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July’s Playful Learning Checklist

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F-R-E-E-B-I-E alert! 📣 Between teaching, prepping, and attending ALL the meetings, it’s no wonder you barely have time to drink your coffee before it gets cold. 🥵

But that’s why I’m so excited to pass along this batch of print-and-go word family mats! They make it easy to stretch students’ learning AND have fun at the exact same time.

(I LOVE hearing kids say, “I can’t wait to get to school today”, don’t you?!)

Just print out the mats and grab a batch of alphabet magnets…

Letter unifix cubes, Scrabble tiles, and even foam letter dice are fun alternatives too.

👉 Comment SIMPLE and our friendly Plato-Bot will send these 7 mats your way!

#playfullearning #learningthroughplay #kindergartenactivity #firstgradeactivity

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New favorite literacy center!🎄Grab a bag of Hershey’s Kisses and have kids play an addictively fun round of rhyming matchup.

The best part is you can practice any phonics skill under the sun! I worked on short A words in this example, but you could easily use the same activity to practice short O words (hop-top, log-dog) or digraph words (chip-ship, chop-shop)…

👉 Save this so you can quickly find it again later!

#phonicsforkids #scienceofreading #firstgradeactivity #kindergartenteacher #firstgradeteacher #kindergartenactivities

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This is game changing! 💥 When you teach kids eight words, they can read eight words. That’s cool, but when you teach them eight *letter sounds*, students are empowered to read HUNDREDS of words. 💪 That’s why daily phonics practice is so important!

Just in case you’re wondering what letter sounds to teach first, there isn’t any research on the order that is best, but the first eight sounds I like to work on are:

M, S, F, A, P, T, C, and I

That combination will give you tons and tons of word options.

👉 Follow @playdough2plato for more brain-friendly science of reading tips & tricks.

#scienceofreading #teachersofinstagram #kindergartenteacher #prekteacher #iteachtoo

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Did you know this?! 😍 S say /s/ at the start of a word and after an unvoiced sound. But 60% of the time it actually says /z/ instead! That’s because it makes the /z/ sound when it follows voiced sounds including m, n, ng, l, b, d, g, v, voiced th, and r.

It helps to remember it this way…

The difference between saying /s/ and /z/ is simply turning on your voice box. If your voice box is already working for the sound that comes right before it, your voice box might as well stay on to pronounce the S too!

For instance, listen for the /z/ sound in these words:

Beds
Logs
His
As
Is

The S follows a voiced sound in every example so the S is also voiced and sounds like /z/. 💡

👉 Be sure to save this, so you remember how to teach it to students later.

👉 And tag a teacher friend who would love it too!

#phonicsfun #scienceofreading #iteachprek #iteachk #iteachfirst

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Fun fact! 🥳 Just 13 words make up 25% of the text we read… Even as adults.

👉 Save this post so you can quickly find the list again.

👉 Share it with a friend to help another teacher too.

#iteachk #iteachfirst #firstgradeteacher #kindergartenteacher

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STOP scrolling! 🛑 If you have students who are struggling to read three letter words like TOP, CAT & SUN, you don’t want to miss this!

For beginning readers, those middle vowel sounds can be especially tricky but you can help with a strategy called backwards decoding. Here’s how it works...

Instead of having students read left to right, take off the beginning sound so they can first focus on the ending rime: OP.

Then add on the beginning sound and have them read the entire word: TOP.

Continue reading just the rime and then adding on a different beginning sound to help make that rime really stick: OP, MOP, OP, COP, OP, BOP…

The name “backwards decoding” really says it all – students are starting at the back (the rime), and then popping back up to the beginning.

👉 You can make your own backwards decoding activities like this one using Unifix letter cubes or you can grab a batch of done-go-you Google slides that make it easy to set up whole group practice or small group centers. Just comment BACKWARDS below and our friendly Plato-Bot will send you the info.❤️

#scienceofreading #phonicsfun #learningtoread #teachingreading #playfullearning #learningthroughplay #kindergarten

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Old school sight word lists like Dolch and Fry are organized by how frequently the words are written… But that means students are forced to focus on VERY different phonics skills in the exact same week.

For instance, if you are learning the words THE, AND & HAVE, students will have to tackle:

THE - digraph TH, schwa E
AND - the short A
HAVE - silent E that doesn’t make a long vowel sound

And that’s just with three words, let alone the five or 10 you might actually be studying in a week!

But luckily, there’s an easier way! Instead of sorting words by their frequency, sort them by phonics skill. Then you can dive into all of the AN words one week and all of the AT words the next…

Organizing your list by phonics skill is a simple little tweak that has an incredibly powerful impact on students’ learning!

👉 Comment EASIER below and our friendly Plato-bot will send you the link to these print-and-go lists!

#teacherhack #phonicsfun #scienceofreading #learningtoread #teachingreading

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It’s ba-ack! 🤸‍♂️💃🏼🕺 And we couldn’t be more excited. For the third year in a row, we’re teaming up with Alex from @thekindergartenconnection for a Friendsgiving event you won’t want to miss.

Just like past years, we bundled together a mega pack of exclusive centers you can’t find anywhere else – not on Pinterest, or Facebook, or the blog…

That’s cool but what makes this absolutely *amazing* is that 100% of your purchase goes directly to a nonprofit helping children in need. This year y’all chose to give every penny to @stjude Children’s Research Hospital. That means when you grab a bundle, it’ll be a win for your classroom and a win for catastrophic disease research and treatment.

👉 Comment FRIENDS below, and the Plato-bot will happily send you the link. Just make sure to grab it by November 6th.

👉 Feel free to share this with other teachers, who would love it too!

#prekteacher #kindergartenteacher #firstgradeteacher #teachergoals #givingback #makeadifference

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This takes magic E words to a whoooole new level! 🪄 The best part is that you just need a few simple supplies and kids will BEG to repeat it.

Here are some fun words to try first:

Cut—> cute
Kit—> kite
Hop—> hope
Man—> mane
Pin—> pine
Tub—> tube
Pet—> Pete
Bit—> bite
Rob—> robe
Fin—> fine
Rod—> rode

And for more advanced readers:

Plan—> plane
Shin—> shine
Trip—> tripe
Hug—> huge
Glob—> globe

👉 Be sure to save this, so you can quickly find the step-by-step when you need it!

#scienceofreading #phonicsfun #iteachk #kindergartenteacher #iteachfirst #firstgradeteacher

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You’ve gotta try this phonemic awareness activity! 🎃 Just grab some candy pumpkins, orange playdough, or orange Skittles to theme it up and you’re ready to go.

(Research has shown that phonemic awareness is a major key to unlocking students’ reading growth so the more practice we can give kids, the better.)

1️⃣ Children will say a word,

2️⃣ Tap the sound they hear with their fingers,

3️⃣ Slide one pumpkin into each sound box for every sound they hear again,

4️⃣ And slide their finger below the arrow as they blend the sounds together.

That’s it! Easy peasy (but incredibly powerful!) learning.

👉 Comment FUN below for the link!

#phonemicawareness #iteachk #iteachprek #iteachtoo #playfullearning

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What’s your favorite Halloween phonics idea in the bunch: #1, 2, or 3??

👉 Share your vote in the comments!

👉 And tag a friend who would love these too. 💕

#halloween2022 #phonicsfun #scienceofreading

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Did you hear the big news?? 🤸‍♀️ We welcomed our 100,000th Insta community member this week and we’re celebrating with an epic F-R-E-E-B-I-E you don’t want to miss…

In honor of our 100K milestone, I created 100 beginning sound task cards that make it easy to practice phonemic awareness (hearing the individual sounds in words) AND phonics (connecting those sounds to written letters).

Just print the cards, laminate if you need some extra durability, and grab a basket of letters.

(Swipe to see three different letter options!)

👉Comment STRONG below and our friendly Plato-Bot will send you the link!

#phonicsfun #scienceofreading #teachergoals #weareteachers #phonologicalawareness #phonemicawareness

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F-R-E-E-B-I-E alert! 🚨 Grab 100 beginning sound task cards and have kids solve them with alphabet magnets, Scrabble tiles, or letter Unifix cubes…

It’s my way of saying “thanks for helping our community grow 100,000 strong”. ❤️

Every single like, share, and tag has made this possible. I’m forever grateful that you continue to spread the word about the science of reading so we can help EVERY child get bigger reading growth. You are helping create a more successful future for our world.💪

👉 Comment STRONG below and our friendly Plato-bot will send you the link.

#scienceofreading #scienceofreadingteachers #iteachk #iteachprek #instateacher #kindergartenteacher #prekteacher

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Post-it word chains! 🥳 It’s an easy prep, addictively fun way to practice CVC words.

Here’s how to prep it:

1. Write beginning sounds on one stack of post its…

2. Middle vowels on a second stack…

3. And ending sounds on a third…

4. Then read, pull, and read again!

📌 Make sure to save this so you remember how to play!

#phonicsfun #playfullearning #learningthroughplaying #scienceofreading #cvcwords

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Target challenge: find ghoulishly-fun reading pointers kids will love. 🎯 Glow sticks are fun too!

👉 What other Target finds do you love using as reading pointers? Share in the comments below so other teachers can try it too!

#targetdollarspot #targetteachers #learningthroughplay #kindergartenteacher #firstgradeteacher

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Candy syllables for the win! 🏆 Learning the six types of syllables can be a little… well… boring. But candy’s a simple way to step up the fun factor!

Just grab a pile from the store and get ready to sort. Here are some ideas to get you started:

1️⃣ Closed syllables: Tic Tacs, Dots, Twix, Kit Kats, Milk Duds

2️⃣ Open syllables: Rolos

3️⃣ Silent E: Mike & Ike, Red Vine

4️⃣ Vowel Teams: Pay Day

5️⃣ R-controlled: Nerds, Snickers, Hershey’s, Starburst

6️⃣ Consonant + Le: Skittle

👇 What other candies would you add to this roundup? Share your ideas below so other teachers can use them too.

👉 Be sure to save this so you can quickly find the list again when you need it!

#phonicsfun #dollarstore #dollartree #targetteachers #weareteachers #teachergoals #teachergram #scienceofreading

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Kids’ favorite literacy center! 🥇 They’ll actually ASK to repeat this one.

To play it, grab your supplies: Matchbox cars, sticker dots, Post It notes and a Sharpie.

1️⃣ Write beginning sounds on one sticker color…

2️⃣ And word endings on another. In this example, I’m sticking with short A word endings like AP, AT & AN.

3️⃣ Attach one sticker to each car.

4️⃣ Stick matching Post Its down to make parking spots.

5️⃣ Then drive & read!

👉 Be sure to save this so you can quickly find the step-by-step when you’re ready to play.

#playfullearning #learningthroughplaying #scienceofreading #kindergartenclassroom #firstgradeclassroom #prekclassroom

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5 simple ways to add the science of reading to your classroom! 💥

1️⃣ Practice phonological awareness every day. Research has shown that holes in students’ phonological awareness are a leading cause of reading difficulties.

2️⃣ Work on phonics every day too. We now know that students do not just “naturally” learn how to read - the vast majority of children must be explicitly taught the letter-sound connections to reach their fullest reading potential.

3️⃣ Sort your sight words by phonics skill so students can hone in on just one letter-sound connection at a time. For instance, work on all of the TH words like THIS and THAT at the same time.

4️⃣ Swap out sight word flashcards for sound maps. (Research has shown they help students memorize words 10 times faster!🤯)

5️⃣ Join The Reading Roadmap to get all of the science of reading knowledge & print-and-go tools you need in one spot. Enrollment only happens twice a year and it’s go time! Snag your spot before the doors close again on October 6.

👉 Comment ROADMAP below and our friendly Plato-Bot will send you an invite!

#thescienceofreading #scienceofreading #orthographicmapping #phonicsfun #thereadingroadmap

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Playdough to Plato

2 weeks ago

Fun fact! 🥳 Just 13 words make up 25% of the text we read… Even as adults.

👉 Save this post so you can quickly find the list again.

👉 Share it with a friend to help another teacher too.

#iteachk #iteachfirst #firstgradeteacher #kindergartenteacher ... See MoreSee Less

July’s Playful Learning Checklist

Apple Ten Frames

Phonics Bookmarks

Pumpkin Activity Pack (1st Grade)

Editable STEM Box Labels

Snowman Addition Puzzles

Volcano Eggs

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