These fun, engaging, NO PREP word work activities help students practice their words effectively and are the perfect option for your 1st or 2nd grade class!
Do you reinvent the wheel every single week when it comes to centers, word work, stations.....whatever you happen to call them? Yeah, me too! I know better, I swear I do but it just never fails. I am here today to tell you that there IS A BETTER WAY! Let me begin by saying I am a big fan of Daily 5. I run my room about as closely to the Daily 5 model as possible but this is one area I just never could give in on. The sisters suggest having out materials for students to build words, write words, and work with words during this choice. It is that simple. It is called word work after all right? I have always felt the need for my work work choices to be very specific so that students could be working on what I wanted them to be working on. Wait a minute.....that's the opposite of Daily 5 philosophy. It's all about CHOICE and becoming a BETTER READER so why am I making all of the choices? So here is what I did. I put as many random materials as I could find in my classroom and made them available to students. THAT'S IT! Along with a sight word list to use as a reference and one fun morning of showing them what it was all about and I haven't looked back since. They are working SO HARD during our word work time because they are truly using materials they love and making good choices to become better readers and writers. It has been amazing! Here are a few simple, simple examples. Again...simple! I did not go out of my way for any of these! #1 Magnets I have a couple of really organized sets of magnets and then these just thrown in a clear shoe box. Guess which one gets picked the most? You guessed it! Maybe it's the bright colors or maybe kids are just drawn to chaos. Either way it's a win! #2 Wiki Sticks I lied. I did go out of my way for this one just because I've always wanted to use them. My students think they are really fun! One of my kiddos who struggles the most during word work time (and refuses to use a sight word list) spelled out "tatr tot" last week using these. He was pretty impressed with himself and I was too! I got these from Amazon. You can see them through my affiliate link HERE. #3 Pom poms I've used these for fine motor before but I've never just included them in word work. They get picked every round! I didn't originally tell them to use a cookie sheet to build on but I like how it keeps everything in one space. They came up with that idea. #4 Beads I had these from the Dollar Tree for my fine motor bins too so I just included them in word work for now. They are REALLY interesting to build with because you have to pick up each bead and set it on its side so it won't roll away. The cookie sheet came in really handy for this one. #5 Plain OLD white boards I have really old yucky white boards. Guess what? They don't care! I set them all on the shelf and they pick one, a marker, and a sock (they are baby socks) and write their sight words. Marker dry? DON'T COME GET ME! Just throw it out and get a new one! I put an old assortment of markers in here so we could weed out the bad ones. TIP! Put your sight word list in a sheet protector and students can cross off words as they write them. My students figured out that organization tip too. I love when they help me figure things out! #6 Letter Tiles These came with our Reading Street materials and they are really fun for building CVC words because there are so many vowels included. I encouraged them to work on sight words but I noticed one student building CVC words, blending them together, and then sorting them into real words and make believe words.You better believe I had him share out at the end of word work to show his classmates and now everyone is doing it too. Instant center.....no prep! #7 Scrabble Tiles Seriously though. I have been collecting these forever and I NEVER use them because well.....honestly I didn't know what to do with them. It bothered me a little that they were all capitals but guess what? My kids don't care! They love using the little stand to build words with and it does not matter one little bit that they are all capitals. #8 Letter Stamps I had these already and they are always a part of our word work so this was a station that just stayed the same. I do like that they have to focus on our new words of the week for this one. I have to be in a (little) bit of control sometimes! But my 2nd grade colleague just has blank paper at this station and they stamp any word they want. I'm sure my kiddos would love that too! I might switch it out and have them do that next week. You can get the STAMPS HERE and the STAMP PAD HERE. These are affiliate links which means I get a small amount if purchase through the link at no additional cost to you. Seriously love these though and they have lasted a long time! #9 Paper Centers Yes....I still need a little bit of control and my theory is that some kids will totally love using all of the hands on stuff but some kids still want to complete a paper like a cut and glue, word search, or write the room. I didn't do away with all centers, I just added all of the fun word work centers into what we already had going. BUT! This has already saved me a ton of time in the planning department. I put out 4 papers for the week and that's it. All my centers are planned for! You can see the centers I have available that are aligned with Reading Street stories HERE. This week our story is The Little Engine That Could. You can see the four paper choices on top and then all of the materials stored below. I love these containers from Walmart because the handles on the sides lock the lids down tight and keep beads, wiki sticks, tiles, and pom poms from flying everywhere. I have reflected a little bit on whether these were just working so well because my students are UBER independent right now or because this is just a great fit. I mean really, they are almost 1st graders after all! But I think that these would have worked great at the beginning of the year with some alphabet options just as nicely as they are working now. I put out similar items at the beginning of the year anyway, this would just be some added options. Would I overwhelm my students with all of this in one day. NO WAY! My students have been exposed to all of these items in one way or another (through fine motor stations, word work, or in small group with me) except for the wiki sticks. Those were brand new. I waited a couple of days to add those in to make a BIG deal about them. If this was the beginning of the year I would put out 2 choices until we were really solid with those choices and then add more in. Get the sight word list shown in the pictures that aligns with Reading Street Kindergarten words HERE. These types of centers work great with these Rainbow Word Sight Word lists too! Want to save this post for later? Pin it here! P.S. Get a FREE ALPHABET ACTIVITY when you sign up for my newsletter HERE!
Struggling with differentiating word work activities to meet the needs of all your students? These full-year resources will work with ANY word list!
10 engaging word work activities to support literacy instruction in a primary classroom.
This Building Blocks Sight Word Box is a hands-on way for your students to practice reading and spelling their sight words.
I can say that I am so HAPPY that this stressful week is over. My husband and I are in the process of buying our first home, which we LOVE, but there have been a few hiccups with water in the basement after a spring rain.... but TODAY... all is settled and great! Whew! I am linking up with Doodlebugs in the special WORD WORK themed Five for Friday. One of my biggest challenges this year is my management of the Daily 5 structure in my classroom. I struggle between giving the kiddos too much freedom (last year) and not enough freedom and variety (this past fall). I finally feel like I've hit my stride and it comes with the introduction with my word work organization in January. I try to keep the Word Work activities fun and hands-on!! I love when my kiddos come in at the beginning of the week and ask "WHAT'S FOR WORD WORK?" They used to ask this same question in the form of, "What's for lunch?" I figure if word work is ranking above lunch now, I MUST be doing something right! ORGANIZATION: Here is a peek at my word work organization board, Across the top are the 5 word work centers for the week. Each student is in a color group (based on their guided reading group... that way I can differentiate the centers based on reading abilities). When we are ready to start word work, students look at what their group is doing that day, they get their supplies, and they can sit anywhere in the classroom. THEY LOVE IT! (and because they love it... I have very few behavior/redirection problems, which frees me up for my reading groups) I take pictures of the word work materials to make the center labels. You can see from the photo that I don't always have time to make the new labels after I introduce the new center... I write on a blank laminated card with a Vis-à-vis marker. The backs of the word work labels have Velcro so that I can switch the centers each week! The word work supplies are always organized on the top of our classroom library book shelves. My "teacher's helper" make sure that everything is ready to go in the morning and that is it all put back nicely when we are finished! WORD WORK FAVORITES: BEADS Every week, student focus on 7 phonics related words (based on a common spelling pattern) and they have 5 sight words (from the pre-primer and primer dolch word lists). As we go this year, I have been making laminated cards with the words on them. This allows students to easily complete their work anywhere in the room... they just bring their little word card with them. Last year, I would write the words on the board, but then students couldn't always see them from the spot that they chose to work in. One of our favorite centers is stringing letter beads on pipe cleaners to spell our words. EASY!! Just a little prep to put the bins together... I initially had the beads organized into the above organizer... but it was too hard for the kids to get the beads out of them. I recently switched to putting the beads in old pencil boxes and it works great!! I also have a choice of big or small beads! WORD WORK FAVORITES: FLUENCY FOLDERS I recently used Cara Carroll's Rock Your Fluency packs to put together Fluency Folders... I posted about this about a month ago... Check out this LINK to see my previous post about fluency folders... I do have to say that these are a class favorite (and totally worth the cost!) WORD WORK FAVORITES: WORD SORTS Students sort word family words into categories and record. I put the word cards and the word family heading cards into a tub. Students spread out on the floor and sort the cards. If they finish early, they write sentences with the words on the back of the paper! LONG VOWEL WORD SORTS are available in my TPT store! Here's a freebie of the Long U Word Sort! WORD WORK FAVORITES: PRINTABLES Stumbled across this great set of word work printables last year and THEY ARE FREE!! Click the link to check them out on Mrs. Mabe's TPT Store! Enjoy!!
In this post, I'm going to share TWENTY word work ideas for sight word practice in your classroom. Before I begin the fun, I want to quickly explain how my
These editable word work activities are perfect for small groups or centers and help every level of reader as they become stronger readers!
Do you need new phonics activities? These Short U Phonics Worksheets give students practice reading and writing short u CVC words by word family. In this teaching resource, there are 18 different phonics worksheet templates with multiple pages for each template to accommodate all of the short u CVC words taught in kindergarten and first grade. This is a great no-prep printable for kindergarten word work centers.
I'm sharing 12 FREE, NO PREP, customizable Spelling Activities perfect for K-2 students and details about my Year-long, Weekly Word Study Units for K-3!
Combining sight words and word families is the perfect way to start a child's reading journey. Download free printable worksheets and centers!
Word work activities for ANY words! Word work is an essential part of language learning in the primary grades. Make word work FUN while LEARNING takes place! There are seventeen different word work activities included in this pack. They can be used for absolutely ANY word learning! Perfect for literacy centers or sub plans. A must have for Kindergarten- Third Grade! #wordwork #wordworkactivities #spelling #1stgrade #2ndgrade #kindergarten
These editable word work activities are perfect for small groups or centers and help every level of reader as they become stronger readers!
Free, no-prep, editable spelling activities perfect for any word work center! #wordwork #sightwordactivities #daily5 #teachingreading #mrswintersbliss
Why is phonics so important? It's the foundational skill of decoding letters into their corresponding sounds, which is essential for students to independently read unknown words. Research shows that it's the best way to teach students to read words. While we do provide systematic phonics instruction during whole group and small groups, students also need time to practice these newly learned skills. It's also vital that they get some spiral review within their day. The best way I have found to do this is through our Word Work Station. In this post, I want to share how I set up my word work center, what our favorite tools and activities are, and how I manage it from week to week in a way that's not overwhelming or time consuming. Teachers cannot afford to add anything else to their plates. (This post may contain affiliate links.) This is my most recent word work center. I like to have it in front of a bulletin board so that I can hang posters and anchor charts. The pocket chart is for words that they can practice with that week's spelling pattern. That's an early finisher activity in which they can use whiteboards to quiz each other, rainbow spell, or make words with play-doh. I like to put fabric around the table so that I can use underneath for storage. I post this list of to-dos that's laminated, so that I can write on it with a dry erase marker. I always list two activities that they can do, so that we don't run into the problem of them finishing one and then not knowing what to do next. I don't have to worry about them interrupting my small group to ask what to do next or for them to be off task doing nothing. Each group also has a leader, so if they forget to look to the board for what to do, the group leader can show them. I change what it says every two days. That sounds like a lot but it only takes a minute, and I usually do it while I'm explaining centers to them. The activities that go in there are already prepped from years before or I got them ready the week before. I have four groups, two rotations per day, so that allows each group to go there every other day. (Find these Back to School Anchor Charts HERE) We create anchor charts together during our whole group phonics. I then can move these to the word work center for reference. I print them in poster size, but you don't have to do that if you don't have room. Sometimes I don't have room for all that I want to hang, so I print them out letter size and laminate them for the following years. We then write on them with dry erase markers. I usually let the students write on these so that we can practice stretching out words with our puppets. I also always print these posters for the spelling pattern of the week. I can then move them over to the word work center for reference. I spend the first month of school teaching lots of procedures. One of those is where to find classroom tools. They may need dice, spinners, counters, linking cubes, or game pieces for our word work games, so I make sure they know where to find them. These Ikea shelves were the best investment for our tools and manipulatives. They know what pieces they need for each game, so they can grab them themselves. I don't have to worry about putting tools at the word work center each week. I do not put dry erase markers or erasers at the center. They just know to bring their pencil pouches with them to the word work station that contains those needed supplies. I store my games and activities in two different places. These organizers from Amazon are great to store posters and activities by spelling pattern. They don't take up a lot of space either. I just labeled them according to my pacing guide. This is an example of printing the anchor charts smaller, so that I can store them in here for next year. If you print larger, you can roll them up. I store those in a cute hamper. I try to just stick to similar activities from week to week. I don't have time to teach new games and activities each week, so I want station activities to be familiar. If it is something new, we will play it in small group first and then it moves to the station the following week. These activities are some of my Word Work Activities and Games. It's important to have my students do word sorts, so I usually have them complete one of those. I just laminate them and print them on cardstock and store in these plastic bags. I throw them in the file folder storage. They are always obsessed with these spelling pattern board games. I thought they would get tired of them, but nope! This is usually activity two in the station. You can find them in each of my Word Work packs here. I also love Susan Jones's Print, Play, and Learn Games! I bought her bundle so that I would have these for all of the spelling patterns. I just print and laminate them and store in these folders. We will usually play these in small groups to learn how to play, and then they go in the station the following week. They're very easy to prep. I store these and the Roll and Reads from Sparkling in Second in these clear tubs. They're also very easy to prep, and we use those for small groups and stations. They are great for decoding and fluency practice. The tubs easily slide underneath the word work table. I pull out the box I need and put it at my table and then at the word work station. My word work station is pretty basic, but that's what I like about it. Once you make these games and get organized, you are ready to go for years. Not to say that I don't add new things here and there, but consistency is key with centers or stations. I hope this post helps you or gives you some ideas on how to create a simple, but engaging and effective word work center. It's definitely one of my students' favorite spots to visit multiple times each week. If you need some ideas for phonics instruction, whether you're teaching in-person or virtually, you can CLICK HERE.
If you run literacy centers or a Daily 5 framework in your classroom then you know the struggle of constantly planning and prepping engaging activities for your students to keep behavior problems at a minimum so you can meet with your small groups for Guided […]
Free, no-prep, editable spelling activities perfect for any word work center! #wordwork #sightwordactivities #daily5 #teachingreading #mrswintersbliss
I'm sharing 12 FREE, NO PREP, customizable Spelling Activities perfect for K-2 students and details about my Year-long, Weekly Word Study Units for K-3!
What's more fun than learning the alphabet and sight words than with a game? This alphabet and sight word tic-tac-toe game is sure to be a hit!
These Short I Phonics Worksheets focus on short i CVC words and include 150 NO PREP printables to practice short i.
Find 10 sight word activities and games for Kindergarten or 1st grade. These sight word activities can be played whole group, small group, or in centers.
My Kindergarteners have been rocking their CVC words this year. I am so proud of them. I found the best way to teach short vowels, is to expose kids to them in a variety of methods. We talk about them in whole group and in guided reading. Students get independent practice in morning work buckets ... Read More about CVC Word Work {Freebies Included}
Do your students need some extra practice with reading and writing words with short a phonics patterns? These Short A Phonics Worksheets & Activities are perfect for your short a word work centers during literacy time.
Do your students need some extra practice with reading and writing words with short a phonics patterns? These Short A Phonics Worksheets & Activities are perfect for your short a word work centers during literacy time.
