SHEET PROTECTOR POEMS
Each week give children a poem to put in a sheet protector. On Monday they can use erasable markers to highlight words that rhyme. Tuesday they can use a different colored marker and highlight word wall words. Wednesday they can highlight punctuation. Thursday circle nouns, and so forth.
*Wouldn’t this be a great idea for a literacy center?
BIRTHDAY HAT
Let the children make birthday crowns by writing letters on strips of paper. They can wear these as you sing “Happy Birthday Letters.”
TAKE A PICTURE OF THE WORD
Focus your camera. (Look at the first letter.)
Focus your camera. (Look at the word.)
Focus your camera. (Look at each letter.)
Snap the picture. (Each child’s camera button is on their head.)
Now it is filed away in your brain.
You can close your eyes and see the picture.
MISSING LETTER DECK
You will need three colors of index cards to make this game. On the cards write:
A B _ A _ C _ B C D E _ D _ F _ E F ...
*Make every three sets of letters a different color.
Mix up the cards and when you have a few extra minutes use them to:
Have children sign the missing letter.
Can they whisper the missing letter?
Let them trace the missing letter on their palm.
Ask them to write the missing letter.
MEGA, MEGA, MEGA, MEGA, MEGA BRAIN TICKETS
My friend Janice Vinci from Massachusetts sent me this email. One of my favorite quotes says, “In life it’s not about waiting for the storm to pass over. It’s about dancing in the rain!” Janice gives out brain tickets when children accomplish a new task. Many of her students knew their 25 sight words, so she offered them a new challenge of learning to spell them. Here’s what she wrote:
I am dancing in the rain....
Some of my children have been wanting to spell their 25 H. F. words to earn their Mega, Mega, Mega, Mega, Mega Brain Ticket. I was planning on waiting until January. There were 10 out of 21 children that brought home one of these gems today! This is Kaleigh, her Mom teaches in my school and said I could send you her picture.
P.S. Janice proves once again that the teacher adds the magic!
I think I need to apply for a job at this charter school in Queens where their scores reflect the power of MUSIC!
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/20/nyregion/at-voice-charter-school-in-queens-students-have-outperformed-their-peers-academically.html?smid=nytcore-ipad-share&smprod=nytcore-ipad