last December it became evident to me that my kids depended too much on me during my literacy centers that I wasn't able to give my guided reading groups the attention they deserved. It was at that moment that I decided to give the Daily 5 and Cafe a "go".

According to the books by "The Sisters" you are supposed to introduce each element of the Daily 5 for 5 days, amounting to one month of school. Well... my team teacher and I did it a little differently. When we came back from winter break we introduced one part of Daily 5 a day and even practiced doing the complete Daily 5 on day 5! Now, I don't necessarily suggest rushing into it the way we did, but it seemed to work alright for us. This was probably due to the fact that although our kids hadn't done "The Daily 5" they had done centers and things similar to it. Their age helped too.

As we introduced each element we made a "T" chart. These charts go over why we do that element and what the student and teacher actions are during that time. We focused a LOT on staying in one place and working the entire time. I wanted to make sure my kids developed faith in themselves and were NOT running to me if something was confusing. They have been doing really well with that and showing a strong sense of urgency in the classroom.

Here are some pictures of my charts. I followed the book for the most part, but changed a couple things to fit my kiddos. If you're wondering about the funny angle it's because I am all out of wall space in my room. I actually posted these suckers on the ceiling! It works great! If kids get confused or show signs of distress without saying a word I can just point up. Also, you can post the expectations directly over the area you want your kids to that activity in.

Here is the breakdown of how Daily 5 happens in my classroom...

At the front of my classroom is our "flight monitor" (I have a airline themed classroom). The flight monitor is a magnetic pocket chart from Lakeshore that sticks right to my board. This chart has shows each group what their schedule of "rounds" is. *This is one modification my team and I made to Daily 5- we select groups based on good reading buddies. Our students do not get to pick the order of what they do.

Round 1 begins with the signal of a bell. I set a timer for 12 minutes. When the timer goes off the kids know to clean up that round and move to the next round. During rounds I pull my guided reading groups or meet with students to discuss their writing.

A little more about each of my rounds...

Word Work:

Here is my Word Work set up.

"White Write"- Dry erase boards (bought a large piece of white board at Lowes for $9 and had them cut it into 30 pieces. Used duct tape to cover the "raw" edges) where students practice writing their words

"Rainbow Words"- Students write their words on a half sheet on notebook paper. Each letter is a different color.

"Magnetic Words"- A serving tray from the dollar store and magnetic letters from the dollar spot in Target (buy at least 3 sets for multiple letters). Students make their words using the magnetic letters.
Phonics flash cards from the dollar spot at Target

"Tile Words"- Sets of tiles (plastic at Mardel's for $3.99 and cardboard at Lakeshore for the same price) students manipulate to create their words.

"Candy Land- Sight Word Edition"- Candy Land with a twist! Purchase a original Candy Land game board. Print your Dolch sight words- or any other words you want kids to know at glance. Cut them and glue them onto the colored playing cards. Laminate for durability. Have kids play game by pulling a card. Students get to follow the colors on the card if they can correctly say the sight word on that card. I let my kids play this game in pairs. I also only let them play it once a week that way everyone gets a turn.

 "Word Sorts"- An assortment of word sorts to increase vocabulary (great practice for ELLs). All of my word sorts are from ReadingA-Z.com. Well worth the subscription. Many school's already have subscriptions... check with yours!

"Stamp and Write"- Students write their words then stamp them. I bought the large clear stamps from Lakeshore (these work great so kids actually SEE where the stamp is going... they aren't just putting it down).

Read To Self:

Read to self is pretty self explanatory. Students visit my library once a week and find 3 "Good Fit" books to keep in their book bag. My library is leveled so they know where to look for an appropriate book to read during read to self.

Work on Writing:

During work on writing my kiddos write in their Wiis. Wii stands for "Writing Is Important". Inside of their composition book is a list of writing topics that they can write about. Students keep their notebooks in a our "Wii Charging Station" when they are not in use.

Read to Someone:

Students are placed into groups based on their reading levels. I make sure each group has at least 2 strong readers. These kids tend to gravitate towards reading with a low reader without any push from me. It works out great. While they read they sit EEKK (Elbow to elbow, knee to knee) and each hold a part of the book. They either take turns reading books to each other, read a page/paragraph to each other, or sometimes they whisper read together. It's their choice. 

Listen to Reading:

I have a listening center from Lakshore that I use with my iPad. I download audio books from iTunes or find them free online or from other teachers and put them on my iPad. I select one student in the first round and one in the last to be my "iPad keeper". This student is someone I trust to take it out of its case, power it on, power it off and put it back in its case and place it on my desk. The listening center hooks into the iPad headphone jack. From the listening center are 6 additional jacks and volumes. Lakeshore headphones plug into this so 6 students can hear at once. In many cases, my students share books. I hope to have multiple copies of books for kids to each have their own at a later date.

 

More Resources...

Fantastic FREE printables for Daily 5:








Hope you found all of this helpful and useful! If you have any questions please let me know! Also, if you do Daily 5 in your classroom and have some tips or other ideas, please post those as well!

Have a great evening!

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Welcome!

Welcome to my blog all about second grade! I'm so glad you stopped by! Now for a little bit about myself. My name is Miss Wright and this is my first year teaching. I absolutly LOVE second grade! They are at such a fun age where they still latch on to "cutesy" projects, songs, and lessons, but they are also independent. Outside from teaching I have taken on the role of dance team coach for the HS Dance Team. I work at a low income IB/PYP K-12 college prepratory charter school in the Dallas area. You may find that many of my ideas and projects are college themed or related to an aspect of college. I am very passionate about college, whether that be my Alma Mater, The University of North Texas, or making sure my kiddos know that college is important and will give them the tools to become anything they want to be. Although my degree is in education, I am also a corps member for Teach For America.

I am addicted to pinterest, so if you would like to follow my boards you can do so by clicking the link below or on the left hard column towards the top.

My Pinterest

I hope you find my ideas and links useful. I am always looking for ways to improve my teaching, so please feel free to leave any feedback or comments about ways you could modify or change a lesson or idea.

In addition, I'm VERY new to the blogging world. I love following teaching blogs, but this is my first try at creating my own. If you find something on my blog you think another friend or coworker of yours might enjoy then please pass along the link to my blog!

Again, thanks for stopping by!

"Ready for Take-off!"

Well, I have survived 3 weeks! 2 left! Thank goodness! It has gotten much easier. I am down to two days of teaching left, then 2 of administering a test. My last week is all professional development. Then I head home to San Antonio to pick up my cats.... head back to Denton.... then make the big move to Dallas and start my job the following day! It is going to be one busy weekend!

Most exciting news of my week? Deciding on a classroom theme :). I have decided to go with airport/airline/travel theme. Since so many of my kids don't get the opportunity to leave the state I have asked 100's of my facebook friends to send my class postcards of everywhere they travel this year. As a class, we will look at the postcards, map out the location and learn about that place! I am really excited, and the response from my facebook group has been great! I really hope everyone follows through.

Some more ideas:

Our morning routine will be "preparing for take-off". Our passports will be our folders that go home every night. Each table will be a different airline (and I will try my hardest not to be bias and always have Southwest win :) haha). I'm the pilot, my special helper of the week is the co-pilot, along with lots of other cute names for "positions".

I have lots of cute ideas for bulletin boards and posters in the class all going off of the theme as well. My reading corner is "Reading Takes You Places". The "place" (posters, props, etc) will change monthly. I'm thinking something tropical for the first month :).

I'm hanging "clouds" from the ceiling over each table with their airlines logo. Hoping to get some blow-up airplanes that airlines produce to hang from the ceiling as well! Above my door on the way in, passenger arrivals. On the way out- passenger departures.

Our mission? Earn our wings :)
The destination? 3rd grade, with a huge emphasis on college (They WILL know the UNT fight song and sing it loud and proud by the end of the year :) )

These are just a few of my ideas :) I have plenty more, and I will for sure have pictures once I actually make all of this a reality!

Have any ideas? Have any connections with free airplane/airline stuff? Let me know! :)

Start of Something New....

There is something very different about my employment experience (in comparison with my friends who just graduated with their degrees in education). For starters, I am so very fortunate to have a job in education. Many, make that all, of my very talented "teacher friends" who I have come to love are not planning for their first classroom as I am, instead they are being told by countless school districts that they are "not hiring" due to our education budget cuts.... but that's a whole different story. You see, I am a proud member of the 2011 Teach For America Dallas- Ft. Worth Corps. I am so blessed to have this opportunity to teach in areas where I am most passionate. I am so excited to teach the students others see as "un-teachable" or "failures". Why, you ask? Because I know they are not "un-teachable" and they most certainly are not failures, nor will they ever be with the correct guidance and support along the way. I will be teaching in a low-income high-need community in Dallas. Although my second graders are years away from college, they will learn that college is where they will go, and from there they will go on to be successful, independent leaders making an impact on their community. All these "goals" start young with the understanding of respect, self motivation, and a life-long love for learning. And that is just skimming the surface of what my students will leave my room with. You see, I believe I am teaching SO much more than "state standards". I am teaching the future leaders, and I will prepare them as such. I refuse to allow society to let their zip code and parent's pay check measure who they are or who they can become.


So here I am at my second day of induction, a week long introduction to Teach For America before we ship off to Houston for an intense 5 weeks of Institute, where we learn to be not just teachers, but exceptional community leaders and advocates. To be honest, although I am only a mere 40 miles from my apartment, city, friends and loved ones I feel so homesick already. For starters, I'm getting over strep throat (which isn't fun in the least) and I'm beginning to regret my decision to pack my highest heels (y'all know how much I love high heels.... so it shouldn't come as a surprise that 4 of my beloved pairs came along for my week long "vacay"). Aside from those things it feels weird to be here. Never in my life have I been surrounded by such like minded people. While I absolutely love my Mean Green Alma Mater I find myself standing next to triple majors from Duke, Harvard and Yale and I can't help but almost feel "inadequate", even though I'm the one with the degree in education (TFA is an alternative teacher certification program). (Not to mention where in the heck do you find time to triple major????? Like HOLY COW.) So far I have sat through lots and lots of slide shows about how to build my classroom leadership and form my "big goals". It's a lot to take in and exciting yet nerve-wracking all at once.


As for tomorrow..... I'm headed to visit my school! See my future classroom and meet my principal. Sign all the "important papers" and essentially leave my collegiate chapter behind and become a "big girl". :) I'm here. Finally. Nearly 18 years in the making my dream of becoming a teacher is coming true.

How I got here

I was one of those kids who decided what they wanted to be when they were 5 years old and never changed their mind. When I was little my aunt, a special needs preschool teacher, invited me to her classroom to be her "special helper"... and that is truly where my story begins. From that day forward I knew I was going to be a teacher when I "grew up". There simply was just no way around it. Watching my aunt, who I already idolized, lead a class of children and teach them was something I will never forget. Her enthusiasm for her "job", which didn't seem like much of a "job" at all since she was always having so much fun shopping for her classroom, inspired me to become a teacher. Many fake classrooms, baby doll students, and multiple "teacher boxes" later I graduated from high school and set off to the University of North Texas, still set on becoming a teacher. Fast forward another 4 years and here I am, a mere two months from standing in front of my very own classroom of second graders. :)

One of my first "classes" back on mom and dad's super trendy couch. ha :)