Subtract All and a freebie!

Wow! It's been a few weeks since I have posted.  But what a fun, but busy, month it has been.  I recently finished my first OG training as on-site director.  It was a blast!  Thank you to Jane Childers and all of the wonderful teachers from The Learning Center at The Lexington School who participated!     You ladies made it a truly wonderful experience and I hope to continue working with you!

So as I prepare for Math camp, I put together a quick resource on Subtracting All (or none).  I think we sometimes forget how important it is to directly and explicitly teach the vocabulary of the content.  I know I am guilty of getting caught up in what I am teaching and assuming they know more than they do.  So here is the freebie.

For those of you in the Lexington area you should check out this wonderful school:
The Lexington School

I hope you all have a safe and Happy 4th!  - Candi : )


                                                  A funny from Pinterest to leave you with:

Do you need to FLOSS (Z) ?

 Hi Everyone!

I have migrated to my new website www.theinstructionhub.com.

I hope you will join me there and follow me on Instagram and Facebook - @theinstructionhub

No I am not working on a unit having to do with teeth.  Instead we are reviewing on of the spelling patterns we have learned this year.  We have rules that we group as "short vowel flags."  Well the FLOSS(Z) rule is one of them.  If you are unfamiliar with the rule (which I was until I started my OG training) here it is:
If there is a-

1 syllable word with
1 short vowel
ending in F, L, S, or Z
you DOUBLE the FINAL consonant!!!

Enjoy!
Candi : )

Blends-Again!

Please feel free to repost- but would you please link back to me : )

http://www.memosfromamultisensoryteacher.com/

Wow- it has been awhile since I have posted.  There has been a lot going on and I could not find time to get my posts up.  But I have been taking pictures and videos of the happenings in class to share with my blog friends.   So as we are winding the school year, we have been doing a lot of review.  Blends (initial and final) are still bugaboos for some of my kiddos.  

For those of you familiar with Orton-Gillingham, you have probably seen the "blending drill pack."  Well this was my little addition to the process.  I had posted earlier about adding small sticky notes in order to create a "button" for each sound that the student could "push" as they said the sound.  The above video is an example of how I would complete this activity.

For Parents- This is a GREAT review tool for the summer and easy to make on notecards.  

For Teachers- this is a GREAT and quick warm-up for a lesson.

For OG Tutors- I complete this right after my Visual and Auditory Drills.

I hope this is helpful.  I promise more to come-more often.  Thanks for your patience!

Candi : )

I'm thinking BEACH!

Hello  friends,
It has been quite a busy few days and I have not been able to write you!  I don't know about you but I often find my mind wondering to the beach these days.  With the 80 degree weather, sunshine, and the fact my husband put my hammock up for the season....it is really hard not to go on mental vacays!

Anyways- in keeping with the beach idea I found some treasures at the Target dollar section....you know the one my husband says, "it's not a dollar section when you spend 50 dollars."  Yep that one!  So during my language lesson we use phoneme drill cards/flash cards and have the students trace the letter three times in cursive while saying the sound.  Well to spice it up a bit I took a math beach ball idea and made it into a language idea.  On the ball I put all of the sounds they had learned this year.  Then we take turns tossing, shooting, etc. the beach ball and whatever two graphemes/letters your thumbs land on you have to give that sound.  If it has multiple sounds, for example y that says /y/, /e/, and /i/, they have to give all three sounds.  Of course you then have those times when the thumb isn't exactly on a letter.....just choose the closest one.  Here is what it looks like:

Also in the dollar section, I found a set of plastic horseshoes.  I set these up and have the kiddos break into teams.  I quiz them on a spelling pattern, rule, etc.  If they answer correctly they get to throw their horseshoe.  Pretty cheap ways to have fun and chances to get OUTSIDE!!!! Here is a picture of them:

Anyways hope you enjoy!

Candi : )

Celebrate Calm

Last night Carolina Day hosted Kirk and Casey the father-son team from  Celebrate Calm.  I'll be honest, I was not exactly excited about going to a workshop on a Monday evening.  I must say I am so glad I went.  Not only did they give GREAT advice, they were very entertaining.  They were able to use humor and honesty to approach some tough scenarios that we as teachers, parents, etc. face each day.  It challenged me to do some self reflection on my own personal management.

Kirk offered excellent suggestions for breaking the (unsuccessful) cycles we sometimes fall into with kids who are oppositional, have difficulty managing energy, or have difficulty with social situations.  Casey offered the perspective of the child who has these struggles and what did and did not work for him growing up.  

They have a series of videos which I highly recommend- but if you get the chance to see them live take advantage of it.

Here is their website: http://celebratecalm.com/

Check it out!

Candi : )

Blends....urgh!!!

 Hi Everyone!

I have migrated to my new website www.theinstructionhub.com.

I hope you will join me there and follow me on Instagram and Facebook - @theinstructionhub

Thank you! In first grade we are learning to decode new words, building new reading and writing skills, and everything is going along smoothly until....you add initial and final blends.  The bug-a boo of many firsties! 

For my Orton tutors, teachers, parents, and friends I use the blending drill pack that you may have seen in training, at school, or for homework.

Those of you who are not familiar with the blending drill pack you can of course make these with colored notecards. Prior to practicing with students, place colored sticky tabs on the blend cards- one for each sound in the blend.

1. Pull a vowel and have the student say the long and short sound.
2. Pull a consonant and place it following the vowel.  Remind students the vowel will now be short    because it is "closed in" by a consonant (closed syllable).
3. Then have students "push the button" (sticky) for each consonant sound followed by the vowel and final consonant.
4.  Then have students slide two fingers underneath blending the whole syllable/word together a second time for a smooth read.
5.  Flip the blend card for a new word.
*Double check possible word combinations beforehand....sometimes a word combination might surprise you.*

You can do the same thing with final blends. You can also change the syllable type and vowel sound.
I have found this really helps students see the two (or more) sounds in the blend, and aids them in pulling them apart and putting them together again.  It is also helpful when they are reading a word in text with a blend....I will place a small dash under each consonant and they "push the button" with their pencil.

This exercise will also help when they go to spell words with blends.  Below is a picture of how I do this exercise in class.
(We label the vowels with dots, and consonants with c.) They always have to "swoop" back under the word to blend and read smoothly.
Happy Blending!  : ) Candi