Get your littles ready for reading with these emergent reading strategies. One of the reasons my heart has found a permanent spot in kindergarten is that I have the very special responsibility of getting my students ready for reading. The beginning of their reading journey falls into my hands, and I LOVE THAT. These are some of my favorite "choose your level of prep" resources.
Side note: if you teach from American Reading Company's reading curriculum with The IRLA then know that these centers perfectly align and address your yellow level reader's power goals!
I have had countless students who struggle to grasp the diffference between words, letters, and sentences. I always do your typical teacher anchor chart of "these are words: these are letters: and these are sentences:" but this activity helps littles to get their hands into the mix.
There are about one million and two ways to help support your littles with learning their sight words. I love keeping it simple with flash cards. Of course I do so much more; our sight word of the day song, passwords, hand gestures, you name it. What I love about flash cards, though, is that you can take them and use that God given creativity that many of us teachers have and make the possibilities endless. Below are some of my favorites:
Sight word Play-Doh
Sight Word Scramble Sentences
Good Ole Go Fish
Most reading curriculums begin with texts that involve some sort of pattern. It is also typical for these texts to expect readers to use the beginning sounds of words plus the picture to help decode the remainder of the sentence. This resource allows students the chance to recognize/read sight words in a pattern and, either with or without support, string them together to read the sentences.
It also reinforces that pattern, as well as foundational writing habits, with the writing worksheets that go along with each reading page. Teachers can choose their level of prep by either printing the pages front to back and placing them in a dry erase sheet, or they can cut up the cards to be placed into task boxes. This allows for even more of a center feel for your students. This way, they can even search for and match the patterns before using their writing page.
So, so often I find that my students just want to get right to reading before taking their time with the sentences in front of them. This is where one to one correspondence comes in. I've had students just start guessing words, adding words, taking them away, the whole bit. These cards have been a life saver in forcing those students to slow down and recognize the number of words in front of them before they even attempt to read.
Students can really take their time. Supply them with a manipulative. Have them place one on each black dot. Count the manipulative. Recognize the words above. Read the words above. Slide up each manipulative as you read each word. See how we really really broke it down there? That breakdown has been so necessary for my speedy students who just aren't grasping one to one.
Once students take time with this activity, it will be so much easier for them to grasp the concept of "touch each word as you read." All of the pictures above highlight my different "level of prep" suggestions.
Alphabet cards are like sight word cards, you can never have too many. Again, the possibilities? ... endless. Memory is a fun filled classic.
It took me awhile to get around to the organizational aspect of this resource, but I finally did. This teacher heart = HAPPY! If you are familiar with the IRLA, you know that levels are color coded, so what better way to organize the centers if you choose to use task boxes. I printed them on bright colored card stock, but they are also available in color within the resource.
This simple spinner has been a favorite of mine since student teaching. It's such a fun and engaging way to work on comprehension. I adore using this in my small reading groups. It's an awesome way to get the conversation flowing. The best part, I've simplified it so that it is kindergarten friendly. For more challenging/specific questions about story elements, etc. check out my higher grade level reading resources.
Speaking of my higher grade level reading resources, EACH of them will be getting updated to include the task box covers over the next few months, so be sure to be on the lookout for that! Green level will be updated by mid week this week, and I'm currently working on some MASSIVE updates for the blue level!
If you've loved all of these ideas, click here to head on over to my Teachers Pay Teachers Store Brianna Smith - Mrs. Smithen with Teaching and grab them. I've made four of the resources available to you at a super low price (linked below), or, even better, you can grab all of the resources including the sight word cards, ABC cards, and comprehension spinner together in the emergent reader resource!!
If you are interested in the sight word cards, ABC cards, and task box covers, they are only available within the full resource! :)
Enjoy reading with your kiddos and as always
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