Category: Reading

A Creative & Fun way I taught my Students Facts about Dyslexia

10/5/2015

I wanted to start my school year off by teaching my students facts about their learning difference, Dyslexia.
This strategy of mine had BIG potential of being the most boring
possible way to begin a school year!!
Thank the good Lord for giving me the idea to put our new mini iPads to use!
We did research via
YouTube
Google
and various books.

Each of my students took away some great facts about their learning difference.
The videos that have been created are as uniquely creative and special as each one of my students!
I wanted to share this video by a 2nd grade student with you -
her mom has given me permission to share.

Isn't her voice the cutest?!

The most important thing my students learned from this project is that knowledge is power ~
knowing about why they struggle has helped
them realize they are much more than their Dyslexia.
When you know the facts, you can own your struggles
and rise above them, discovering that YOU are
SO MUCH MORE.

~sherri
3Word Nerds

A sidenote: The waffle and spaghetti analogy we learned from "Madeline's Minute" on YouTube.

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Don't underestimate the Power of the Alphabet

10/3/2015

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Thank you to all who tuned into my scope on Thursday! Here are the slides I shared to help teachers dig deeper into the alphabet with their struggling students.
For those who did not catch Thursday's scope, building a solid foundation in the Alphabetic Principle - Letter/Sound Correspondence, will set a more successful foundation for spelling and reading with your students. So, I created a PowerPoint file which teachers can use to help their students get a good grasp on the alphabet. You can download the zip file below. You can also take a peek at the document below before downloading. My hope is that this will enhance your teaching and your student's love toward spelling and reading.

Please feel free to share this with other teachers.
The 3Word Nerds are happy to help answer any questions you may have for helping
your struggling students.

You can email us at:
3wordnerds.com

Have a great rest of your weekend!
~Sherri Word Nerd

alphabet_intro_lesson_pdf.zip
File Size:	1146 kb
File Type:	zip

Download File

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What's Your Teaching "Stethoscope"?

9/21/2015

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I am grateful that the nursing profession has been recognized in the media lately. I have a daughter who is a heart nurse and I know how hard she works and her passion for helping each and every patient. She also is studying to be a nursing professor. I am glad she will become a teacher as well. She will be great at this new venture.

I started thinking about our occupation - the wonderful profession of teaching. What is our "costume"? What is our "stethoscope"?

I know for me as I enter my school each day, I need to be clothed in compassion, grace and a boatload of patience. I need to put all the cares of my life aside and focus on the needs of each of my students. How can I help them understand this concept? How can I further their learning? What can I do to increase their confidence and help them feel good about being a learner that day?

My stethoscope is always with me. It is my eyes as I look into the hearts of each of my students. Are they sad today? Did they have a hard start to their day or was one of their peers a bit unkind to them today? How can I lift their hearts and their spirits? Do they have something exciting to share with me? In what way can I show them they are dear to me and that they are a unique and special creature on this spinning ball we live on?

Each occupation has its hurdles, its challenges, its passions and its rewards. Isn't it wonderful that we all do have varied talents and strengths so we can support each other with the gift that God has given to us to share with our world? What is your "costume" and what is your "stethoscope"? I would love to hear about it.

Susie Word Nerd

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Simple & Fun Activity for building Success in Spelling & Reading (FREE Download, too)

9/14/2015

2 Comments

Hi Everyone!
Happy Monday!!
Sherri Word Nerd here today! I wanted to share a simple and fun activity that I played with my students last week. The basic foundation of this activity is part of the Take Flight Curriculum by Texas Scottish Rite Hospital. As with any #teachertribe teacher, we take a basic activity and "fluff it up" for our students! I believe if an activity is engaging and fun, students will make meaningful connections while playing.
The activity is called SLAP!
This is important to do before playing:
I teach the students three important vocabulary words for the different positions of sounds in a word.
i = initial (first)
M = medial (middle)
F = final (last)
Each set of cards will have IMF cards and a SLAP! card
Laminate and cut out a set for each student.

Students should lay the three IMF cards out -in order-
and place the SLAP card to the side.

Now, you can pick one sound for the students to focus on or use this activity for several different words.
I start this activity with my students picking one sound, for example, /p/.
I say one word with the /p/ sound
" (pit) "
We un-blend each sound in the word out together
/p/-/i/-/t/
and then the student(s) move a plastic letter 'p', in this case, or letter representing the sound under the I, M or F card and SLAP their card signifying they are done. Hands go in their lap and no more changes can be made.
I use Mouth Pictures which represent each sound, but plastic letters would be appropriate for the classroom.
You wouldn't think a SLAP! card would make it so much fun, but my students ask to play this activity everyday!!

SLAP! can be used to practice spelling words, too! Pick one focus sound for each word or for a challenge, have students place the letters for the all sounds in the correct positions they hear them in the word.
I love fun and simple - So, here is the file for this activity to download for free b/c we want every teacher, parent or
home-school co-op to be able to help build a solid foundation for success in spelling & reading through teaching these simple, fun and important strategies.

imf_cards__first_spelling_lesson_.pdf
File Size:	67 kb
File Type:	pdf

Download File

Thank you for stopping by today! We would love for you to share this post with your friends - especially teacher friends that could benefit from this post.
Make it a great week!!
~sherri

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Word-Work Activities for developing Forever Spellers...and a FREEBIE!

8/19/2015

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Hi Everyone!

Since all three of us are specialists on our campus, we often have teachers ask us for ideas, activities and/or mini-lessons for their word-work time. Being the Word Nerds that we are, we are always happy to help our classroom teachers with spelling/reading/writing ideas for their students!!

All of our activities are based on skills included in our Spelling Lessons on TpT. The activities are geared toward grades K-3.

Our Spelling Pattern Puzzle Kids Activity Set is full of great word-work activities to engage your students all while they are learning to apply important spelling strategies and rules for spelling. This is a perfect activity to start the year off with because it provides the opportunity for students to be introduced to specific phonemes (small units of sound) which have multiple spellings. For example the sound of /k/ has 5 different spellings in initial (first), medial (middle) or final (last) positions of a word. This means the student must learn to be thoughtful when spelling with this sound because there are choices for the sound of /k/ in every position of a word. In order to learn to be thoughtful - or stopping to think when spelling with the sound of /k/ - students must learn the spelling rules for the sound of /k/.
We have included word cards with missing phonemes in different positions of a word. Students must use their auditory & visual memory to figure out which spelling they must use to spell each word correctly. To make this easier for your students, we've designed Spelling Rule Posters as a resource to for your students to refer to all year long when spelling, writing and reading.

Here's another activity I didn't mention last night:
I-Spy -students use the spelling pattern puzzle kids around the room/school "spying" words with that pattern. They could also do a word hunt using magazines, newspapers, etc. Keep track of the word in a word list to use for writing.

Extension activities might be for students to collaborate about how/why a word is spelled with digraph ck, for instance. Students could take the word "sock" and discuss different meanings for the word. Students could also brainstorm other words with the same spelling pattern and then write a story, narrative or short paragraph using all their words.
All of the activities are hands on and can be used for independent and/or whole group activities.
Watch this video from last night's scope to see these activities in action:

Another great resource for helping your students make connections in spelling is our Spelling Rule Task Cards. These are FREE today at our TpT Store ~ Hurry over and grab your set today!!

These were designed to help our dyslexic students make connections more easily between their dyslexia therapy class and spelling, writing and reading in their classroom. Soon after seeing our students coming back and forth with these task cards, the teachers wanted them for ALL their students!!

I laminate the cards and put them on a ring as I introduce a new rule. Students have a hook on the side of their desks in their classroom (I use Command Hooks). I am a true believer in the saying, "out of sight, out of mind", so this way the task cards are visible and won't get lost in the "abyss" otherwise known as the inside of their desks :)

All of these activities and resources are on SALE today (Wednesday, Aug. 19th) at the Site-Wide TpT sale!!
Be sure to use the code "MORE15" when checking out to receive even more of a discount on your purchase!!

Hope this post was helpful to you!
We love spelling and want to make it easier for teachers to build that solid foundations for spelling, reading and writing for all their students!
Wishing all of you a FANTABULOUS start to your school year!!
~sherri

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A Creative & Fun way I taught my Students Facts about Dyslexia

Don't underestimate the Power of the Alphabet

What's Your Teaching "Stethoscope"?

Simple & Fun Activity for building Success in Spelling & Reading (FREE Download, too)

Word-Work Activities for developing Forever Spellers...and a FREEBIE!

Author

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Categories

3Word Nerds

A Creative & Fun way I taught my Students Facts about Dyslexia

Don't underestimate the Power of the Alphabet

What's Your Teaching "Stethoscope"?

﻿Simple & Fun Activity for building Success in Spelling & Reading (FREE Download, too)

Word-Work Activities for developing Forever Spellers...and a FREEBIE!

Author

Archives

Categories

3Word Nerds

Simple & Fun Activity for building Success in Spelling & Reading (FREE Download, too)