FLUENCY FREAK!

That's me lately.... a fluency freak. :)  I can't help it... my little learners are just growing, learning, and getting so much better.  I feel this huge urge to always keep them excited about reading.  It probably helps that I've been tracking their progress A LOT lately.  Those are the big pushes this year - tracking data and fluency.

....and let me tell you, having the students track their own data is like MAGIC!

I was a little concerned because I thought it would make my "strugglers" upset when they weren't seeing as much growth... but that is not the case at all.  They want to be like the top reader.  It pushes them and motivates them!

I track their sight word progress using a basic sticker chart.  I have 19 lists.  When they pass the list, they get a sticker.  Well, I have a super smarty pants who is already on to 2nd grade words and FLEW through his 19 lists.  He is the one to beat...and all of the other students are trying to catch up!

Not only do they LOVE playing sight word games in class, they also are starting to study more at home (that's a huge problem....very little parent involvement...sad).  But, between flashcards, game, and studying at home, I'm seeing (and THEY are seeing) huge growth! Yay!

My struggling students have gotten really good at blending cvc words (I know, I know....it's a Kindergarten standard...I have some real low students).  I'm going to start introducing SENTENCES (like I said in my last post).  But, I don't only want them practicing during games....so, I also whipped up some Fluency Strips that have very basic sight words (the, I, will, we) and tons of cvc words.  Now they can practice during our Reading Block!

Here they are...:-)  I plan on putting them on binder rings and hanging them up so the students can just grab one.

I'm going to keep this fluency fun going!  Enjoy your Sunday!

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Christmassy CVCs!

My creative juices are FLOWING today!

My students have inspired me to work so hard this year.  I have such a great group of little learners.  They make me WANT to make learning fun.  They make me stay up at night thinking of how I can make a lesson on boring irregular verbs engaging and exciting.   They'll also inspired me to delve into some great data tracking.  :) 

Speaking of data.....

We are VERY big on fluency this year.  With my initial fluency assessment, I found that some of my students were reading at 2 words per minute while reading a Kindergarten fluency passage.  No bueno!  So, we've hit reading HARD.   We've been stepping up game, for sure!  

A month after the initial fluency assessment, I did another and each and every one of my students had gains.  They are reading faster and more accurate.  I am so proud!  It just makes me feel like all of the hard work I'm putting into planning and teaching is really paying off.   One of my students is reading 30 words per minute faster!  WHAT!?  Crazy.

My students favorite LOVE to play BAM!  We call it Bam, but I've heard it called so many other things.  Basically, it is a stack of sight word flashcards and there are some cards that have the word BAM!  Students pick a card, read the word (keep the card if they are correct, discard if they are incorrect).  If they pick a card that says "BAM", then they have to discard all of their cards.  They are O-B-S-E-S-S-E-D. 

The game can be played with any words but we've been playing with CVC words.  I noticed that some most of my first graders came to first grade without any idea of HOW to sound out.  YIKES!  No worries - we are sounding out MASTERS now.  :)

To keep the game fun, I've been making holiday editions with new words.  Since my little learners are getting SO good at sounding out the words, I decided to introduce sentences!  AH!  

Here's my new Christmas edition of the games.  I made it all Christmassy and pretty for you.  Click the picture to check it out! 

Thanks for checking it out! :)  

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