Curriculum

Phonics Instruction Made Easy

November 17, 2019 by Jodi Leave a Comment

Phonics instruction is important because students have to know how to decode print in order to become fluent readers that can comprehend what they read. While decoding comes easily for some students, others need very direct and explicit instruction. Everyone, even your highest readers, need a good understanding of phonics. Once students start reading multisyllabic words, they need to be able to decode them easily. We even use phonetic skills as adults to decode unknown words. Think of all those medical terms or weird chemicals that we see on food labels. Phonetic decoding is truly a lifelong skill. For this reason, I make sure that I use a lot of explicit phonics instruction in my classroom.

I love having a variety of resources for each phonics skill at my fingertips to use each week. Sometimes, I use the same resources over and over each week, and sometimes I like to change it up a bit. I put a variety of my phonics resources into Megapacks organized by phonics skill, and it has made lesson planning so much easier each week.

These Megapacks include everything you need for teaching phonics all year long. The year-long bundle is jam-packed with phonics materials for 27 phonics skills that can be used for interventions, whole group instruction, small group instruction, independent work stations, partner activities, practice pages, and more. (Over 1,800 pages of phonics practice.)

This is the perfect setup for teaching your phonics skill for each week. Simply open the file and print exactly what you need. You will easily be able to integrate your phonics instruction into your reading comprehension and fluency instruction for the week.

Each phonics skill pack can also be purchased separately if you just need some updated resources for one particular phonics skill.

These Megapacks include materials from the following products in my store, but ALL in one place:

★ 5-Step Phonics

★ Phonics Based Fluency Passages {The Bundle}

★ Phonics Based Poems

★ Phonics Color by Code

★ Phonics Roll It! Color It!

★ Phonics Tic Tac Toe Games

★ Reading on the Move Phonics Word Lists

★ Short Vowel Intervention

Check out all of my Phonics Megapacks by clicking on the picture below.

All in One Differentiated Reading Passages

November 4, 2019 by Jodi Leave a Comment

Reading instruction in a classroom with students at various reading levels can definitely be challenging. If you follow a basal program, the text levels for each week may be too hard for your low readers and much too easy for your higher readers. This is why I love doing small groups during my reading block. I want to make sure that my students are reading text at their instructional reading levels.

These Monthly Differentiated Reading passages are my go-to during small group instruction or during our intervention/enrichment time. I love that almost all of my students can read about the same topic and work on the same comprehension skill, but at their own reading level.

Each month includes 4 nonfiction and 4 fiction stories at three different reading levels. Each passage includes “Power Words” to increase their vocabulary skills. The higher level passages include more Power Words than the lower reading level passages. Every story also includes a corresponding comprehension skill, comprehension graphic organizer, and a writing component.

How do I use these Differentiated Reading Passages in my classroom?

I typically use these during small group instruction for one of our weekly lessons during that time. This allows me to differentiate easily for each reading group. I also love that I can be consistent with keeping the same comprehension skill and vocabulary words for the entire class. This year, I have actually been using these with my enrichment group during our I/E (Intervention/Enrichment) time. I am able to really dig deep into each of these stories as we practice our reading fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension practice.

I love that these Differentiated Reading Passages allow me to integrate reading with science and social studies.

One of my favorite things about these passages is that I can integrate reading with other subject areas by using the nonfiction passages. It is often difficult to get everything in during the school day, so integrating subjects with each other is so important.

What are teachers saying about these Differentiated Reading Passages?

“This is one of the best purchases I’ve made on TPT! It allows you to use the same “Power Words” or vocabulary with your class, but the passages using the vocabulary are written at 3 different reading levels allowing all students to access the content! It also contains a written option and reading response for each reading. Wow! This has saved me so much time! Thank you!” -Sharon

“This is an AMAZING resource for guided reading. I love the prediction pages with a picture that really help the students stay focused on the topic. Also, I love telling them their writing goal for the week which is included.” -Nicole

“These passages are wonderful for comprehension in terms of teaching to look back in the text. I also love the vocabulary piece. The graphic organizers are great too. The passages are just the right length and the topics keep my guided reading group engaged! Thanks!” -June

“One of the BEST resources I have ever bought from TPT (and trust me I have bought A LOT)!! This has everything you can hope for! Absolutely no prep needed for your daily guided reading FOR THE ENTIRE YEAR! Having three different passages for each story at three different levels is amazing! This allows all the students in the class to practice the same reading skill, and learn about the same topic, but at a level that is good for them. LOVE LOVE LOVE this and use this almost everyday throughout the year!”

Check out each month or save on the ENTIRE YEAR Bundle.

A Bat Cave Classroom Transformation

September 29, 2019 by Jodi Leave a Comment

If you’ve been around here for awhile, you’ve probably come across my Bat Cave Day Classroom Transformation. It is one of my absolute favorite days in my classroom. My first graders get so excited and talk about it for the rest of the school year.

One of the questions that I am usually asked is, “What all do you do during your Bat Cave Day?” Well, I am a huge believer in making learning fun, but meaningful. Even though it is a fun day, I still want to jam-pack it with learning. This year, I wanted to add in even more reading, math, and writing based activities into our Bat Cave Day, so I created this Bat Cave Day activity packet.

During our Bat Cave Day, my students bring in flashlights from home, and we work in the dark all day. They love this extra bit of excitement. Throughout the day, they will be completing six bat-themed centers. (Batty Math, Spin & Add, Bat Writing, Batty Vowels, Roll to Color Short Vowels, and Fact or Fiction)

I really based these centers around skills that my first graders are currently working on or need to review. This allows us to continue our academic learning, even though we are adding some extra excitement to our day.

My students will be rotating in groups of 3-4 students to complete each of these centers. Afterwards, we will complete some of the other activities in this packet including ABC order, vocabulary practice, writing, and more.

For the actual classroom transformation, I keep it pretty simple. I purchase black tablecloths from Dollar Tree to place on our tables and in front of our classroom windows. I also have some plastic bats that I purchased years ago from Dollar Tree that I use every year. You can see everything that I use for my transformation in my Amazon store. I promise you that you really do not need to spend a lot of money. The ONLY thing I buy for this each year are the tablecloths, and honestly, if I just purchased cloth ones, I could actually reuse those every year as well.

If you’d like to check out the Bat Cave Day packet, click on the picture below.

Read more about our Bat Cave Classroom Transformation here.

Remember to pin the image below to save for future reference.

Sight Word Notebook

September 1, 2019 by Jodi 2 Comments

There is nothing more tricky than sight words for many kids. While some students pick them up quickly, others need tons of repetition and practice. I am constantly trying to add sight word work into my day to help those students that need the additional practice.

I love using this Sight Word Notebook with my class. My students really enjoy these activities, and the variety of skills gives them the repetitive practice that they need.

These Sight Word Notebooks are available with the 220 Dolch Sight Words or the first 300 Fry Sight Words.

The Dolch Sight Word Notebook includes 44 lessons (5 sight words per lesson) and the Fry packet includes 60 lessons (5 sight words per lesson.)

Each lesson includes the following activities:

Read, trace, and write the sight words.
Color the Sight Words
Roll and Write the Sight Words
Use the sight words in a sentence
(One of the 3 activities) Color-by-Code, Mystery Code, or Sight Word Search

I have also included a clickable Table of Contents that allows you to easily find a particular sight word that you may be looking for.

These are great to use in a whole group at the beginning of the year or as a small group or individual work as the school years progresses. You could also print and bind these for each of your students to work through, or put them into a “Sight Word Folder” to keep track of their progress.

My students’ favorite part of the Sight Word Notebook is the last activity on each page. Whether it’s the Color-by-Code, the Mystery Code Words, or the Word Search, they love completing this last part.

What are teachers saying about the Sight Word Notebook?

“As with ALL of your resources, this is top-notch! Sight words are SO important, and this helps to make them fun and interesting! Thank you!” -Christine B.

“I am so happy that the focus is on more than one sight word at a time. This is well done and does not look babyish for older learners still working on sight words.” -Carol B.

Check out these Sight Word Notebook by clicking on the links below.

Dolch Sight Word Notebook

Fry Sight Word Notebook

I hope this helps your students master their sight words this school year. Remember to follow @funinfirstblog on Instagram for more great ideas for your classroom. Feel free to pin this image for future reference.

Fluency Poems

March 24, 2019 by Jodi Leave a Comment

Reading fluency is the ability to read accurately and with expression. What better way to practice reading fluency than by using poetry? Poetry has a rhythm and melody that is perfect for practicing reading fluency. We all know the importance of rereading when it comes to practicing fluency, but rereading can be boring. Using cut apart poems is one of my favorite ways to have my students practice reading fluency.

I give each student a mixed up poem. They cut the strips apart and work to put the poem into the correct order. Guess what they have to be doing the entire time that they are working on putting the poem in order? They have to be rereading it and rereading it over and over again. They also reread it with a rhythm and expression that helps them to figure out the order of the poem. While they are putting these in the correct order, we can discuss rhyming words and how they will align in a poem. This activity also lends itself to discussing capitals and punctuation. The students can get clues about the order of the lines by looking at where the capitals and ending marks are on each strip.

Want to try using fluency poems in your classroom?

I created a packet of 20 fluency poems that can be used in whole group, small group, or in an independent work station. Each rhyming poem comes with a color and black/white version of the completed poem, mixed up poetry strips, and a matching sheet for gluing on the final poem.

I personally always begin using these in a whole group setting. After students get the hang of it, I like to copy the poems and put them in an independent work station. The strips can be laminated and reused if you want to save on paper usage.

Click on any of the pictures above to head over to my Teachers Pay Teachers store and check out these poems.

Writing Mini-Lessons for the Entire Year

September 14, 2018 by Jodi 6 Comments

When you hear writing instruction, do you want to pull your hair out, or do you get excited? Let me be honest. For way too many years, I wanted to pull my hair out. It wasn’t necessarily because I didn’t enjoy teaching writing. It was because I was overwhelmed with the task at hand, and I had no idea where to start. I knew that writing mini-lessons were the way to go because my students needed to spend the majority of their writing block actually writing. Not listening to me talk. Even though I knew that I needed to do writing mini-lessons, I still felt overwhelmed. Which skills should I focus on and when? Was I hitting everything that my 1st graders needed? Over the past couple of years, I have began piecing together a writing curriculum using mini-lessons for my students. It took me awhile to get it just right, but I am THRILLED with the results.

These writing mini-lessons are grouped into months and can be projected for your students as you go through a lesson each day. Simply open the file, and click onto the day’s lesson. Each lesson takes 5-10 minutes max. Then, the remainder of the time is spent on practicing their writing craft using what they have learned from that day’s lesson. Students will not become better writers by listening to a long writing lesson. They HAVE to be writing, so I wanted these to be short and sweet with a very clear focus.

Where do students write?

This file also includes monthly journals that can be printed for your students to use that follow along with each mini-lesson for the month. The lessons themselves all start with a “We can” statement. The journal pages contain an “I can” statement to show their writing focus for that lesson. This format also allows me to stay focused when I am analyzing their writing. I am definitely guilty of looking at a piece of writing and trying to fix it ALL. These “I can” statements allow me to focus ONLY on that particular writing lesson objective.

As of right now, this is a GROWING BUNDLE of writing mini-lessons. When it is completed, it will include 180 mini-lessons for your entire year of writing instruction. As I complete each month, I will add it to the bundle, so you can redownload the update. These truly have been a GAME CHANGER in my classroom. I no longer dread writing time. I look forward to it because I know exactly what I will be teaching and looking for in their writing for that day. Take a closer look in the video below.

If you need to make your life easier when it comes to writing instruction, click the picture below to learn more.

Curriculum

Phonics Instruction Made Easy

All in One Differentiated Reading Passages

How do I use these Differentiated Reading Passages in my classroom?

I love that these Differentiated Reading Passages allow me to integrate reading with science and social studies.

What are teachers saying about these Differentiated Reading Passages?

Check out each month or save on the ENTIRE YEAR Bundle.

A Bat Cave Classroom Transformation

Sight Word Notebook

Fluency Poems

Want to try using fluency poems in your classroom?

Writing Mini-Lessons for the Entire Year

Where do students write?

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Curriculum

How do I use these Differentiated Reading Passages in my classroom?

I love that these Differentiated Reading Passages allow me to integrate reading with science and social studies.

What are teachers saying about these Differentiated Reading Passages?

Check out each month or save on the ENTIRE YEAR Bundle.

Want to try using fluency poems in your classroom?

Where do students write?

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