Places to Go

Here's how we've been integrating literacy into our theme of exploring the neighborhood.

Paper Bag Buildings with Blocks/Trains

  Labeling the buildings with words and pictures provides opportunities for students to engage in concepts of print, and think about letter-sound connections and beginning sounds, according to their readiness.

Predictable Text Chart with Sight Words

This predictable chart is accessible to students who are still developing concepts of print, but also supports those students who are recognizing words and beginning sounds. We encounter these sight words in other activities as well. 

Predictable Text Readers

I usually try to turn our charts into a take-home book for extra practice at home.

 Music and Movement

I can't remember where I found this poem, but I made up a little melody and actions to go with it. At the end, I ask someone to pick where we should go and how they want to get there, and then we all act it out together. We also used the sticky notes to find and cover the sight word "go."

Word Family Trains

There are several kids in my class who are starting to match letter sounds fluently and blend sounds together to make words. I like the repetition of spelling/sound patterns in word families for helping students to get comfortable with reading c-v-c words, so we made some word family trains. These trains work well for sorting words, in addition to just basic reading practice.

I try to make reading these words active and meaningful, so we come up with an action to accompany every word that we read together. When I do this activity in whole group, I differentiate by providing support for each student according to their needs. The students who are still learning letter names and sounds might only practice identifying letters that they know, and then we say the sounds and read the word altogether. That way, they still feel involved in reading the word, but are being challenged at their own level.