Did you see it? Guest Blogger: Barb, from Grade ONEderful!

Wow!!!

Check out my blog makeover.

I am so happppppyyyyyy!

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Barb, I LOVE it!!!

AND she is guest blogging today!!! Can this day get ANY better???

Welcome Barb...

Hi Everyone!

This is Barb from Grade ONEderful. Thank you so much to Beth Ann for inviting me to post on her blog.

I'd like to talk about those PESKY sight words. You know, the ones that the strugglers in our rooms always ~ well ~ struggle with.

I found a simple, yet very effective way to help everyone learn them. And it really works. It's only the beginning of April and already 13 of my 19 students can read (easily and quickly) all the Dolch words from Primer to Grade 3. That's about 220 words! Of the remaining six students, one of them is barely speaking English, one child has about 40 more to go, and the other four know more than 100 words!

Here's what I do ... it's nothing fancy, but I think it's the consistency that works. At the beginning of the year I assess everyone on their sight words. Then I choose six words for each child to study (these are individualized word lists). The words are sent home with instructions to the parents (and game ideas). You can grab a double-sided copy by clicking the image.

Every single Friday I have a trained volunteer come into my classroom and check the students on their weekly word list. She highlights the words they learned (in my assessment binder), finds another six words they need to master, and writes those new words on a list (see above) to be sent home to the parents.

Any words the child is unable to quickly read go back on the list to be studied for another week (but there are never more than six words at a time).

I've sent words home over the years but nothing has worked as well as this. I think it's because the parents are held more accountable and they see the results once a week when the new list goes home.

When the kids learn all their words, I fuss over them and present them with a little certificate. Their picture also goes in the classroom blog under "Reading Stars". (And yes, even the last couple who don't manage to learn ALL the words, will still get fussed over and receive a certificate at the end of the year :))