The K Files Blog has MOVED!

Hello Teacher Friends! I am excited to share that The K Files blog has moved to it's own domain:

TheKFiles.com 

With this change comes some great benefits.  I am now able to send a monthly newsletter to my subscribers with EXCLUSIVE freebies! Just for teachers like you!

Follow the link above to subscribe to the newsletter for exclusive freebies!

The Read to Self THINKmark: A FREEBIE for you!

Are you looking for more opportunities to encourage your students to apply what they have learned from your phonics instruction while they read?
Let me share this strategy with you!

We all know that children LOVE to read and be read to! The method described below gives them an opportunity to do both.

When your students are reading independently, have them hunt for spelling patterns that they are currently studying and prepare a THINKmark to share with the class.

This will give each child in your class an opportunity to “teach” their peers, read to the class and learn from each other!

This is especially powerful if you are managing differentiated Word Study groups such as Words Their Way. Your students will be exposed to a variety of phonics rules as they listen for spelling patterns presented by their peers!

Right here, and now, I will share with you my tried and true method of how to disguise Read to Self as a little more: Word Study! Using what kids love:

You can find The Read to Self THINKmark FREEBIE at the shop by clicking HERE!

My Word Study Goal Is…

I have found it extremely beneficial to provide my students with a Word Study goal that changes each time we study a new spelling pattern. I assign these "I can" statements as individual reading goals to hold students accountable for their reading achievement. This set of 47 Phonics and Reading Goals Posters with “I can” statements provide the students with a visual reminder as to what their Word Study focus is. It works! I promise.

My Gumball Is...

I use this Interactive Phonics Notebook as a supplement to our Read to Self, Guided Reading and Reader’s Workshop routines.

While reading, my students hunt for the spelling patterns that they are currently studying. They add each word to their collection of “gumballs”. After they have met the desired number of words on each page they earn a gumball for their gumball machine! The kids LOVE going on a word hunt!

What are “Gumballs”?

Students enjoy this color-coded strategy to help them identify the various spelling patterns in the words they read and write. 

What do you do with the Sticky Notes?

After each child shares their “gumball” we display our sticky notes on our True Interactive Word Wall. Students and teacher interact with the Word Wall houses by writing words on a post-it and display it on the word family house. The windows measure to fit a 3x3 post-it!

This interactive Word Wall includes word family houses for all phonograms appropriate for the primary grades. This method aligns with Words Their Way, any Spelling program AND differentiated spelling lists.

You will no longer worry that your Word Wall is just taking up valuable space in your classroom. I have included a 6-page guide to help you EASILY facilitate and manage your Interactive Word Wall. Simply, display these Word Wall houses and let your students do all the work.

44 Word Family Houses are included that feature graphics to reinforce each phonogram:

Short Vowel Rd.

Blends Blvd.

Long Vowel Lane

Bossy R Way

Digraphs St.

Diphthongs Dr.

To read a full description of how it is utilized in the primary classroom visit: A True Interactive Word Wall.

What is a Smart Cookie?

Our smart cookie jar is filled with "smart cookies"...yes, Cookie Crisp cereal!  It's that simple.  My students will go out of their way to earn ONE "smart cookie" during Share Time.  It is truly a tasty incentive.

You can find three options for the Smart Cookie Jar label HERE at the shop.

I do hope you find the Gumballs Phonics strategy useful in your classroom!  

It has worked wonders in mine!

Student Holiday Gift: "You're A Smart Cookie" Jar

Show your students how proud you are of them with this holiday gift idea.  These smart cookie jar labels are perfect for Christmas gifts or when reading The Gingerbread Boy with your students.

If you would like to treat your students to their own "smart cookie" jar this holiday season you can find them here at my TpT shop:

Student Holiday Gift: The "Smart Cookie" Jar

If you would like to learn more about how I use “smart cookies” in my classroom as an incentive please visit: 

You're a Smart Cookie: A Tasty Classroom Incentive

Differentiate your Literacy program!

As requested, I have bundled up the ESSENTIAL resources you need to help with:

planning

organizing

establishing routines

and implementing 

DIFFERENTIATED
WORD STUDY GROUPS!

You can find the complete bundle here at The K Files shop:
Differentiate Your Word Study Groups: 

The ESSENTIALS BUNDLE

"You're a Smart Cookie" Jar Label: A Tasty Classroom Incentive

Show your students they are a "smart cookie" each and every day! This tasty incentive system will prove to be a a great motivational tool in your classroom.

Your students will rise to meet your expectations for ONE single "smart cookie". It's the little things...that motivate!

Simple, yet effective!

Included:
3 different "Smart Cookie" Labels to choose from:

You will also need one box of Cookie Crisp cereal. ;)

I utilize this incentive system for improving sight word fluency. You can learn more about it here: A Differentiated Sight Word Fluency System.

Or, you can see the Smart Cookie Jar in action during our Read To Self Share Time with this FREEBIE THINKmark available at Read to Self THINKmark.

I would love to hear how you utilize this tasty incentive system in your classroom.  Please share your ideas in the comments below!  

Independent Word Study Centers

If you run literacy centers or a Daily 5 framework in your classroom then you know the struggle of constantly planning and prepping engaging activities for your students to keep behavior problems at a minimum so you can meet with your small groups for Guided Reading and Word Study.

Through the years, I have developed a successful routine for managing a Daily 5 framework that includes differentiated Word Study groups. I have tweaked the D5 system so many times, I finally feel that it is just what we need!

I’m so excited to share the newest addition to our Daily 5 routine:

Independent Word Study Centers

My students love the choice of activities available to them. These activities enhance our Word Study and Spelling program. In fact, my students call it Word Work Fun!

Included are 6 independent center activities/task cards that include step-by-step VISUAL directions to help my students complete each task independently and with accuracy.

Each activity touches upon a variety multidisciplinary tasks to build on their strengths while reinforcing phonemic awareness:

COUNT: Students build their words and count the value of each letter
BUILD: Students build with magnets and count the # of vowels and consonants.
BEAD!: Students use beads to build their words and build fine motor skills.
WRITE: Students rainbow-write their words. Simple, but they LOVE it!
STAMP: Students stamp their words and color-code the spelling pattern.
STORY: Students write a story using words from their list.

…and 5 recording sheets to help your students document their learning.

These center activities are perfect for differentiated Spelling lists (I use Words Their Way). Differentiating your Spelling lists can be a daunting task. These activities will not only support your curriculum but they will make your life easier! To learn more about how to simplify your differentiated Word Study and Spelling program visit HERE.

Here is a closer look at the independent Word Study Centers:

You will notice that I am a huge fan of color-coding EVERYTHING. Doing so, makes our life just so much easier. My students can find materials to match each center independently and quickly clean up after themselves. I found these awesome colorful space-saving stacking trays and durable baskets at LEARN365. I placed the stacking trays right in the middle of the center so that children can grab the coordinating recording sheet for their activity of choice! It looks and works out beautifully! Classroom organization at its best.

You will also need alphabet magnets, beads, stamps, ink pads and scrabble tiles. I found all of these items at LEARN365.

Once you have the materials prepped, your students can visit each center and practice/reinforce ANY phonics pattern they are studying in your classroom. These activities are low-maintenance and support any spelling rule. It’s a win-win!

Let’s take a closer look at how independent my students are at their Word Work centers.

I am thrilled at how versatile these activities are. You can assign these activities as a daily routine or you can make them available to students who finish their center activities early.

You can also utilize this resource in your Substitute Teacher Plans to keep your curriculum going in your absence.

If you are in love with our Independent Word Work FUN centers as much as we are, you can find them here at my TpT shop:

Independent Word Study Centers for Any Spelling List

A True Interactive Word Wall

Many of us Super Teachers have had Word Walls in our classrooms for years and years now. I have had one since forever! However, I have never found the Word Wall to be truly interactive for my students. Have you?

Of course, we practiced our words daily, and reviewed most of the words on a weekly basis. I would smile proudly when I found my students referring to the Word Wall during Writer’s Workshop but I always had this niggling suspicion it truly was not benefiting my students. Until I switched things up a bit and now it is TRULY INTERACTIVE!

You’re going to LOVE it!

8 years ago…
When I taught kindergarten, I had a traditional word wall. Later, I was sure that I included my students’ names and their pictures (adorbs! -not pictured, of course). Shortly after, I began to include Word Family Houses. This was a HUGE stepping stone for me. The FIRST step toward an interactive Word Wall. Here is a photo of my first Word Wall:

I thought I was so clever including the Word Family houses for short vowel sounds above our Word Wall! I mean, I was, right? It was great practice for my kinders. But was it truly interactive? Not really. We placed our sight words and our word family houses on display and simply looked at them on occasion. That’s it. A pretty bulletin board that took up A LOT of valuable wall space. So, the desire to create a TRULY interactive Word Wall was born.

3 years later…
Now, being a first grade teacher and since having begun my journey with differentiated Spelling lists with the help of Words Their Way (learn more about this journey HERE), I found the need to focus more on phonograms rather than letter sounds. So, I switched up my Word Wall. It then evolved into this:

Notice the post-its around each Long Vowel house! Yes! Those are words written by my students as they hunt for words in their decodable books that contain the current Spelling pattern they are studying! A bit more interactive, right? Yes, I was getting closer to having a truly interactive Word Wall.

But I still was not satisfied. So, the pursuit for a truly interactive Word Wall continued.

I spent a huge amount of time this summer working on individual Word Family houses for EACH phonogram. For example, there is not just ONE word family house for each long vowel sound but, FIFTEEN long vowel houses-one for EACH phonogram! Here is a glimpse of “Long Vowel Lane”:

I must ask you to take a closer look at one of the houses. Notice the windows are the exact same size as a 3x3 post it. Notice how the graphics all contain that ONE long vowel sound for ONE phonogram. In fact, you might even tell a story about the words that live in that house together. Here is a closeup for you to take a better look (click to enlarge):

Now it gets exciting! Since I differentiate the spelling lists for my students using Words Their Way, we mainly focus on one phonogram a week. If I am working with 4-5 different Word Study groups, that involves 4-5 different Word Family houses!

Just WAIT! …it’s coming…

First let me explain our Read to Self routine.

When I am working with my small guided reading groups, the remaining students are assigned differentiated Word Study assignments for Word Work AND Read to Self.

As a Read to Self assignment, I provide my students with decodable readers so they can practice reading words according to that specific spelling pattern. They hunt for words, record them in their “Gumballs Collection” (a notebook that contains a page for each phonogram -we call them "gumballs"-I’ll explain this further in a bit) and they prepare a post-it to share their learning with the class during “Share”.

You are going to LOVE this…

After our Daily 5 center rotations, I provide my students with the opportunity to share their learning from their Read to Self assignment with the whole class. This provides the whole group with the opportunity to learn from each other. Which will expose them to 4-5 different phonograms!

My above-level students will have an opportunity to review what they have previously learned when an “on-level” or “below-level” Word Study group presents their learning.

On the flip-side, my “on-level” and “below-level” students will be exposed to new phonograms that the above-level groups present (a bit of frontloading!)

It’s a win-win!

After the children share their “gumball”, we display their learning by adding their post-it to our Word Wall. We place them on the house windows or below the house for all to see and learn from. The children feel so proud to see their work displayed on the “Wall”.

To learn more about how I manage our Read to Self assignments and Share Time, please visit this blog post:

Disguise Read to Self as Word Study

Would you take one more peak at a house? I want you to notice one more thing about our Word Wall:

They are color coded! Be still my teacher heart! What teacher and student doesn’t enjoy color-coding?

You are going to LOVE this too…

My students benefit from using a color-coded system for our spelling patterns that we like to call "gumballs". The color of the houses matches the color-coded system!

This simple color-coding strategy has proven to be a HUGE help to my students when identifying phonograms in their reading AND applying these spelling rules in their own writing! I cannot begin to explain how well this works for my students and how much they enjoy it. I urge you to try it!

There are SIX different Word Wall sets available at my TpT shop.

You can find them HERE or by clicking on the image below.

The complete set is also bundled up for your savings:
The Interactive word Wall BIG Bundle

I truly hope you have found this information helpful. Be sure to try the color-coded system to help your young readers identify spelling patterns in their reading and their writing! It helps tremendously!