Have you ever really thought about teaching phonics... I like to remember that kids need repetition over and over and over. Teaching high frequency words or exemplar words is no different. Also reinforcing other high frequency words or exemplar words is just as important. Now I also know that insanity is doing something the same and expecting different results. So now I have to think if I always do something the same way, am I changing it to meet the needs of my students?
So when I teach high frequency words or exemplar words it's not different. I introduce the new word the same way I always do. This is where I think always reflect about those first few weeks of school, rituals and routines. I have found over the years, when address something that we are going to do over and over it's easier to teach it the same way. Well, at least introduce it. Then it becomes a routine and it's easier to get the content through.
It's when I make games, activities, and use their work to differentiate on going learning and teaching. So because I always introduce a new word to my kids in the same way, I made you a script. This is no ordinary script because you change the word you are teaching, just not the way you present it. In this way they are writing the word at least five times and finding ways to remember it, finding what is confusing, and connecting it to other words. The script also includes how to incorporate other and old words in the lesson that you want to make sure they know.
Once you have had a few lessons with the script, you can start to take it away. Then all you will need is the lesson planner and the cheat sheet. YES! A CHEAT SHEET. I have put in a cheat sheet of my top words that I have found to be the best anchor words for students to use to read and write tricky words.
For example: day
If they know day, they know: may, clay, spraying, birthday, crayon, etc because they know the ay are two letters that make on sound /ay. Some word parts are only found at the beginning or end or some words (word families), but kids start to make patterns and their own self-correcting processing system for reading and writing. Not just rules!
So this cheat sheet is very, very helpful! I also have a vowel digraph chart that students can use too. See how we can make phonics easy and connected!
So head to my Teachers Pay Teachers page and download the script for free... or at least the cheat sheet! The lesson should take 5 minutes and is best in a small group- more differentiation!
Happy Teaching!
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