I homeschool my 7 year old daughter, Sweet Pea. We follow the Words Their Way spelling lists. The book has all kinds of activities listed to study words throughout the week.
Mondays we do a teacher sort. I model my thought process for the first word in each category. Then, I ask questions to guide her through the rest of the words.
Tuesday is a speed sort day. She sorts the words on her own as fast as possible. Then, she writes the words in her Word Study Notebook.
Wednesdays we watch videos and play a game. This week I found lots of great videos. As we watch the videos she adds words that follow the rules studied to her Word Study Notebook. Here are this week's videos.
Between the Lions
Cliff Hanger and the Enchanted Goat
The Electric Company
Between the Lions
Dixie Chimps: Home Is Where Long o Is
Thursdays are game days. We played this game last week for long a. This week, we are looking for words with long o. When we find some, Sweet Pea records them in the appropriate column of her Word Study Notebook. No doubling is allowed. If the word is already written in the notebook, she can't duplicate it. She loves playing games. This game came from The Mailbox bought at my local teacher supply store.
Fridays are assessment days. I don't do your traditional assessment and my form takes longer. However, it gives me a chance to review old and new patterns, as well as sight words. I dictate sentences and she writes them. Sometimes, if I am busy with my two year old or the 2 month old twins, I let her create her own sentences.
How do your students practice spelling words throughout the week?
Vocabulary is so important. I love this vocab worksheet. It is simple, teaches the word, and relates other concepts to the vocabulary word. I have it slightly off center so we can add it to our Vocabulary Journals, a simple 3 pronged folder.
I have come up with many resolutions this month. Be on time to church, make it through a week's worth of lessons every week (including the fun stuff) for my daughter, live within the budget our family has set, AND complete a page each week on Mixbook . If I do a week at a time, I can journal and keep up to date on my photos. Not to mention, my camera will be empty so I won't have to delete when it gets full. Now... I need to find a great camera that is really inexpensive!
The calendar shows winter, but we are experiencing a bit of fall/spring right now. Temps in the 60s? I feel like I am in the wrong state!
I am getting ready for one of my favorite months for teaching. I am planning on teaching my little one about Penguins, Snow, and Mittens. So far, I have gathered ideas from Pinterest and a books list. We will see what I get after I have the books in my hands! I know I am always looking for booklists, so here you go.
The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats (Bookflix)
Snowy Weather (companion book on Bookflix)by Katie Marsico
Snowflake Bentley by (the movie)(or on Bookflix)
Snow- Blastoff Readers (companion book on Bookflix)
The Big Snow by Berta and Elmer Hader
Snow by Uri Shulevitz
Snow by Marion Dane Bauer
Snow by Helen Frost
Snow by Cynthia Rylant
Snow by H.P. Wood
The Snowman Storybook by Raymond Briggs
In the Snow: Who's Been Here? by Lindsay Barrett George
The Emperor's Egg by Martin Jenkins
Little Penguin's Tale by Audrey Wood
Penguin Pete by Marcus Pfister (and all other Penguin Pete books, of course)
Penguin Chick by Betty Tatham
Penguins by Lucia Raatma
Penguins by Claire Robinson
Antarctic Antics by Judy Sierra (found on Bookflix if you have it)
Antarctica by Allan Fowler (companion book on Bookflix)
I also checked out a few books on Martin Luther King, Jr. I purchased a book about Famous Americans from Scholastic that will go nicely with that unit.
Martin's Big Words by Doreen Rappaport (on Bookflix)
Martin Luther King, Jr. by Wil Mara (companion book on Bookflix)