Word Work - Building word skills in first grade and a FREEBIE

Making words is not a new concept but still very effective. It helps students see patterns in words. An old practice that is very applicable to the Science of Reading! Different sounds including short vowels, sneaky e, blends, consonant digraphs, vowel digraphs, bossy r, and diphthongs are all things kids need practice on. I really like these magnets and mini-whiteboards from Really Good Stuff. This is CVC for short a.

When I don't need students to have all the letters of the alphabet, paper letters are nice. 

This is a phonics word building resource. Make Words to learn the sounds that letters make individually and in digraphs, trigraphs, and with sneaky e. CVC, CVCC, CCVC, CVVC patterns. Over 40 lists of words with student and pocket chart size letter cards so students can make words and see how words can be changed into other words when they have the same sounds. You can purchase this resource in my store at this link >> Phonics Word Building

Word ladders also can also teach students about patterns in words. They can see how you can manipulate the letters to change a word into another word. I put them in page protectors so I can use them over and over and have them handy at all times. These are oa words.

These picture sorts have the words on the back. Sort by sound or by letters. They fit nicely in the desktop pocket charts. These are long e sounds. Rhyming cards are also included.

Students pick a card and color the corresponding sound. Each resource has a different clip art theme that isn't seasonal so you can use them anytime.  

My students never get tired of these. It is great for some vocabulary development, too. They are easy to clean in these page protectors. They can be cut into cards also. It is shown in bossy r.

Another low prep word work activity is word puzzles. This one is consonant digraphs. 

                         

All of the above can be found in my Phonics Word Work. Click below to see each pack in my store! 

This is the bundle and you can also purchase each sound type separately: 

CVC

CVCE

Blends

Consonant Digraphs

Vowel Digraphs

Bossy R

Diphthongs

This is a simple word work activity. Use the making words lists from the resources above to make these word sticks or download the FREEBIE below! The left is for real words and the right is for nonsense words. Green sticks are consonants or blends for onsets of words. Red sticks are vowels and consonants for times.

I start out with CVC words and then do CVCC (blends) and CVCC (digraphs). Later I move on to CVCE long vowel words. Teach students about patterns in words and how you can manipulate the letters to change a word into another word. Cheap, easy, engaging, and fun! 

Students LOVE this seasonal word work resource. You can use it to practice sight words, spelling words, or words with certain sounds. You can even put math problems in the editable fields. 

I have two sets. See them in the preview videos here:

Purchase them Here: Editable Hidden Sight Words Set 1

Editable Hidden Sight Words Set 2

This is another favorite of my students. You can edit the document to put in your own words. Students can use play-doh to make the words and then trace and write them. 

Find it in my store here: Play-doh Editable Word Mats

Ringo is rhyming bingo. CVC and long vowel versions available. Students cover the word on their mat that rhymes with the word on the call card. Here the students are playing the long vowel version.

Ringo Long Vowels

Ringo CVC

These CVC and CVCE Word Binders are a fun way to explore words. Students choose a card to velcro to the board and flip the letters to make the word. 

See them here in my store:

CVC Binder

CVCE Binder

This is a fun and easy way to practice spelling words: Spelling Tic Tac Toe Freebie

Why my classroom decor isn't really to impress other teachers

You've seen them, the beautiful Instagram-worthy classrooms. I don't have one. But I'm ok with it. EVERYTHING in my classroom is something useful and not just pretty. Here are pictures of my classroom and why I use them.

Here are my classroom rules. The pictures help the kids understand my expectations. 

When their done, I can say, "Choose something from the I'm Done wall."

Hand signals are a classroom management GAMECHANGER!

My math word wall changes as we study different topics. Click HERE to see it!

My word wall doubles as my handwriting alphabet. The words are color-coded by quarter. I use my number line on the wall when modeling often. Click HERE to see it!

These are used to call the kids by table and also a little competition between tables for quietest, fastest to put things away/get things out, all have names on their papers, etc. I do maps (Illinois table, USA table, World table), shapes (trapezoid table), clocks, and at the beginning I did animals for our Camp-Read-A-Lot theme.

This is my focus wall This was when we were studying mammals. Some of these pictures came from an animal calendar that I cut apart and others came from google images. 

This my sound wall. I add cards when we learn the new sound. Kids refer to it all the time. Click HERE to see them.

These are my centers. This is a toy container that I used Sterilite baskets on. I have had these for at least 8 years and they are still going strong!

These are my center rotations. I use the numbers so I can use the year after year (each student has a number). Red is for morning centers and black is for afternoon These are the cheap Target Dollar Spot Pocket Charts but the kids don't touch them so it is ok. 

These are some pictures of my classroom from a couple of different angles. Function over beauty for sure!