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Introduce Vocabulary: Miss Spider's Tea Party (Kirk)
Learning new vocabulary words is best done in the context of an engaging story like David Kirk's Miss Spider's Tea Party. New readers (or almost-readers) focus on any of 12 new words: conceal, courtesy, demand, descend, dread, fragile,...
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Introduce Vocabulary: "I Can't," Said the Ant (Cameron)
With both rhyme and a fun storyline, Polly Cameron's story "I Can't," Said the Ant is a useful resource for vocabulary in context. Emerging readers focus on five key words: cooperate, mend, nimble, sling, and trickle. After a brief...
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Introduce Vocabulary: How Do Dinosaurs Go To School? (Yolen)
Dinosaurs don't go to school...but what if they did? Use Jane Yolen's book How Do Dinosaurs Go To School to explore vocabulary in context. Find this on YouTube if you don't have the text on hand. These in-text words give some ideas of...
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Introduce Vocabulary: Into the A, B, Sea (Rose)
As budding readers learn about the ocean, they'll get practice with the alphabet and new vocabulary words (cling, nab, prey, slumber, and thrive) in context. Read Deborah Rose's book Into the A, B, Sea, which includes a glossary in the...
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Match the Rhymes
Which ones rhyme with swing? There are six images and scholars determine which ones rhyme. Two of the words are written out below to incorporate some printing practice as scholars trace the letters to form each single-syllable word....
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Medial Sound u
Join Ug the Bug for some vowel sound practice focused on the short /u/ sound. Scholars examine six images and label each with a CVC word that has this as its medial phoneme. Next, they complete two rhyming sentences about Ug, using a...
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Odd Ones Out
Some of these words don't rhyme; scholars determine which ones as they examine four sets of images with the vowel sound /e/. For each set, they circle the words that don't rhyme with the first image. Be sure kids know what these images...
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The ee Sound
When two vowels take a walk, the first one does the talking! Scholars see this motto put to use as they study the /ee/ sound in various spelling patterns. Learners read a short introduction on this concept before reading several example...
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The ai and ar Sounds
These words sound the same but are spelled differently, giving scholars a chance to practice spelling patterns and rhyming words. First they read that the /ai/ vowel sound can be made with three different spellings. Learners label three...
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Identifying and Generating Rhyming Words, Body
Can you tell which words rhyme? Choose a body part as a starting word (i.e. head) and begin saying words to see if learners can identify those that rhyme. Does red rhyme with head? Continue giving examples, some rhyming and others not....
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Poems: Itsy Bitsy Spider
Act out the "Itsy Bitsy Spider" rhyme with youngsters. Learners observe visual instructions before completing the corresponding actions, then draw the spider into a scene. Finally, they write down rhyming words that have the ai spelling...
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Little Miss Muffet: Rhyming
Little ones will love learning this classic nursery rhyme. This resource includes a large, printed version of the rhyme, a page to color, a pre-colored image, and three sets of rhyming words found in the passage.
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Match the Rhymes
Focus on the short u sound in this rhyme worksheet for emergent readers. Learners examine images surrounding a jug, drawing lines to connect it to those that rhyme (bug, rug, mug). Then, they practice their printing by tracing the...
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Word Puzzle
Add some fun to rhyming using a word puzzle learning exercise. First, learners match up single-syllable rhyming words. Then, they find all the words in a word search. This beginning reading activity only has words spelled horizontally...
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Draw it Yourself
Here are four familiar pictures and words for emerging readers: dog, mouse, cat, and hen. After examining the image and spelling, they draw something that rhymes with each in the space provided. Encourage pre-readers to sound out words...
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The oa Sound
Explore spelling patterns with this multi-step activity featuring the /oa/ sound. Learners read a brief introduction explaining that this sound can be achieved by three different vowel combinations. They complete a different activity as...
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Poems: "The Rabbit"
In pairs or on their own, fourth graders read the poem, "The Rabbit." They then answer eight critical-analysis questions, requiring them to make inferences, and interpret the poem's meaning and use of language. The reading passage,...
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Connect the Rhymes
If your budding readers are new to rhyme, this is a visual way to give them practice. They examine familiar sets of objects, matching them to their rhyming partners by drawing a connecting line. Practice left to right skills by asking...
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Find the Rhyme
Find the rhyming word. All of these rhyming, single-syllable words have the short i sound, but learners have to determine which ones they are. There are four starting objects each heading a row of three objects. They examine the three,...
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The oo Sound
These letter sets all make the /oo/ sound; learners sort single-syllable words into four spelling patterns, writing each. This visual instructional activity has all the words inside a moon and the various spelling patterns inside stars....
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The oa, oy, and ow Sounds
Focus on the vowel sounds /oa/, /oy/, and /ow/ in this spelling patterns activity. The sounds are split into three sections, with learners observing how each can be spelled differently in familiar words. They write words beneath...
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Find the Rhyme
Which of these objects rhymes? There are four starter pictures here, each heading rows of three objects. Learners determine and circle the row object that rhymes with the first one. Then, they connect two of the CVC words with printing...
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The ea and ear sounds
Focus on the /ea/ and /ear/ sounds. Learners complete three sentences by adding the appropriate ea word from a word bank, re-writing each sentence. Then, they read an excerpt from Little Red Riding Hood and find all the words with...
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Poems: Humourous Verses
First grade is a great time to build strong reading skills. Here are three short rhyming poems or common nursery rhymes that are intended to help boost reading fluency. Because most children know these rhymes, they will have an easier...