Groovy Educator

 Decodable texts can be boring but they can also be very useful.  My district uses the SRA Imagine It! reading program.  First grade students have two workbooks filled with decodable texts that can be ripped, folded, stapled, and taken home to practice.  By the end of the year the children have over 100 decodable books to add to their home library. Here is a list of ways that decodable texts can be used... Practice telling a story through the pictures (picture walk). Echo read with someone (take turns reading the same page) Buddy read with a partner (one person listens, one reads and switch) Read it to a stuffed animal Read it using silly voices Be a word detective and look for words that contain a certain letter or spelling pattern. Practice retelling the story. Add descriptive words to the book. Look for end marks (periods, question marks, and exclamation points).  Copy sentences under appropriate heading (statement, question, command). Pra...

Several years ago when I taught Kindergarten, I made a nursery rhyme powerpoint presentation for my class.  As we learned each rhyme I would color/highlight the rhyming words or whatever focus skill or sound pattern we were learning.  After the children memorized the rhyme, I recorded them reciting it and added it to the presentation. Each day we would review the powerpoint and each week it would grow  a wee bit longer with each new rhyme.  The children were highly engaged in the activity and it helped build their reading fluency.  I especially liked how we were able to quickly review each focus skill.  The nursery rhymes became my transitions in class.  Whenever we moved from circle time to our desks or our desks to circle time, we would recite a rhyme.  We would recite a rhyme while distributing materials.  Everything had a flow... If I had time I would do this again with first grade poetry.  I have to have the time to find ...