161/180 Emerging Literacy Friday: Things I Love About My Job!

I haven't been formally teaching sight words aka high frequency words.

Instead, we have concentrated on introducing and learning the letters and sounds

through play, song, poetry, and games. 

With only 19 days left, 

the students are ready for more, 

so taking their lead, 

I started to incorporate sight words into our circle time. 

And today, we put it all together to make and read our first emergent reader book.

*I know some are not ready for this, while others are beyond it. 

I let them lead me.

We have used the word HAVE for the past week in different activities.
Today, I had them search and highlight the word.

Since it is a predictable, Level A book, I had them demonstrate the knowledge of concepts of print.
Do they know where to start to read?
Do they have 1 to 1 correspondence?
Are they monitoring their reading?

I love this part of teaching, because it allows me to be the learner.

I get to observe how my students are tackling print.

And from where they are, I try to guide them to the next level.

A has a good foundation with letters, sounds, and print. 

Today as she read, I noticed she wasn't consistent using 1 to 1 correspondence.

So I just pointed it out to her.

Then explained that each word is separate and beginning readers look at print carefully even though they can "read" pictures.

So we circled each word on the last page in her book. 

Quick mini lesson! Done!

J has improved so much this year in his maturity and his beginning literacy skills. 

He is just beginning to make connections to letters.

He always points to the letter Ff as my name!

I am just encouraging him to use pictures to find meaning to print here.

He can turn the pages correctly and uses the picture to match with a spoken word.

When he is ready, he will work more on left to right and 1 to 1. 

D already knows how to read.
After he reads, I ask him to write the next page.

And he did!

V is so ready! She is reading simple sentences on her own. 

She knows all letters and sounds, and reads sight words.

She is beginning to blend cvc words on her own too!

With her, I like to play a quick game at the end to practice monitoring.

At outdoor center time she decided to write me a letter.

I want her to gain as much confidence in her writing as she has in her reading.
So I was there when she needed some guidance, but the writing is all hers.

And we still spend most of our day learning through play!