Smartboard Screen Saver Labeling

Hello from the Redroom,
During Daily Five word work, we use the screen saver  on our Smartboard to label objects and write a sentence from the words we used.
Here's how it works:
Find a screen saver for your computer (the one that is hooked up to your Smartboard) and project it up on the Smartboard.
We were doing a unit on hatching chickens in the classroom, so I found a screen saver that had hens, roosters, and a farm scene. The words were, hen, rooster, beak, comb, feathers, barn, grass, sky.
I made flash cards with the words,  and students used the expo marker to write the words in the appropriate place on the Smartboard.
Students had fun labeling the picture and coming up with a sentence using the words which they wrote at the bottom of the Smartboard.
There are millions of great screen savers that can be used. You can enhance student vocabulary with words from a unit or concept words.
Give it a try!
Melanie Weinlein

Sentence Construction

During the Guided Reading segment of our Daily Five, students are responsible for composing a sentence like the sentences they read in the Guided Reading book.

For example: we read a story called Bigger (B level book) by Liza Charlesworth. The sentences on each page reads like this: The dog is bigger than the cat. The cat is bigger than the mouse. etc.

I then ask students to compose a sentence in the same fashion. I write their sentence on a sentence strip and cut out each word. If I have 4 people in a guided reading group, we will have 4 different sentences. Then I pass the words out to the students at random. As I ask for the words to one of their sentences, students must supply me with the correct word. Then we read the sentence together, and the student who came up with the sentence takes the sentence home for practice.

The benefits are:

• students comprehend what is in the story and can compose a sentence on their own.
• students recognize sight words.
• student recognize that the first word in a sentence has a capital letter.
• students recognize the last word in the sentence will have a punctuation mark at the end of the word.

I found that students were able to have a deeper understanding of the story using this method. They also are very engaged in coming up with their own sentence. Student worked together to supply the correct words in the sequence they needed to be in.

Give it a try!

Melanie Weinlein

Using Turtle Diary in Daily 5
Hello Everyone,
Many of you may be familiar with using www.turtlediary.com from being in the Compuiter Room with Mrs. DelGallo. Here is what ewe are doing in the Red Room that has really been helpful during Daily 5 ELA time.

Go to www.turtlediary.com
Click on Kindergarten
Click on WORD BUILDING:
CCLS: RF.K.1b, RF.K.3a, RF.K.3c

• words to know are at the top of the scrambled letters.
• students have to find the letter and click on it in order.
• once the word is completed, pink slime starts to fill a container.

Benefits of the game are letter recognition, students can hear the letter sound and hear the word when completed, and they squeal with delight as the pink slime fills the container.

Click on BOOKS:
CCLS: RF.K.1a, RF.K.1c, RF.K.3c.
There are leveled books from Pre-K and beyond.
Today, I put a book from the Pre-K level on the Smartboard for my guided reading group.
Students used a pointer to point to the words as they read them.
After I had students come up and circle sight words that they knew.
Benefits of reading on the Smartboard are that students were engaged with the screen,
and liked being able to interact with the board by circling the words.

There is a LOT to do on Turtle Diary. You and find many different ways to help students struggling with ELA and MATH concepts. Try it. You may be surprised as to how well your students respond.

Melanie Weinlein

Using the Word Wall during Writing

Everyone has a word wall in their room with sight words and other seasonal vocabulary words. Why not write a simple sentence using a sentence strip and place it under the letter.
Here is how mine looks:

            P                          (Letter)
Put, people, play             (Words)
I can play______.            (Simple Sentence)


During writing time in the Daily Five, students choose a letter, write the sentence for that letter, and illustrate their sentence. I started this week as we are almost done with sight words and letters. Make the sentences simple so everyone should be able to read and write them at this time of the year. Students are practicing their handwriting skills, as well as responding to a sentence and using words and illustrations appropriately.

Bulletin Board Materials

Many teachers at BRADT have made materials for pocket charts and bulletin boards to organize The Daily Five. I think it would be a great idea to have a folder on the public drive to house all of our great ideas. No one has time to reinvent the wheel!  There is a lot of great stuff on Teacherspayteachers.com as well. Let's get that started!!

Daily Five Smartboard Activities.

During our Daily Five word work, we use sites from the web on out Smartboard.
Here are a few of my favorites:
www.abcya.com:
Click on Kindergarten

• Upper and Lower case letter match
• ABC Order: Oh No! the alphabet has fallen and is all mixed up. Students need to move the letters into place.
• Sight Word BINGO: Students listen to a word, tap on it and if they are correct, a cute monster will appear.

www.sheppardssoftware.com
Click on Pre-school/Kindergarten

• Animal Alphabet: students are asked to click on the animal that has the correct Alphabet Sound.

Scholastic Let's Find Out:
You can click on the online resources, then click on the Archive Games.
We've been using the Bat's Word Family Game for the "at" word family words.
I have also gone back and used September's Find the letter game.

All of these web sites have an into to the game which tells the students how to play. Students take turns with the stylist to play each game. The only issues I have had is the occasional child who can not take their turn, so they need to sit out until they are ready. I also position myself at a table doing Guided Reading with a group so I can intercept any issues.

Try it! I think you will be very surprised how fast your students will learn basic reading concepts.

Word Work

We implemented some word work in Mrs. Pace's class today. Boy was it rigorous! The good thing is that after modeling whole class the children practiced with Mrs. Pace in a small group. The students built -at words with letter cards and then wrote the words and illustrated them. We are thinking that we may switch over to building sight words next week. They may have an easier time being independent on that task.  Doesn't hurt to try!