Finding Words in Print ~ How Fun!

I am in full swing with kindergarten, and I am going to be brutally honest.  Kindergarten is NOT my favorite group to work with.  My first year as a reading specialist I actually had my aide do most of the lessons with them because I just don't enjoy them as much as some people do.  I believe I was wired for the older students!  I can plan for weeks at a time for them but really struggle with kindergarten.

Anyway, I am getting better at it, and I am beginning to enjoy them a little more.  They are sweet and fun, and by the end of the year, I love them more than I imagined I could.  AND, I love watching them grow through the years.  That is one of the best perks of being a reading specialist!  I get to spend 7 years with these kids, not just 1!

I have a group of kindergarteners that are beginning to show that they are ready to get into some concept of word work.  I started them off with some sorting of letters, words, or sentences, and they proved to be pros!  This week we are working on a fun poem that is simple and easy. 

Today we worked on finding various words in the poem by matching the words on the flash cards.  They had a blast doing this!  I showed them a card and told them which line to look in.  They then had to find the word.  Here they are finding the words.

Then they had to show me how the letters matched up to the word they found.  This was great because it let them see when they got a word wrong because they based it on the first letter.

We will then move on to figuring out the words and then tracking the poem.  I actually find this to be fun when they really get that concept of word!  Then I know I have done my job!

How do you teach concept of word?  Any strategies to help those kindergarteners?


3 comments

  1. I'm right with you on kindergarten! So glad we have two specialists and I can do upper grades.

    Don't Let the Teacher Stay Up Late
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  2. Something to keep in mind is that we get the most challenging kindergarten students...those who haven't acclimated to school, sharing, and the idea of learning. I think it comes with practice, Andrea. It took me a bit to figure out how to best address their needs, but once you do, it's amazing how they grow. I had really good success with the emergent and eventually beginning reader plans. If you're interested, I have a huge folder of printable poems for COW. It's not something I can list since I didn't write them, but I''m glad to share them. Just let me know.
    Carla Comprehension Connection

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  3. Sounds like we have been working on pretty similar things with our kindergarteners! I have been using a lot of shared reading with poems, similar to yours. I have also been using big books. They are making a lot of progress, but we still have a ways to go!

    Amy
    Eclectic Educating

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