Hello! I wanted to share a little freebie that I made a while back in conjunction with one of my other stores. I LOVE this activity because it gives me some insight into the thought behind the work. Enjoy!!
We all know that Kindergarten is a whole different world in comparison to other grades. You sing, use real glue, and teach the basics of reading to your students. K teachers...my hat is off to you! I could never do what you do everyday!
First grade teachers, your world is a little different <I know! I have been there!> because you have to combine that creativity from the K world with the world of higher independent reading.
So where does that leave us second grade teachers? We are in a hurry to get our kids reading even more so that they can be ready for the evil tests that are coming their way in 3rd grade. But, we also have to be able to meet the needs of the kids that are still on a K or 1st grade level.
The use of basals is going out of style, in a fast way. In fact, my district refuses to buy basals anymore and has opted to buy lots of guided reading books. As basals fade out, so do the one-size-fits-all spelling lists. This past year, I had as many as 20 different spelling lists <almost 1 list per child> in order to meet their needs. I had one student that could only hear the first sound of each word and a student that had words with the -tion and -sion suffixes. A really broad range, huh? By the end of the school year, I was down to 4 spelling lists. It made life a lot easier!
So, what is a blogger to do when she wants to bridge the gap between K, 1, and 2 teachers and provide a freebie that will help everyone? You return to your roots <Montessori roots, I might add!> and fix a freebie that can be used by all 3 grade levels!
Student success in spelling a word depends on the student's developmental level and his/her ability to 'hear' sounds. For instance, if you ask a student to spell the word PENCIL you might get 'PL', "PNL', or "PNSL' among others. It isn't until the student is a good solid reader that you will see the word pencil spelled correctly. So, what do we do to help them hear all of the sounds? We practice 'hearing' and 'listening'.
So, I fixed a little freebie called Can You Hear Me Now for you that can be used by your other students. One student can ask them to spell the word by 'reading' the picture. The other student records the sounds that are heard. An answer sheet is provided so that the student can check the work if he or she would like...but I don't recommend that because it may stifle those listening skills if the student gets frustrated that he/she can't hear all of the letters.
.
We all know that Kindergarten is a whole different world in comparison to other grades. You sing, use real glue, and teach the basics of reading to your students. K teachers...my hat is off to you! I could never do what you do everyday!
First grade teachers, your world is a little different <I know! I have been there!> because you have to combine that creativity from the K world with the world of higher independent reading.
So where does that leave us second grade teachers? We are in a hurry to get our kids reading even more so that they can be ready for the evil tests that are coming their way in 3rd grade. But, we also have to be able to meet the needs of the kids that are still on a K or 1st grade level.
The use of basals is going out of style, in a fast way. In fact, my district refuses to buy basals anymore and has opted to buy lots of guided reading books. As basals fade out, so do the one-size-fits-all spelling lists. This past year, I had as many as 20 different spelling lists <almost 1 list per child> in order to meet their needs. I had one student that could only hear the first sound of each word and a student that had words with the -tion and -sion suffixes. A really broad range, huh? By the end of the school year, I was down to 4 spelling lists. It made life a lot easier!
This is the spelling program
that we use now.
that we use now.So, what is a blogger to do when she wants to bridge the gap between K, 1, and 2 teachers and provide a freebie that will help everyone? You return to your roots <Montessori roots, I might add!> and fix a freebie that can be used by all 3 grade levels!
Student success in spelling a word depends on the student's developmental level and his/her ability to 'hear' sounds. For instance, if you ask a student to spell the word PENCIL you might get 'PL', "PNL', or "PNSL' among others. It isn't until the student is a good solid reader that you will see the word pencil spelled correctly. So, what do we do to help them hear all of the sounds? We practice 'hearing' and 'listening'.
So, I fixed a little freebie called Can You Hear Me Now for you that can be used by your other students. One student can ask them to spell the word by 'reading' the picture. The other student records the sounds that are heard. An answer sheet is provided so that the student can check the work if he or she would like...but I don't recommend that because it may stifle those listening skills if the student gets frustrated that he/she can't hear all of the letters.
.
