Phonological Awareness

Let's Get Ready to Read!

Now that we've assessed our kindergarten kiddos, our next area of focus will be developing phonological awareness to move them toward reading and writing success.

Through phonological awareness, children learn to associate sounds with symbols and create links to word recognition and decoding skills necessary for reading.

*Prepare! Prevent!*

Phonological awareness skills:
•    Lead to reading success
•    Prevent reading deficits
•    Lead to success with spelling
•    Help children become aware of sounds in their language

According to Gillon (2004), “Phoneme awareness performance is a strong predictor of long-term reading and spelling success and can predict literacy performance more accurately than variables such as intelligence, vocabulary knowledge, and socioeconomic status” (p. 57).

What is Phonological Awareness?

• Awareness of sounds in a language
• Awareness of rhymes
• Awareness that sentences can be broken down into words, syllables, and sounds
• Ability to talk about, reflect upon, and manipulate sounds
• Understanding the relationship between written and spoken language

Phonological awareness consists of skills that typically develop gradually and sequentially through the late preschool period.  They are developed with direct training and exposure.

The information above was provided by a wonderful online resource.  I highly recommend visiting the site to get a better understanding of phonological awareness.  The site also offers many engaging activities and lessons with attached materials for teaching phonological awareness. 
http://phonologicalawareness.org/index.html

Below is a sample activity from the website:

1. Matching Pictures
Find pairs of pictures that rhyme. Place one set of pictures in a container and all of the rhyming pairs in another container. Have the children draw out two pictures (one from each container) and ask them if the two words rhyme. If they don’t, continue pulling out pictures from the second container until the child finds a matching rhyme. Continue with all remaining cards.
- Materials 

Teacher Freebie! Monthly Storage Lables

Download Free Monthly Storage Labels Here!

Let's Get Ready for Kindergarten!

Click here for some terrific worksheets to warm up those kindergarten skills!

Rhyme & Draw

These interesting and quirky rhymes will keep your students engaged as they listen for clues to draw pictures of pets while developing phonemic awareness.  Visit my TPT store for more!

Kindergarten, Trimester 1

On Common Ground 2012-2013 T1 Kinder

Comprehension for Kindergarten

Visit my TPT store for some handy question cards.  These can be used for building background knowledge to improve comprehension during shared reading experiences.

For Teachers- Building Community

Visit my TPT Store for a free digital download!

Count Down to Kindergarten

The first day of kindergarten can be filled with excitement, tears, fears, joy, wonder, surprise, and much more!  It can go surprisingly smooth and it can sometimes be like quickly removing a band-aide.  Either way, it's a special time for kids and parents and it marks one of the most important milestones in a child's life.  As we get to know each other, make friends, read stories, explore, establish routines and expectations, we start to come together sort of like a family.  It takes some time.  I posted a few pictures of what the morning of the first day of kindergarten looked like last year.  Check out the following article from Education.com for some very encouraging tips.

http://www.education.com/magazine/article/Count_Down_Kindergarten/

The Playground

Seeing old friends and making new ones.

This is the way we line up!

Play-dough fun!

FIND and LEVEL books for students!

Kindergarten Activities

Looking for kids activities to show your child the fun side of learning? From science experiments and math games to writing projects and more, we've got you covered! Scroll through some of the activities below or visit education.com for more!

Education.com Activities

Kindergarten Activities

Resource for Full-Day Kindergarten Teachers

The Kindergarten Scrapbook is a free resource I personally wrote for our school district's professional development department. I hope it can serve as an inspiration and helpful resource for building a successful kindergarten program.

I LOVE This Book!

I LOVE this new book!  It bursts with the most colorful art and invites children to use their imagination to closely explore new and familiar interesting places and objects.  This book was read to my kindergarten class at the end of the year and I found that it is not only wonderful for those cozy bubble baths at home, but can also serve as a the perfect spring board for bubble science, new vocabulary, geography, math, and writing.  After the book was read to my class, we pretended to be scientists and made a bubble mixture using measuring cups and solutions.  We took our bubble mixture and pipe cleaner wands outside, and imagined where the bubbles were going and what else we might see inside the "tiny orbs."  The students couldn't wait to write and illustrate the "world" they imagined.  

Science Projects for Kindergarten: Experimenting with Bubbles

Duct Tape "Offices"

How cool is this?!  A wonderful dad in my classroom made these Duct Tape "offices" out of scrap cardboard.  They are very durable, colorful, and work wonders to stop those wandering eyes during assessments!

Brain Food

Healthy!  Kinder Kids

Snack Suggestions

As a kindergarten teacher, I am personally dedicated to providing the children in my class with the knowledge of healthy snack choices and increasing nutrition awareness.  Eating the right types of snacks will give children the nutrients they need for good health while helping improve learning and behavior in the classroom.  Consider the suggested snacks below for classroom donations (brands may vary).  I prefer items that are all natural (no preservatives or anything artificial), organic (if possible), and items without high-fructose corn syrup.  Thank you for your help in our fight against junk food! 

How Does Healthy Eating Affect Children's Concentration?

Made by Your Teacher

What a busy summer!  Since I had plenty of time on my hands, I decided to be creative and design some products to help develop and reinforce those early learning skills.  Check out my latest at http://www.cafepress.com/handsonlearning.  Here you can find everyday items such as T-shirts, mugs, pillows, and much more, printed with those important skills.  Below is a sample of the products with activity ideas for home or the classroom.  

My ABC Apron:  Parents and children can sing the alphabet song while whisking away!  Kids can find the beginning sound on the apron for the ingredients in the recipe.  Teachers can wear the apron during ABC or phonics instruction to refer to the letters and sounds.   Teachers can choose a student to be the ABC Chef for the day and wear the apron.  The ABC chef can walk around and have other students practice identifying letters and sounds.  The deep pockets can hold picture cards or word cards.  Children can pick card and find the corresponding sound. This would be great to wear when making Alphabet Soup!

My 100 Chart Blanket:  You can take numbers anywhere!  No more papers to keep track of.  This large, warm fuzzy blanket is wonderful for kids to play number identification games at home or on the go.  Spread it out on your bed or the floor, or fold it up and take it with you on trips.  Kids can toss a stuffed animal and name the number it lands on.  They can step on each number as he/she counts to 100.  Teachers or parents can ask what number comes before..., after... or what is three more than...  This interactive chart invites children to "wrap up" those early number skills! 

My First 50 Sight Words Pillow:  I love this pillow for my reading area in the classroom.  When students are done with their work, they can hold the pillow and practice reading the most frequent 50 sight words.  They can sit with a friend and read the words to each other.  At home, kids can review the sight words without taking out boring papers.  This pillow makes a great travel pillow with something valuable on it for kids to practice.  

 

My 100 Sight Words "TEACH-SHIRT":  Teachers and parents can become a walking word wall to help have their kids learn the 100 most frequent sight words.  What a great idea for teachers to wear while having their class wait in line.  Teachers can point to words and have students choral read words.  Teachers/parents can ask students to name all of the two letter, three letter, etc, sight words.  Students can name sight words with an identified beginning sound or letter.  These "Teach-Shirts" come in multiple colors for adults and kids.

My 100 Sight Words Shower Curtain:  Rub-a-dub-dub!  Sight words in the tub!  Hang this sight word shower curtain backwards with the sight words facing your child in the tub.  Kids will have a blast squirting the words with a water gun or reading the words during those long soaks.  This shower curtain also makes a wonderful portable word wall that can be folded up and put away after use in the classroom.

My 100 Sight Words Tote Bag:  With this wonderful tote, your kids will learn their sight words by rote!  This bag will carry books or school supplies to and from libraries or classrooms.  Kids can use this tote to not only keep homework, supplies, books, and other learning materials in a convenient place, but also practice recognizing the 100 most frequent sight words.

My 100 Sight Words Pillow Case:  Twinkle, twinkle, little star.  I know 100 sight words so far!  Every night kids can use a flashlight and read the words on their pillow.  Parents can spend special time with their child reading, then locating sight words from the shared story.  Have children learn a line of words a night and add on a line the next night.