CVC Words {Read it! Build it! Write it!}

I am so excited to show you a new activity I made for my kindergarten students, to help them read and write CVC words. 

Read it! Build it! Write it! {CVC Words Edition}

This activity does not require any copies!
Just print, laminate, and cut out the CVC word cards.
Each card contains one word for the children to learn and practice.

First, students read the CVC word. I included dots for the children to touch, which will help them blend the sounds together. Then, they use letter tiles or beads, to spell the word.

Finally, they use a dry erase marker to practice writing the word.

There are many, many CVC word cards included. Just about every word I could possibly think of! For the next several weeks, we will be working on short o, so all my short o cards are out at my word work station. The children are really loving them!

My kindergarten students have been working hard at reading and writing CVC words, blending and segmenting words, and counting the number of syllables in words.

Click the image below to see this resource in my store!

Students as Teachers!

Have you ever hired a student to teach a lesson?

I have!

Once my students have mastered a skill and feel that they know it well enough to teach it, I hire them to take over. It is priceless! 

They always feel 6 feet tall when they are standing at the white board, marker in hand, trying hard to find the right words to say.

While they are teaching, I sit in their seat, which I love. And my students love. You get a whole new perspective of your classroom and your students.

Here is one of my cuties teaching a lesson on future tense verbs.

And this handsome boy is teaching the class about "Super E!"

The next time your voice needs a rest, hire a student to be the teacher! 

Then, sit back, relax, and enjoy the show!

Word Sorts

Word sorts are such an important part of every language arts curriculum. I have received the BEST feedback on my word sorts activities and I wanted to take the time to show you how my students complete them, in order to maximize their learning.

You can watch a video presentation here:

First, my students color in one crayon. Using the same color, they color in all the words that follow that pattern, saying them out loud as they color them in. They also color in the box that contains that pattern, below all the words.

Next, they write all the words they just colored in, saying them out loud as they color them in. I tell them to say them out loud because this will help them commit these words to memory.

Next, they color in the second crayon, a different color, and all the words that follow this pattern. They color in the box with this pattern, as well.

Then, they write all the words they just colored in, again, saying them out loud.

Then, they color in the last crayon, a different color, and all the words that follow this pattern, as well as, the box on the bottom. Of course, they must say them out loud.

Finally, they write all the words they just wrote, saying them out loud as they write them.

The coloring, writing, and speaking, give my students plenty of opportunities to learn the words. I have always loved word sorts, but didn't always have the time to waste cutting and gluing the words. Not that cutting and gluing practice is a waste of time. It is important for young children to practice these skills. But just not when we are sorting words!

My students follow the same procedure for all of my word sorting activities. Of course, some have only 2 crayons and some have 4. Just adjust the procedure if there are more or less sorts.

I have created a lot, and I mean A LOT of word sorting activity sheets. I'll attempt to show you some of them for each grade.

Second Grade

Here's an example from my word sorts for second graders pack...

First Grade

Here's an example from my word sorts for first graders pack... 

I love to use the matching sorting cards to extend the activity.

These resources include 44 different word sorts.

In 2017, I updated my Word Sorts for First Graders Pack, adding a whopping 64 BRAND NEW word sorts! I also renamed it...

The updated pack includes multiple sorts for the same skills in the smaller pack of 44 word sorts, plus, additional sorts that are not included. It's amazing! A lot of times you find yourself needing more than one sort for a skill, and now you have it!

You can find the ULTIMATE Pack here!

You can extend the word sorting activities with pocket chart cards, that you can find here!

Interested in both the sorting sheets AND the pocket chart cards? You can purchase a BUNDLE of BOTH at a DISCOUNT!

Here are some grammar sorts for first graders.

Kindergarten

The sorts below include all the kindergarten phonics skills.

You can also purchase them in a bundle with matching pocket chart cards, to further extend the activity sheets!

The sorts below cover Kindergarten Phonics Skills and have much needed picture support. Pocket chart cards are included to extend the activity.

Sorting Sounds 

Word Sorts and Moon Craftivity

The Teachers Pay Teachers giveaway is over and the winner of my contest is...

Congratulations Kelli! I have already emailed the gift certificate to you. Happy shopping! All my blogging buddies will be announcing their winners too! Can't wait to see who all the lucky winners are! I really enjoyed reading all of your comments. They were so sweet!

In other news, my students have been sorting words this week. These sheets are from my new pack Word Sorts, and they have really come in handy. We are learning about all the ways to make long e and the ending blends ng and nk. Word sorts are an incredibly purposeful activity.

These sorting sheets give my students lots of opportunities to learn all the important spelling patterns. First, they read the words. Then, they color the words. Then, they write the words. By the time they are done with each sheet, they can read the words super fast!

I made sorting sheets for every first grade spelling pattern I could think of. There are 40 different activity sheets! Enough to last the whole year. This week, I put the long e sheet in my Word Work Station and I did the ng, nk one with them during my small groups. They are fun to do and have really helped my students learn these difficult spelling patterns.

These word sorts were made to complement my Pocket Chart Activities. The students sort actual word cards at the Pocket Chart Station and then complete the sheets at the Word Work Station. 

Blends and Digraphs

Long Vowels

I have received a lot of emails about a kindergarten edition. I am working on it and hope to have it finished by this weekend. My kindergartners will be completing the short i sheet this week. If you are interested in the kindergarten version, I would love to hear about the spelling patterns you'd like to see in the pack. Feel free to leave a comment below.

If you would like to check out the first grade version, just click here!

If you download the preview, you can try out the long e sheet for FREE!

One last thing! I just wanted to share this cute moon activity I did last week. I found it in an old Mailbox Magazine.

The children LOVED making the moons! Right click the photos and open in a new window to enlarge the pictures. The moons have texture! To make the texture, just squeeze liquid glue all over some pieces of construction paper. Make circles and dots in various sizes. Allow the glue to dry. Students lay a piece of thin white paper over the glued paper and do a crayon rubbing with a gray crayon. Then, they lay a circle tracer on their crayon rubbing and cut out the circle. The effect is amazing! Looks just like the real moon! Add some moon facts and mount on black paper. They look stunning!

Teaching With Love and Laughter Loves Teachers Pay Teachers (Giveaway)

I love Teachers Pay Teachers, and I am more than thrilled to be giving away a gift certificate to a lucky follower. Not only am I giving away a $10.00 gift certificate from MY blog, but all my Freebielicious friends are also giving away a $10.00 gift certificate from THEIR blogs too! 

But that's not all! Teachers Pay Teachers has graciously donated some gift certificates for us to give away from our Freebielicious blog. So many chances for you to win! How exciting!

I have been a part of the TpT family for 2 years and I can't imagine my life without them. Being a creator and a seller has drastically changed my life in more ways than I can possibly explain. But, I will try!

It's really nice to have the extra paycheck each month. I am a very simple person and I don't require a lot of material things to make me happy. I haven't made any big purchases since I started selling, (much to the chagrin of my accountant!) but I have used the money in some great ways. The extra paycheck has allowed me to regularly support my favorite charities. 
The ones that are nearest and dearest to my heart.

First, is the American Heart Association.

This is my dad.

Sadly, he passed away when he was 57 years young, from heart disease. Sitting with him, was my dad's best friend Mickey. I know they are together right now, playing catch with each other and just enjoying each other's company.

Next, I wholeheartedly support St. Jude Children's Research Hospital 

and The American Cancer Society.

I have lost several close relatives and friends to cancer and pray every day that we can eradicate this deadly disease.

Next, if you know me well, you know that my yorkies are very special to me. I love all dogs. Truly I do. But yorkies hold a big part of my heart. Here are my yorkies, Buddy and Max. 

Max was a rescue. 

He has a lot of health issues and my TpT money has been a saving grace. In addition to helping me pay for the treatments my little Max needs, I also regularly support many different animal rescue groups. Those sweet, innocent faces, get me every time!

Charities need us. They desperately need our help and I am grateful to Teachers Pay Teachers for giving me the opportunity to do something to help change the future for millions of people and animals.

Now, let's get back to the giveaway!

I have purchased a $10.00 gift certificate from TpT and I want one of YOU to win it! All you have to do to enter is fill out the rafflecopter, with integrity. I have included many opportunities for you to enter. Choose one of them or all of them. But, the more you choose, the greater chance you have of winning. And, when you are done entering my giveaway, hop on over to Michelle, and enter to win her giveaway. Just click on her button below.

 You can easily hop through all our blogs to enter the giveaways. Don't forget to stop by Freebielicious to enter to win the BIG money!

Good luck to you all!

Before I go, I just want to tell you one more thing that TpT has done for me. TpT has given me the opportunity to get to know tons and tons of teachers from all over the world. Many of whom have become my friends. We talk about teaching, creating, selling, and just about everything from A-Z. 

I will be forever grateful to TpT.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Sweet Sentiments Writing Activity

I would love to share with you a sweet Valentine writing activity I have been doing for years. It's one of my favorite activities to do, and definitely a favorite of my students, as well.

First, we all write our names on a little slip of paper. I put them all in a big mailbox and everyone chooses a name. Then, we all privately write something nice to the person we chose.

Next, we give each other our sweet hearts and enjoy reading them. (I didn't get a picture of this because I was too busy enjoying my own sweet heart!) Finally, we all leave our hearts on our tables and walk around reading them. It brings us all such joy to read the sweet sentiments.

Here are some of them...

Here is mine! I LOVE it!

The little boy who received a heart from me was so excited. He read it and then ran over to me and said, "Ms. Rosenberg, I need to give you a BIG hug!"

I can't begin to tell you how sweet this activity is. I hope you find the time to do it too. And then come back and tell me how it went!

Bright Ideas Blog Hop

I am joining a WHOLE bunch of wonderful bloggers in this Bright Ideas Blog Hop! We are all discussing some great ideas we use in our classrooms.

I am sharing my gallery walk idea. When you teach the little ones, they ALL want to share EVERYTHING they write and draw. It's almost impossible to find the time for everyone to share, so I have devised a way to allow EVERYONE to share all the time. I use the gallery walk approach.

After we are finished writing, all of my students get up and walk around the room, looking at everyone's work. They read and comment to each other, sharing their thoughts and compliments.

I love listening to their conversations and watching them share their masterpieces with each other.

When we are finished with our gallery walk, I ask them to share a thought or two, telling the class what they saw that they really enjoyed.

As you can see from the pictures above, they are ALWAYS ready to express their thoughts! I encourage them to be specific and not just say, "I liked John's work because it is nice." 

This whole process takes just a few minutes and it is a favorite activity in my class. Try it! And then let me know how it goes!

Need a bright idea about how to organize your lesson plans? Hop on over to Ashleigh's blog and read all about it!

You can also visit the link-up below and choose a topic that interests you. There are lots and lots of great ideas! Happy reading!