|
Red Words
Red words are words that your child needs to be able to read and write "just like that!" We practice these words to "overlearn" them so they are read and written automatically.
Good ways for your child to practice are: Review with the OG drills. Practice OG arm tapping or finger tapping like we do in class. Practice writing the words in your sand or on your glitter board. Have your child: look at the word say the word chant the word (snap, clap, stomp, or cheer) write the word on a white board, chalkboard, magic sketch, or paper Build, Mix, Fix You will need letter cards, magnetic letters, or letter tiles. You can make letter cards on index cards cut in half, or use Post-it Notes. Write one letter from the red words you are practicing on each card. Choose 5 words to work with and write them on index cards or use the flashcards included. Show your child the word. Have your child say the word. Have your child build the word with the letter cards, magnetic letters, or letter tiles. Have your child mix up the letters. Hide your word card, and have your child build their word again. Have them check the word by comparing their word to the word on the index card. Word Fun Use materials such as play-dough, alphabet stamps, Wikki Sticks, pasta, lima beans, or stencils to spell words. Soapy Words You will need a can of shaving cream and an old cookie sheet for this activity or you can also do this activity with your child in the tub using the tile wall. Spray a small amount of shaving cream on the cookie sheet or wall. Have your child spread it around. Say word wall words, or show them on index cards, and have them write the words in the shaving cream. Have them erase the word by rubbing the shaving cream and starting again. Rainbow Words You will need different color markers, pencils or crayons for this activity. Write a tricky word your child is having difficulty with spelling on their own. Have them trace over or around the word with different colors of the markers, pencils or crayons. Word Wall Workout Stomp, snap, jump, do jumping jacks, toe touches, or march while spelling out the red words. Dribble and Shoot Dribble a ball and say the letters of the word on each letter. If you have a basketball hoop, shoot the ball through the hoop as you say the word. Tickle Words You can help your child practice spelling the red words by writing them on their back with your finger. They love this because it tickles at first, but then they get very focused and think about letter formation and spelling. After you have written on their back, let them write words on your back! |
Orton GillinghamWe are very excited to begin our second year using Orton Gillingham in our phonics and word recognition lessons. Orton Gillingham is a program that is sequential, systematic and explicit. The lessons include phonics, phonological awareness, and morphology. We use it to practice decoding and encoding as well as teaching spelling generalizations. Orton Gillingham is multi-sensory. When we talk about multi-sensory we are referring to using multiple senses, for our purposes sight, touch and sound, gives students multiple pathways for learning and retrieval. We use sand to trace letters and words, bumpy boards, red and green crayons, and we practice oral drills. After learning these routines and drills, we will move through all the steps at a brisk pace.
Most of the kindergarten and first grade teachers have now gone through the rigorous Orton Gillingham training, and those that have not will receive the training soon. The county is training teachers through a vendor, but slowly. It's an expensive training. Bells Mill PTA generously paid for my training as well as two first grade teachers, so we are very grateful to have been able to implement the program last year with fidelity. Benchmark Unit 5 Technology |