How to Teach Sight Words During Distance Learning

Teaching sight words has its challenges as it is, but when you add distance/virtual learning to the equation, it can be overwhelming! Where do I start? How do I make sure my students are interacting with the words and learning them? In this mini post, I will go over the steps I have taken to help my students be successful in a digital classroom.

At my school, we were able to have students pick up supplies for distance learning.  I made each of my students sight word books, so they could follow along, write in and color their books, and read them anytime they want. If you were not given this option, you could also send parents a digital version of the books for them to print or for the students to view online. These are the sight word readers I made and used in my classroom. They come with two versions of each reader and a Powerpoint that goes with each reader as well. I also have this FREEBIE sight word reader and Powerpoint you can try with your students!

I start introducing a sight word by presenting the Powerpoint to the students. We read the word together, spell it, and sing the word. 

Then, we read the sight word sentences together. The sight word sentences are the same as the sentences in the student readers except the Powerpoint pictures are in color.

We read through the Powerpoint book together, and then students can take out their own sight word readers. We start by highlighting the title page and students write their names.

Then students practice writing the word. I show students how to write it on a whiteboard, and then they practice tracing the word and writing it on their own.

After that, we practice reading and tracing the sentences and highlighting our sight word of the day. We go through all the pages, and then students can color all of their pictures. Students also have a chance to create their own sentence using the sight word. This is my favorite part because the students are so creative and have so much fun making up their own sentences! It is also an amazing opportunity to get to know your students.

I love having these sight word readers handy for whenever students finish something early or need a break. Whether they are at home or in the classroom, I will let them grab a sight word booklet and practice reading. They have really shown so much growth in their sight word knowledge and fluency in reading.

 I hope you are feeling inspired about how to help your students learn their high frequency words!

How to Teach Kindergarteners All of Their Sight Words

Kindergarteners are expected to learn 50 sight words in my school district. They come into school at the beginning of the year, and many of them do not speak English, do not know any letters or sounds, and need social and emotional support and modeling. The idea of teaching these kiddos 50 sight words can truly be overwhelming!

I have found a way to teach sight words that helps students memorize the words and understand them! Students can also work on reading, writing, speaking and listening during sight word instruction. English language learners really learn the language when they are able to practice using the words in sentences.

We use Heidi Songs at my school, which is a fun way to initially introduce the sight words using songs and movement. The students really respond to this and look forward to learning new words. Every time my students are writing the word "the", they sing the sight word song. It is so cute! :)

After the students are introduced to the word, we create a chart together with example sentences. I model a sentence for the students, and then let students think of their own sentences and share their sentences with a partner or small group.

I listen in on their sentences, and I choose students to share their sentences. I write their sentences on a chart, and I highlight the sight word.
Here is an example of our poster when we worked on the sight word "look".

After we make the chart together, the students work in sight word centers. I work with a group, I have a group on the computers, and a group working on our sight word word work. I work with a small group of about 5-7 on writing their own sentences using the sight word. 

The students practice writing the word, and then they write their own sentence and illustrate it. We write on our sight word worksheets. They can be found for Fry's first 50 and Fry's first 100 words as well as pre-primer & primer words, and 1st and 2nd grade words.
Here are some wonderful examples from when we learned the sight word "go"!

Using this strategy has really helped my students grow in their reading, writing,  sight word memorization, and confidence! I hope it helps your students, too. Please let me know if you have any questions or comments.

3 Read Protocol: How to Make Math Meaningful for Students

What is the 3 Read strategy and why should you use it?

The 3 read protocol is a close read of a word problem. It gives students a chance to analyze what is happening in a word problem without feeling the immediate need to find the answer.

This strategy is extremely helpful for English language learners because of all the visuals and the focus on the actions and vocabulary in word problems. It is beneficial for ALL students in helping them solve math problems.

The 3 read protocol is engaging for students and requires them to think critically and ask questions. It can also be easily differentiated for all students.

How do you use the 3 Read strategy?

As the name implies, this strategy requires the the teacher and students to read the word story 3 times. Each read has a different goal or focus question.

The procedure starts with the story and 3 empty boxes. See example below:

Read #1 –The teacher reads the story aloud.

The goal of this read is for the students to think about the question: What is the story about?

Students turn and talk with a partner after each read. For the first read, I provide them the sentence frames:

The story is about ________________.

The characters are _______________.

The setting is ___________________.

Students share what the story is about, and the teacher can write a short summary of the problem in the first box and/or place the photo and word cards in the first box. The word cards and pictures should include the characters, the setting, and any objects or living things mentioned in the story. New vocabulary or verbs can be taught during this time as well. This is very helpful for ELLs in understanding a story.

After the 1st read, the chart paper should look something like this:

Read #2 –The teacher reads the story a second time (the students can read along too).

For this read, the focus question is: What are the numbers in the story?

After the 2nd read, the students turn and talk.

I provide the sentence frame:

The numbers are _____ and ______.

The students share the numbers, and the teacher posts the numbers in the 2nd box along with visuals representing the numbers. You can quickly draw the quantities or tape pictures of the quantities next to the number cards.

After the 2nd read, complete the “what are the numbers?” column of the chart.

Read #3-The teacher and students read the story for a third time.

The 3rd read, the focus question is:

What do you wonder about the story?

After the 3rd read, the students turn and talk.

I provide the sentence frames:

How many ___________?

How many more/less does ________ have than  ________?

Who ___________?  

What _______________?

-Creating a question is very challenging for students, especially in kindergarten. 

-It will take about 4-5 times using the 3 read protocol before students will start to create their own questions.

-The first 1-3 times, students will probably give you facts about the story, and you can help them change those into questions. 

-Write down all questions students give you in the 3rd box. 

In the beginning, students will ask questions that cannot be answered by the story, such as what color are the houses? Write all questions on the chart, but point out that the story cannot help us answer that question. Student questions will become more focused and complex as they learn the procedure.

After questions are created, write them down in the third column of the chart paper.

You can pick 1 or more question(s) to focus on and answer after the 3rd step. This can be a question that a student created, or a questions you created prior to the lesson. At the beginning of kindergarten, I have the students start by solving a problem in pairs using manipulates. Students will come up with the answer to the question with their partners, and then different pairs will share their thinking. 

After a couple months of solving problems this way, I have my kindergarteners use whiteboards (and manipulatives if they want them) to show their thinking. Students solve the problem on their own and then share their different strategies on the document camera. Here are some examples of a problem we did a couple weeks ago in December.

Here are two examples of students answering the question, "How many gingerbread men did they decorate in all?"

All students showed their work on whiteboards, and then I picked about 2-3 different strategies to have students share their work with their classmates on the document camera. This is an important way for students to realize that there are many different ways to solve problems and different strategies. It is also a good opportunity for students to practice explaining their thinking.

After students feel comfortable showing their work on whiteboards, I introduce them to my 3 read graphic organizer. They can use the strategies on the organizers available and practice showing their thinking in many different ways.

Students can use this to follow along as the  3 reads procedure is completed together as a class. Students can talk to a partner after each read, and then write down what they spoke about in each column. 

Students in kindergarten can use this to show their work and solve the word problem. This will challenge them to show their work in many ways (pictures, number line, ten frame, etc.).

In kindergarten, I usually will write or type the question I want the students to solve at the top before I make the copies. Otherwise, students can take up to 10 minutes copying the question on their own (which is not the purpose of this activity).

Here is a graphic organizer for 1st graders to use with a number line to 20 and two ten frames.

Creating questions is how you can differentiate the word problems to meet a variety of student needs. My 3 Read resources can be for kindergarteners or 1st graders, depending on which questions you and your students create.

In the beginning of kindergarten, just getting students to ask any question will be an objective all on its own. 

You can help students ask such as:

How many gingerbread men did Samuel decorate on Saturday?

How many stockings did Julio have?

When students are able to ask and answer those types of questions, you can progress to more difficult questions such as:

How many gingerbread men did they have altogether?

How many gingerbread men would they have if Sam ate 3 of them?

First grade might progress from addition and subtraction questions to comparing questions such as: How many more candy canes did Jane have than Samantha?

I hope you enjoyed reading about how to use 3 reads in your classroom! Please email me at inspiringlittlelearners@gmail.com if you have any questions or would like more details about anything.

If you are interested in my 3 read resources, please visit my Teachers Pay Teachers site at Inspiring Little Learners. I have 3 read resources for 10 months out of the year or a bundle of the 10 months together.

3 Read Resources

Thank you for reading :) 

Fall is Here {In my Home and In my Classroom}

I live in San Diego, so the weather doesn't really let us know that fall is coming. I know fall is here by the announcements of pumpkin spice lattes available at Starbucks, and most memorable: our two week fall break. I am at a year round school, so we begin the year very early in mid-July. By the end of September, I am in desperate need of a break. I love my little kinders, but the first three months of school are absolutely exhausting! This year has been particularly difficult for me. I hit the jackpot last year with 16 sweet kindergarteners, with only a few behavior difficulties. This year is completely different. I have 21 students, and only 5 of those are girls. Many of the students came in wild, loud, and difficult to motivate, but they are truly showing a lot of progress this quarter! They are giving me hope that this will be a great year, and they are ALL truly growing on me. Over fall break, one of my plans is to find or create more centers for when we return to school in October.

I have now had a week of break, which gave me much needed time to relax, clean my house, decorate for fall, and go on a short trip to Chicago!

Here are a few of my favorite places to decorate in my house: my kitchen and mantle. Although it is almost 80 degrees, so we cannot have a fire yet, I love decorating our mantle above the fireplace.

So, I am in the second week of my fall break now, and I am prepping fun fall activities for when we return to school next week.

My kindergarteners are becoming a lot more independent during center time, and before break, I introduced writing around the room. The kids loved that they got to use clipboards (these are the ones I use), and they got to move around the room. They were so engaged and focused during their independent centers. When we get back to school, I am going to show them our new set of writing AND counting around the room. Just in time for fall!

I love writing and counting around the room activities because they take so little prep. I use different versions of the same activity for weeks. The same cards can be used, but with different recording sheets.




I like to have the students started with just finding the cards and writing the words. When after that, I will have them do a more challenging task the following day. The next day, they will look for cards with sentences on them. They will choose a sentence to write and then draw a picture to go along with the sentence. If the students need a challenge, I will have them choose a word to create their own sentence using.

I do the same thing for counting around the room. I will post the pictures of the objects around the room, and the tasks will get more challenging each day.

Students will start just by finding the cards and writing the number of objects next to its picture. The following day, they will write the numbers and draw their own pictures of the objects. Then, they will write the numbers and compare them. They will decide which groups have less, more, or the same number of objects.

These are the activities I use:
Fall Write and Count Around the Room

If you have any questions about centers or write/count around the room activities, please let me know!

♥

End of the Year Blues

We have three weeks left of school! We have finished all of our district testing and are ready for summer. Monday and Tuesday were hard days...I went to bed at 8:00 both nights! I was so drained and exhausted! The kids were burnt out from testing, being silly, and the behaviors were through the roof! We reviewed the classroom rules, but my kiddos needed some extra motivation to behave. I upped the stickers and classroom tickets, but nothing significantly helped until I announced the BOWLING party we would be having! Thank you Target for the giant inflatable bowling set for $5. What a deal!

I drew a bowling pin on our white board, and I told the students that when I see someone being respectful, responsible, safe, and kind in the classroom, I will write their name down in the bowling pin. Then, the students with their names in the bowling pin on Friday, can come to our bowling party.

The behaviors in my classroom immediately changed! Yay! The students were so excited for something new and exciting, and they wanted to get onto the pin so badly!
And whenever the students started to get off task or rowdy, I would add a student who was on task to the pin. All the others students would see that and get back to work and stay on task :)

Bowling party logistics:
This bowling party was very low prep for me!
It was on a Friday. Our lunch time is 12:30-1:15, and on Fridays, school ends at 1:30.
We have a 45 minute lunch (the students eat for about 25 minutes and then play for 20 minutes). I just called them into the classroom for the party 10 minutes before play time was over-about 1:05. The students had so much fun! All of the students made the list, and I decided that I NEED to extend this for the next two weeks. We will have another bowling party the next two Fridays. I seriously hope this keeps the students motivated to keep working hard and being kind for the next two weeks!

How do you keep your students motivated when they are sooo ready for summer break? I would love to hear other ideas!