Kids learn to read consonant digraph words in kindergarten. First, beginners learn short vowels: a_ (as in words like hat, Pam), i_ (as in him, sit), o_ (as in hot, mop), u_ (as in run, bug), and e_(as in hen, pet). Next, kids practice these simple short vowel cvc words quite a lot, gain some […]
Chunking as a Sight Word Strategy
Kids need to learn to read and spell sight words. These are words that break the phonetic code in some way. For example, “there” is a sight word, because although the /th/ and /r/ sounds are regular, the e_e sound is not. If we spelled “there” phonetically, we would write “thair.” There are about 100-150 […]
Halloween 1st Grade Phonics Story
In this FREE Halloween 1st grade phonics story, kids can practice reading short vowels, silent e, long vowel digraphs and some common sight words. [Scroll down for the free Halloween story pdf.] In Kindergarten, kids usually master short vowel words like mat, fun, and patch. Throughout 1st grade, students need to continue to practice these […]
Halloween Kindergarten Phonics Story
I’ve written a festive Halloween kindergarten phonics story called Pam’s Pumpkin. It includes short vowel words and consonant digraph words. There are some sight words in the story including: have, said, was, some, orange, were, some, one, of. You can also use this for first graders who are working on fluency or are in a […]
Kindergarten spelling lists
Kindergartners should work on spelling phonetic words and sight words. When they work on phonetic words, they should write the word sound-by-sound. When they spell sight words, they should write the irregular aspects of the sight word from memory. Do not have your kindergartner work on memorized lists of words each lesson. Instead, construct your […]
Fluency Reading Strategies
Do you have a student that can decode accurately, but reads slowly? If so, your student may need to read more leveled texts. This is the only proven tactic of all the reading fluency strategies. It is difficult for a young child to read for extended periods of time, because, for early readers, decoding is […]
Silent e Worksheet
Kids usually learn the silent e sound towards the end of Kindergarten or beginning of first grade, depending on your state and district standards. Silent e is a significant milestone, because for the first time, kids branch off from short vowel words (ex. Hat, met, sip, dog, cup) and read long vowel words (ex. bake, […]
Short a Phonics Words
Kids work on reading short a phonics words in early Kindergarten. They are the first words kids need to master. Some short a phonics words include: mat, Sam, fan, fat, ran, yak, tap, mat, Pat, Pam, man, bat, cat, lap, Dan, rat, rad, tad, dab, nab, mad, sad, pad, fad, wag, lag, sag, bag, yap, […]
R-Controlled Reading Passages
I’m so excited to release Reading Elephant Series 15, the r-controlled reading passages. These stories introduce ar, er/ir/ur, and or phonics sounds. The stories introduce r-controlled sounds gradually and they also introduce more sight words. You can enter our shop or click the link below for a FREE sample: ar Book ar words Our r-controlled […]
Sounding Out Words and Why Kids Struggle
Your student is in Kindergarten. He knows letter sounds. Yet, when he tries to string letters together to form a word, he forgets the first or middle sound. “H-aaaa-t… um does that say hit?” he says. Sounding out words is a critical early reading skill. Some kids really struggle to blend sounds. If a child […]