It's Great to Be Reading "Other Word Families" YouTube

Teachers often ask which song/multimedia file from "Growing Dendrites" is my favorite. Well, that's a difficult question because I made them all for different reasons. The 2 versions of "It's Great to Be Reading" have a significant impact on teaching my students the reading strategy "Look for the chunk."  We sing both versions of the song, which gives them 10 different word family anchors to help transfer the strategy:  If you can read _______, then you can read _________.  It also works the same way when applying it to spelling.   If you can spell ________, you can spell _________. 

As we do word studies in our classroom, the children apply the song to other word families that are introduced.  For example, "ent" makes the sound of "ent."  Add a "t" and you have "tent."  Add a "w" and you have "went" . . .  "bent and cent and dent and silent." So as they are busy working during Readers' Workshop, I often hear them singing this song to read other words in the classroom. That's when I know a strategy is working for my students because we ultimately want them to be able to transfer their learning to other areas and also be independent with this strategy.  Sometimes our students just need an anchor as a connection to other words.

Here is a video of how I use it in my classroom. This song works on the word families that contain "ank," "ink," "ight," "ice," and "ay."

Wiki Stik Making Words

Not a fan of Wiki Stik and the sticky mess?  Cut your Wiki Stik into strips and place inside a black binder.  Have the students sort by color and place back on the inside of the folder when finished.  Close the binder, put in a plastic tub, and never have to worry about them drying out or getting all stuck together.

"and" makes the sound of "and." Add a "h" and you have "hand."  Add a "b" and you have "band."  IT'S GREAT TO BE READING AND SPELLING!

Have your students make words with Wiki Stick.  Don't like to clean up the mess after centers?  Have the students build the words on black clipboards.  When they are finished making words, have them put their clipboards in the tub with the binder above.  No more mess and it becomes a more manageable center.

If you can read . . . you can read . . . .
If you can spell . . . . you can spell . . . 

Write a story with the word families.

To purchase "It's Great to Be Reading" for the Smart Board, IWB, or student computer click on the link below:
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Its-Great-to-Be-Reading-for-the-Smart-Board-or-Computer


To purchase the "It's Great to Be Reading" book set for independent reading, guided reading, "Just Right Reading," the listening center, or as a song folder for homework, click on the link below:
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Its-Great-to-Be-Reading-Books


To purchase the "It's Great to Be Reading" mp3 song for whole group or for the listening center click on the link below:
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Its-Great-to-Be-Reading-Song


Thanks for stopping by!