Tuesday, September 6, 2011

The Very, Very Important Book Of Kindergarten Words

I can't take credit for this idea. It is not my own. Before I started working in my current district I subbed for 2 years. It was hard to do because I had just come off of teaching for 3 years in my previous state and REALLY wanted my own class. However, it was probably the most valuable thing I did. Why? I got to know several people in several schools and I made many connections. However, my favorite part was getting to go into other teachers classes and seeing how they, organized their rooms, their anchor charts, their teaching strategies, and their WONDERFUL ideas. This idea came from a fantastic, at the time kindergarten teacher, now a First grade teacher.

Every time I subbed in his room he pulled out "The Very Very Important Book Of Kindergarten Words!" Immediately I was intrigued. What could this be? To put it simply it is a binder with the Kindergarten High Frequency Words.

Ever since I got my own room, I have made this book with my students and they love it! Every week we look for our weekly words in the books we read. They love looking for these words and are super excited when they find them. Of course I am super proud and make a huge deal about it.

Once the words are found in the text I also print up a sheet with the HFW on it twice, once with the capital letter and one with the lowercase letter. I then make a photocopy of the page and highlight the HFW in the text. I make them in black and white to save on money, but you could make them in color if you choose to do so.I chop it all up and glue it on the main HFW page.

We read this book several times a week to increase fluency. Mainly, I read it on Mondays, when I introduce the new word, Wednesdays, when I read the story, and Fridays, when we add the words to the Word Wall.

At the end of the year, I bind all the pages we have made and add it to my class library. The last couple of weeks the kids get to read this at the reading workstation/ center. I just have to mention it is the favored book for those last few days. They are so proud of their work, but most importantly they are proud they can read it independently!

Enough of me talking. Want to see what it looks like? 
Take a peek at the one we created last year.
 Here is the front cover.
 In no particular order.
I like to find books with large text.
(Click on the pictures to make it larger.)
 However, when I can't, I type up the text, print it up and glue it to the page.

 My favorite...
 My students favorite.
Occasionally I can't find a book with the HFW, that fits in the theme we are studying. In those cases I use our Guided reading books.

I have tried to do this with my First graders and have not been able to do it because of the amount of words my students learn in First grade. However, I had an epiphany, theme vocabulary! for example when we study farms this year I will pull some farm vocab and have them find those words in the text. Them we will bind the book at the end of the theme. What I love about this idea is that the students will get their hands on the theme vocab books faster. They won't have to wait until the end of the year to get their hands on it.

This can also be used with the older kids. Just pick your theme or your set of words and look for the words in the text. Once your book is complete just bind it and put it in your class library! :)

To encourage you to try this out I made a cover sheet for you.
I revamped mine this year and thought I would share.
Kinder Wd Bk

I toyed with the idea of putting up all the HFW pages for you, BUT everyone's words are different so I thought I would leave it up to you. I hope you do try this. I know my students and I love doing it. I thank Mr. Kindergarten/ 1st grade for introducing me to this every year.

30 comments:

  1. Thanks so much for sharing this, I think it is fantastic! I am always looking for something to help teach those HFW's. :) I am going to get started on this right away. Thank you!
    I have a brand new blog if you want to hop over, I don't have much yet, but I am working on it. :)
    www.kinderlandfun.blogspot.com
    Thanks!

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  2. Thank you! I just hopped over to Scribd and printed the cover. :-)
    I have a movable word wall this year; I've been photographing the words and book covers each week. Your cover page will be perfect for the binder!

    ReadWriteSing

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  3. What an excellent idea. I am sure your kids love adding to it. What a great way to track reading too.

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  4. Thank you so much for sharing!! I can't wait to introduce this to my reading groups. Hopefully we'll end up with a book for each grade K-3 :)

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  5. LOVE this idea! Thanks so much for sharing!!!

    ❤Mrs. McKown
    Little Literacy Learners

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  6. Love this! I did something similar last year with my StoryTown vocabulary words: word, definition, illustration picture (usually from google images or clip art). Every week we learned 6 new words, and I would print the 6 individual vocab slides I had created for my SMARTboard lesson and then add it to the binder. It was a "growing" book. By the end of the year it was quite thick and heavy. I think that made the kids love it even more. I will use your cover ideas to "spiff up" my book this year. Thanks so much for sharing!

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    1. Sounds like an excellent idea for the older kids. I will keep it in mind!
      Mels

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  7. I think this is a great concept but as a Mom am a bit surprised that for the word Mom that you have the sentence "Mom slept in the dog house." You really couldn't think of a better sentence or picture for Mom or Dad huh? I am pretty sure the two most important people in a childs life deserve a little more respect than the sentences and ideas you are putting into their childrens minds. Great idea, poorly executed...

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    1. My guess is that it was from a particular story that her class read, and the kids would remember it in context.

      Don't be so precious. Geez.

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    2. Thanks Kiwi,
      That particular book was a riot. The mom sleeps all over the place cause Daddy's snoring is awful. Then in the end he starts sleep talking and she puts him out! lol

      Mainly use it to teach my ELL kids the names of different places in a home.
      Mels

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    3. Francesca,
      I am sorry you feel that way. Have you tried finding a children book that has the word "Mom" in it? I had a hard time. This particular book also serves a 2nd purpose though. I use it to teach words that name places in a house/ home. So while you may think that it degrades a mother, there is a bigger picture. With every place the mother sleeps we discuss if it is an appropriate place to sleep or not. The kids know what is appropriate and what is not. It is all in good fun.

      My students love the story and I think they love their mommies and daddies just as much after. Actually they may have a better appreciation after reading. LOL
      Mels

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  8. thanks for sharing, this is a terrific idea for kids to see the words in the text they are reading, I have my firsties find the weekly words in the textbook story but this would go along well for some of the lower readers and for the dolch words!!

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  9. I found your idea via Pinterest, and have now introduced this in my K class. The kids just love it (especially being able to find the example book to make the new pages each week). The binder has become a favourite choice during independent reading...almost as popular as "Pete the Cat", so that says a lot! :-) Thanks so much for sharing!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you so much for your kind words. Your comment made my day. :)
      Melissa

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  10. Wow, Francesca, I think the kids found those sentences and thought they were a hoot! Thank you for sharing this idea, Melissa. I can't wait to start it and I think it will also be super helpful for my possibly dyslexic student!

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    1. They were and they did. That particular book was a riot. The mom sleeps al over the place cause Daddy's snoring is awful. Then in the end he starts sleep talking and she puts him out! lol

      Mainly use it to teach my ELL kids the names of different places in a home.

      Thanks!
      Mels

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  11. Do you have to be a Scribd member to get it?

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    1. Hi Rebecca,
      Yes, but the membership is free. Sorry.
      Melissa

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  12. Did you add the entire book or did you just pick pages from different stories to show that sight word?

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    1. Stormie,
      I only copied the page that had the sight word/HFW that I was teaching at the moment.
      Melissa

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  13. Ok thank you! Do you read that story before you add it or can it be from any story that has not been read? I am trying to make one for at home to help my daughter with sight words. We have been struggling with them,if you have any tips I would appreciate them!

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    1. We do read the story beforehand. That way the word is in context and the children are able to assign a meaning to it. The retention rate is so much higher when kids learn words in context.

      I would really suggest Annie Moffat's sight words packs. She has so many activities and resources. Even some freebies for you to try before you buy. You can read about her Sight Word program at the link below.
      http://moffattgirls.blogspot.com/2011/05/coming-tomorrow-what-is-ready2read.html

      Hope it helps.
      Melissa

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