Word Work, the Reading Recovery Way - Pt. 8

Who-oo-oo knows what time it is? 

Yes, it's time, teachers, to move onto the next step in how words work. That step involves adding letters to the end of known words. We are not talking about inflections! We already did that.  Rather, we are leading the child to notice known words within other words. To do this, make a known word for your student. Say, “This says ‘cat’.  Watch while I add something to it.”  

Push ch to the end of the word. Instruct your student to, “Say it and check it with your finger.”

In the same lesson, do this with other words,  for example, see + m  or can + dy.

Continue to practice this skill in subsequent lessons until the child can do it with ease.  

Reinforce this concept when she is reading a new book by finger masking the last letters of a new word containing a known word.  

You will heave a sigh of satisfaction when she does this for herself while reading.  As my RR trainer used to say, “You will be doing cartwheels down the hallway!”  Indeed, you will.

If you would like a concise document of these Word Work tips, you can find it in my TpT Store.

  

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Word Work, the Reading Recovery Way -- Pt. 5

The time has come, teachers, to focus on how onsets work in words.  To do this, present the letters for a set of known words, e.g. g o n o s o.  

Say, "I'm going to make 2 words you know."  Assemble go and no.  Ask the child to run her finger under those 2 words as she says them slowly, thereby reaffirming the need to check the sound sequence.

Push the remaining 2 letters toward the center of your vertical plane white board, telling the child to make another word she knows.  After she assembles so, instruct her to run her finger under it and say the word slowly.  Remember, you must work with KNOWN words, as you are teaching the task, not the words.

Continue on subsequent days with other known words, such as he, be, me or cat, fat, bat.  

Once you are certain your student understands how words work with onsets, you will be ready to begin harder analogies with onsets.  I'll address that next time.

Are you teaching about the election?  If so, you might like to check out Erin's linky party @ Tales from Room 112.

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SCARECROWS

It's fall!  That means it's harvest time, teachers, ... which means you can turn your attention to scarecrows and all the fun they bring to your classroom.

When I pull out my scarecrow unit, I love to focus on compound words.  After all, SCARECROW is a compound word and it's one of the best ones to explain how compound words work.

Once I've introduced compound words, I immerse my students in them.  For example, I create a farm scene on a bulletin board.  It's amazing how many compound words you can reap on a farm!  Then, as the kiddos identify compound word pictures on the board, we label them.

How many more compounds can you find in this picture?

Once we have acquired a bank of compound words, each student chooses one to illustrate for a barn craftivity.

A display of these barns in the hallway is sure to cause a traffic jam.

We routinely have a shared reading of a poem which later is placed in our poetry center. Each child receives a copy to place in his/her poetry anthology.  The following scarecrow poem affords us the opportunity to find and highlight compound words in text:

Another compound word activity could be used as a center printable, an anchor activity, or something for fast finishers. It's a word find composed of compound words. It's a Google doc so you can grab a copy if you like.

Google Doc

All of these activities and many more are available in my thematic unit, cleverly named "Scarecrows." 

It is available on TpT and TN.  You'll harvest a lot of learning with it.

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Rules for Syllabication

It's about time, teachers...that we really teach our students the rules for syllabication. Knowing those rules helps children to decode words in reading and to determine correct pronunciations.  It helps them to apply spelling patterns in their writing and to make their writing easier to read.  And, of course, it is a component of the Common Core Standards.  

For years, I have used old fashioned, plug & chug practice.  It may not be creative, but it surely is effective.  Following are a few samples of my syllabication unit for primary students:

This unit includes 12 rules for syllabication.  Each rule has a full page of practice on that rule only.  Repetition is an effective teacher.  Also included are several pages of mixed practice:  

After mentoring scores of student teachers, I can say with certainty that they benefit greatly from taking a refresher course in the rules of syllabication.  The vast majority of my student teachers comment positively about working through this unit.  They they boldly take a blank copy with them for future reference and as an addition to their teaching files.

My unit, Friendly Frog's Syllables Book, is 17 pages long. It's available on TpT or TN.  

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