Long i fries!

{"I'm lovin' it...} Here is a fun little word sorting activity using letter combinations that make the long vowel i sound!  The kids will read the words on each "fry" and then decide in which box to put the fry. 

A pile of  long i fries.  {Just use fun scrapbook paper!}

And...sort. 

Dasher's Reindeer Sort

A reindeer literacy game I have planned for this upcoming week is called "Dasher's Reindeer Sort". {The phonics skill this week is /sh/!} The kids pull one ornament out of a box at a time. They read the /sh/ word on the ornament, then place the ornament into the correct reindeer bucket--"Begins with /sh/" or "Ends with /sh/". They will record their words on a little reindeer sort work mat. *I would love for my teacher friends out there to share any fun and "Christmasy" ideas for teaching /sh/!

Short vowel "u" Pumpkin Hunt and Glitter Bottles

To "spice" up the word work station for short vowel u week, I had two activities for the kids to choose from: go on a short u pumpkin hunt, or look for short u words in glitter bottles. I was inspired to do the glitter bottles by one of the best teachers out there--Jessica Meacham! {Love her!}

I got the "Baby Soda Bottles" from a local Parent-Teacher Store. They are made by Steve Spangler Science--another one of my favorites! I stored the bottles and workpages in this plastic suitcase:
The kids would pick a bottle, look carefully at the letters found on the beads inside it, then try to figure out which short u word it spelled. When they figured out the word, they placed the bottle on top of the coordinating square on this work mat:
When they had all the bottles, the kids used this workpage to extend the learning a little bit more:

Now, let's go on a short u "pumpkin hunt"! I hung short u words on pumpkin cut outs all around the room. The kids read the pumpkins, then chose the correct box to write the word in using the workpage below:

"Short O" Lollipop Sort

This is an idea I had for next week's phonics skill--short o! I put a variety of short o words onto clip art lollipops and placed them in a Tootsie Roll Pop bag. The kids will work in pairs at word work station to sort the words, then write the words onto a lollipop sorting page! Sweet...practice! Now that we're getting closer to Halloween, I thought it could be fun to do some themes with candy--I have a few ideas for candy addition, but would love some other ideas from my awesome teacher friends out there!

Wondrous Word Work

If I were a first grader, I think my favorite literacy station would be word work! I try to allow my students a variety of choices for working with words of the week. There are so many possibilities for activties, and I am often making up new ideas as I introduce new phonics patterns. For example, when we learn the digraph ch, I created a "Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie" game, and the kids would put pretend cookies on a pan, then flip them over with a spatula to practice reading and spelling the word found on the other side. The following activties are what you might see in the word work basket from week to week. Usually, I allow 2 or 3 activities in the basket at a time, then rotate them back in every few weeks to keep the kids from getting bored.

Play-Doh letters: use letter cookie cutters to create words! *Voted most popular by my first graders*

Sparkle letters: these are sparkly foam stickers.

Scrabble Words: I have a cute worksheet to go with this activity. It incorporates math by having the kids add up the letters of the words they create.

Mini Magna-Doodles.


Also, the chip board letters pictured at the top of this post are fun for spelling!

Other ideas:

*Mini chalkboards/whiteboards
*Magnet letters
*Fun fonts: cut out letters from magazines to build words.
*Letter stamps
*Sand box: put sand in the lid of a shoebox, and draw words in the sand
*Rainbow spelling: use different colored markers to spell words
*Wikki Stix
*Bottle cap spelling: put letters on the tops of bottle caps

When I do a fun phonics based activity, I will try to post pictures! Any teachers out there with some great new ideas for word work? I'd love to hear them!

The Sound Muncher

This year we will be feeding the classroom sound muncher objects with the phonics pattern we are learning for the week! On Monday, I ask the kids to look for items around the classroom and at home to feed to the sound muncher the next day! The sound muncher is a great way to review phonics skills, and I like to put him at the word work center for the kids to draw and label the objects they find inside! To get your own sound muncher, visit the kids hamper section at Target!

Below is an example of the center page that would go with the Sound Muncher. The kids would fill in the cloud with the sound of the week, then they would enjoy pulling out the items their friends brought in to go with that sound. They sketch the object, then they label it, trying their best to spell the word. I like for my kids to underline or highlight the letters that make the sound we are learning for the week.