SIGHT WORD "OWNERSHIP"

Did you know that 3 words make up 10% of what we read? (I, and, the)

Did you know that 13 words make up 25% of what we read?

Did you know that 100 words make up 50% of what we read?

It just makes sense that if children memorize these words, then reading fluency and comprehension will be strengthened. Many of the high frequency words do not follow phonetic patterns and they cannot be sounded out. Additionally, these words tend to be abstract and have no visual connection. Children simply need to recognize them by sight. In fact, in the “olden days” we referred to these words as “sight words.” Now they are commonly called high frequency words or word wall words.

Memorization of these words will be enhanced with repetition. I’ve heard it takes the average child 25-36 exposures/experiences with a word before it is saved in their brains. Rather than drill and kill, I’ve got some games, songs and activities to make learning these words a little more fun. I’ll be focusing on sight words, but these same strategies can be adapted for letters, shapes, numerals, vocabulary words, and so forth.

Note! In addition to teaching words in isolation, use these games with phrase cards. Phrase cards are groups of words that come up frequently when children read. If they are learned as a “chunk” they will improve fluency when children read.

Here's a link to the video I did a few years ago on sight words:

http://bit.ly/drjean_sightwords

Lifetime Words
Refer to high frequency words as “lifetime words.” Explain that if you put these words in your brain, you will be able to read with them the rest of your life!


Treasure Boxes
Make “treasure boxes” (Altoids tins) where children can save the words as they learn them.

Word Rings
Give each child a book ring. When she learns a word (or requests to learn a word), write it on an index card, punch a hole, and let her attach to the ring.




Word Study Booklet
Go to theschoolbell.com (practice booklets) and download directions to make this tool. Each child will need a pocket folder and can progress at her own rate as she masters lists of words.

Note! The word lists on this site are appropriate for first or second grade. I would make my own list for kindergarten students with 8-10 words on each list.

Word Wall Office
Make a personal office with high frequency words for each child. Tape two file folders together and staple copies of your class word wall inside. I suggest stapling so you can change the sheets as the word wall expands throughout the year. Children can set these up on their desks when they write to make a study carrel.




Here's a great (FREE) website called sightwords.com where you can get materials and activities for helping children learn sight words in a meaningful way. I'm sure you'll find useful information for your classroom, but it might also be a great resource for your parents.

COVER YOUR SNEEZE, PLEASE!

Teaching children how to cover their sneezes and reminding them to wash their hands are two effective ways to keep them healthy during this flu season.

Put some baby powder in your hand and then pretend to sneeze on it. As the powder flies around make the connection to what happens when they don’t cover their sneezes.


The Sneeze Song
(Tune: “Pop Goes the Weasel”)
When I have to cough or sneeze
This is what I do. (Point finger.)
I hold my elbow to my mouth (Hold up elbow in front of face.)
And into it kerchoo! (Pretend to sneeze in elbow.)
KKEERRCCHHOO! (Say this line as you dramatically pretend
to sneeze in your elbow.)


Give children a paper plate and ask them to make it look like their face. Remind them to look in a mirror to check out their eye color. When they’ve finished let them glue a tissue to their nose. Then they can trace around their hand and cut it out to glue on top.
Hint! This makes a cute bulletin board.

Washing Hands
Practice washing hands following the guidelines and teach children a song to make the task more fun.

Wash, Wash, Wash Your Hands (Tune: "Row, Row, Row Your Boat")
Wash, wash, wash your hands
play the handy game.
Rub and scrub and scrub and rub
Germs go down the drain!


Mirror
Children love to look at themselves in the mirror, so place a mirror above the sink where children clean up. Remind them to sing "Happy Birthday" to yourself twice as you look in the mirror.

                         

ASL FOR CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT

DON'T SAY IT!  SIGN IT!

Here are some signs that may be useful for classroom management. I'd introduce one sign at a time (or maybe each day). Practice that sign and then teach another one and then another one...

You might be surprised that the children will focus on your hand more than your voice!

Look! Listen! Learn (“L” by eyes, ears, and then brain.)

Stand Up (Two fingers standing on palm and then point up.)

Sit Down (Two fingers sitting on 2 fingers of other hand and point down.)

Stop (One palm open. Pretend to chop it with the other palm.)

Finished (Brush hands away from chest.)

More (Fingertips touching.)

Understand (Wiggle index finger near brain.)

Don’t Understand (Shake head “no” as you wiggle index finger.)

Please (One palm open on chest and make a circular motion.)

Thank you (Touch fingertips on chin and extend out.)

I love you! (Fingers up with middle finger and ring finger bent down.)




Sing and Sign
(“Where Is Thumbkin?” – Children repeat each line.)
Where is A? (Hands behind back.)
Here I am. (Make sign for “a.”)
What do you say, A?
/a/, /a/, /a/.
Continue using other letters and making the manual signs.

The Alphabet in My Hands
(“He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands”)
I’ve got A /a/ /a/ in my hands. (Sign the letter “a.”)
I’ve got A /a/ /a/ in my hands.
I’ve got A /a/ /a/ in my hands
And I can read.
Continue signing and singing other letters.

Hint! Encourage the children to make “strong” letters. As children tighten up muscles in their hands, they will also be strengthening small motor skills.

Alphabet Book 

Take photos of your students making the signs and use them to make a class ABC book.

Check out this FREE ASL app:



Here are other websites with sign language videos:
aslpro.com
handspeak.com
lifeprint.com

SIGN LANGUAGE 101

You know I LOVE sign language! I’m certainly no expert, but if I can do it, anybody can do it. Let me give you a few reasons why I’m such a believer that sign language is the perfect vehicle for active learning.  It might be a great goal for your class for 2023.

It’s quiet.

It’s multi-sensory.

It’s engaging. (All I have to do is sing a song in sign language and I have children’s undivided attention.)

It’s good for differentiated instruction and for children who are non-English speakers.

It’s free and it’s simple.

It’s like bubblegum. Bubblegum? Yep! We need to figure out how to stick things in the brain, and sign language can provide that connection.

Sign language can be a powerful tool for classroom management.

Sign language can be a strategy to teach children how to communicate with friends and work through conflicts.

Sign language can provide ACTIVE LEARNING for skills and standards!

*Sign letters as you sing alphabet songs.

*Sign spelling words.

*Sign phonics.

*Learn signs for sight words.

*Learn signs for vocabulary words.

SIGN LANGUAGE CENTER

Make a SIGN LANGUAGE CENTER with a pocket folder. Glue a copy of manual signs for letters on the inside of the folder. Write alphabet letters on index cards and place in the pocket. Children choose a card and then try to reproduce that sign. For older children, write sight words or spelling words on index cards for them to practice spelling manually.

TOUCH, SING, DANCE, COUNT!

Counting is a basic strand across math standards. There’s even research that suggests counting with pre-k children can build math concepts they will use later on in kindergarten and primary grades. To avoid rote counting without meaning, let TOUCH AND COUNT be the mantra you repeat and model over and over. Counting will also have more meaning if you tie it into exercise with one of these ideas. 

*Adapt these activities for younger children by just counting from 1-10. Older students can count to 100 and beyond. 

*Reinforce multiplication by skip counting with these movement activities.


Karate Chop Count
Feet out, knees bent, karate chop with your right hand and then your left as you count by ones.
*Do leg curls and chops as you count by 5’s to 100
*Kick front and back as you count by 10’s to 200.
*Wax on, wax off as you count by 100’s to 1000.

*You can also karate chop spelling words and word wall words. Chop with right hand as you say a letter and then chop with the left hand as you say a letter. Hands folded together and bow as you say the word.


Shoelace Counting
Write numerals 1-20 on a cotton shoelace with a fabric marker. Slide a bead on the shoelace and move it up and down as you count.
*What’s one more than___? Two less than___? 

Pump Up to 100
Pretend to hold weights as you count.
1-20 - bicep curls (Elbows in, pretend to hold weights in fists with palms up as you bring forearms up and down.)
21-40 - for overhead press (Fists face forwards as you start at your shoulders and push the weights overhead.)
41-60 – side raises (Elbows at 90% angles as you raise them out to the side.)
61-80 – upright rows (Fists together close to the body and raise elbows out and up until fists are at your heart.)
81-100 – frontal raises - (Fists together and arms stiff as you raise them in front of your body to eye level.)
Whew! (Wipe brow!!!)

*Let children get an imaginary jump rope and jump as they count to 100.


Dance and Count
Choose a different dance move for each ten as you count.
1-10 – Disco (Index finger up and down across body.)
11-20 – Hitchhike (Thumb out across body.)
21-30 – Swim (Make swimming motions.)
31-40 – Bollywood (One hand up in circular motion and one down.)
41-50 – Pony (Step from side to side.)
51-60 – Twist (Twist at waist.)
61-70 – Salsa (One arm bent up and other hand on elbow.)
71-80 – Monster (Arms out in front of you.)
81-90 – Bird (Flap your arms like a bird.)
91-100 – Do your own thing!


Math Office (Amanda Green)
Use a pipe cleaner to make an abacus at the top of a pocket folder. Put a hundreds chart, shapes, or whatever you are studying in the office.
*You could even do five beads of each color like rekenrek.
Hint! Let them put papers they are working on in the left pocket and papers they have
finished in the right pocket.

JOIN THE HUNDREDS CLUB

Children love challenges and the sense of accomplishment when they achieve a goal. I thought this idea from a teacher was brilliant.

Note! You could easily adapt this for younger children by making it a "Tens Club" and giving them a membership card when they can count to ten.

Hundreds Club (Bobbi Cure)
When a child counts to 100 they get their name under “Count to 100 by 1’s.”
When a child counts to 100 by 10’s they get their name under “Count to 100 by 10’s.”
When they count to 100 by 5’s they get their name under “Count to 100 by 5’s.”
When they can write to 100 by 1’s they get their name under “Write to 100 by 1’s.”
When all four are accomplished, they get a crown that says “100’s Club."

Music is such a natural way to help children learn. You'll be amazed at how quickly they learn to count to 100 with this song. It's really fun to have them stand in a conga line with hands on each other's shoulders. Heel up to the right and then heel up to the left as you count.

Zero the Hero Number Stomp
I am Zero the Hero and I’m here to say,
I love to do numbers every 10thday.
When we make sets of ten we’ll stomp the ground.
And when we reach 100, we’ll sit back down!

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 (Stomp!).
Let’s count another ten.
11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 (Stomp!)
Two tens, let’s go some more…
Three tens, you’re catching on...
Four tens, you’re doing fine...
Five tens, you’re half way there...
Six tens, you’re on a roll...
Seven tens, what a cool game...
Eight tens, you’re doing great...
Nine tens, we’re near the end...
Ten tens is 100, now it’s time to sit down!

And here's a new video that my webmaster made. I love that he made "Zero the Hero" a girl.


http://bit.ly/drjeanZeroHero

This might be a good time to discuss what a hero is. Do they know any heroes? Can both boys and girls be heroes?

Here's a book you can download on my website to go with the song:
www.drjean.org/html/monthly_act/act_2006/01_Jan/pg03dd.html

WHEN IS YOUR 100TH DAY OF SCHOOL?

Some of you are probably days away from the 100th day of school, while some of you won't get there for weeks. One thing for sure is that sooner or later you'll want these ideas to celebrate this special day.

100 Day Book
Fold 5 sheets of paper in half. Punch holes about 1 1/2" from the top and the bottom on the fold. String 10 beads on a wooden skewer. (I bought the thinnest ones I could find and cut them to 8"). Insert a rubber band (long and thin) in one hole and slide one end of the skewer through the loop. Insert the other end of the rubber band through the other hole and slide the other end of the skewer through that loop as shown. Children can make a set of ten on each page with markers, stamps, words, etc.

*Use 5 red beads and 5 white beads similar to rekenrek and challenge children to make different combinations of ten in their book.




$100 Book
Make a copy of $100 bill. (You can find several to choose from online.) Cut paper the size of the bill and staple it to make a book. Let children draw pictures or write stories of what they would do if they had $100.

*Children can draw their face or use a real photo for these books.


Cover Up
Make 2 copies of a 100 grid. (You can download these online.) Cut up one set and put the numbers in a zip bag. Children can play this game by themselves or with a partner. Give them a 3 minute timer and challenge them to cover up as many spaces as they can in the time limit. Have them record the amount and try to beat their score each time they play.



Hint! Adapt this game for younger children by giving them a grid with 10 or 25 spaces.

*Use the grid to practice writing numbers.
*Use the grid for graphing or for making patterns.
*Color even numbers one color and odd numbers another color.


Buzz
All children stand. Go around the room and have each child say a number. When they get to a set of ten they must say “buzz.” If they don’t say “buzz” they are out of the game and must sit down. The game continues until there is one person left or you reach 100.


100 Bottles
Have each child take an empty plastic water bottle and fill it with 100 items.


100 Art
Cut a “1” and two “0’s” out of construction paper. Children glue them on a sheet of paper to create a “critter.” They can decorate it with crayons, markers, or paint.


100 Exercise
Do ten sets of the following exercises: toe touches, jumping jacks, arm circles, hops (on one foot), waist twists, squats, scissor jumps, hops (on the other foot), jog (in place), windmills.


100 Snack
Children count out ten each of each snack food (such as Cheerios, pretzels, Gold Fish, raisins, m&m’s, miniature marshmallows, cheese crackers, wheat squares, Rice Chex, peanuts, etc.) and put them in a zip bag. Shake and eat.
*Adapt to the dietary needs of your class.


Math Challenge
How many ways can you think of to make 100? Children could do this independently or with a partner.


Self Portraits at 100 

Have children draw pictures of what they think they will look like when they are 100.

*One teacher even had them use the brown paper towels from the restroom. They wadded them and wrinkled them before drawing on them. Too funny!