Classroom Archives - Pure Joy Teaching

Blending Board Letter Storage Idea

The magazine file holders are a perfect fit for my shelf. They are within reach of my reading table. The boards slide right in. They are big enough to fit smaller cookie sheets too.

A Magazine Storage File, Makes a Great Divider on My Literacy Shelf.

Easy Way to Store the Different Letter Boards

There are many reasons why I took the time to create extra blending broads. Then, I needed a way to store all the extra boards. The magazine file holders are a perfect fit for my shelf. They are within reach of my reading table. The boards slide right in. They are big enough to fit smaller cookie sheets too.

Clear L-Pocket Covers

Each whiteboard is covered with a clear plastic L pocket before it is put on the shelf. We call it the clear blanket. The younger kids say, “Time for the letters to go night-night”. After they put all the letters back in place, they slip each whiteboard into the pocket. Making sure the open end is at the top and the folder end is at the bottom. So, no letter tiles will escape.

The cookies nest together very nicely, we usually don’t cover them.

Leveled Letter Groups

UFli is great. They have wide range of free things in the toolbox. The Satpim order is not taught in the UFLi scope and sequence, but the decodable books that were available at my school were the Satpim style. So, I adapted some of my blending boards to have less letters. This was helpful for a few reasons.

Fewer letters to start with.
Less to clean up or lose.
Less distraction on the blending board.
Costs less – fewer magnets needed.
Sorted pre-made boards for differentiated invention groups.

Blending Without Tears

Some students can’t handle all 26 letters at once. One boy started to cry. He was new to group and he did not have all his sounds yet. When we switched to less letters it was easier for him to keep up.

The result was more organized system that flowed will with the scope and sequence of each group.

Lines Under the Letters

I also added lines under the letters. To help aid the students with the letter reversal issues. b, d, p, q, n, u, m, w. All these letters were creating problems. Some students said things like, “I have two m’s.” I had to admit without the bottom line as reference it did look like she had two letter m’s.

Extra Letters

It has proven to be helpful to have a box of extra letters near by. With out fail some how the letters get misplaced. This large shorting box has been very handy.

Vowel Importance – Red Letters

Sometimes we need to do a little extra vowel pratice. These cvc word builder sheets let student put the missing vowel sound in the word next to the picture. The self-checking flap help it to feel more like a game.

Mnemonic Letter Tiles

Some struggling reader need little bit of extra phonemic support with the letter sounds. It is another way to scafold the learning.

CVC Uno game for Emergent Readers

I Spy Worksheets

For Letters and words

I hear with my little ear, I spy with my little eye…….

This is a great way to make learning fun. Capital I and lowercase /i/.
Words it and It
is and Is
Letters a, A
Letters b, B
h, n
h, b
Fall letters g, p, y
Words that make ‘z’ sounds is, his,
Sounds of b, d,

Handwriting Sheets for

h,b,
r, n,
n, p,
c, a,
a, d,
a, g,

Games

Tic-Tac-Toe

Worksheets here on TPT

An, and Word Family Game

An, and, ran, tan, Jan, ant, more

This game has a funny backstory. Once during a reading group, one of the students told me, “An is not a real word. I asked my mom and she said it’s not real.”

It was good reminder that this word is underused and needs to be taught.

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/An-and-word-family-game-Capital-and-lowercase-as-board-style-Emergent-readers-9169042

When teaching emergent readers the word “an,” it’s important to explain it in simple terms. This is one example of how you might do that:

Explain the Role of “An”:
“An” is a word we use before a noun when the noun starts with a vowel sound (like “a,” “e,” “i,” “o,” or “u”). It helps us say things clearly, like in “an apple” or “an umbrella.”
Give Examples:
- “An apple” (because “apple” starts with the vowel sound “a”).
- “An egg” (because “egg” starts with the vowel sound “e”).
- “An ice cream” (because “ice” starts with the vowel sound “i”).
Contrast with “A”:
You can explain that “an” is used only when the next word starts with a vowel sound. If the next word starts with a consonant sound, we use “a.” For example:
- “A dog” (because “dog” starts with the consonant sound “d”).
- “An apple” (because “apple” starts with the vowel sound “a”).
Practice with Simple Sentences:
Help them practice with simple phrases:
- “I see an apple.”
- “She has an orange.”
- “He wants an umbrella.”

By connecting “an” to things they are already familiar with and using it in simple sentences, emergent readers can start to recognize and use “an” correctly in their reading and writing!

Vowels are important

Vowel knowledge is essential for early learners. As educators, we often use terms like “CVC words,” but young learners may not fully understand what CVC, consonants, and vowels mean.

This is a great reminder that the five vowels are special and not the same as the other letters. The game below has the vowels marked in red.

CVC Uno game for Emergent Readers

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Tic Tac Toe Board with Electrical Tape

Students like to play this game. I choose skills or words that they need to practice. Great for handwriting practice, cvc words, sight words, or tricky vowel sounds.

Create a reusable whiteboard to practice handwriting and spelling.

Tic-Tac-Toe was one of the first games I learned to use as a tool, to help teach my preschool students. Simple x’s & o’s, and the spatial awareness of drawing the lines. The kids think of it as a game and are more willing to pick up a pencil or crayon if it feels fun.

White Board with Tape Lines.

Using electrical tape has created something reusable. I was surprised at how much the kids loved erasing the words, and the lines stayed. It was like magic to them. They wipe the letters off and rush to play again. Hooray!

Adding the lines has given new life to this old scratched-up whiteboard.

Cutting the Tape

The original thickness of the electrical tape is wide. Making the lines thinner, by cutting with scissors was too hard. Using an Xacto made it easier to cut.

Carefully cut away from yourself.

Cutting a straight line without a guide was too hard. Don’t try it! I found a plastic milk cap that was a nice thickness. With the electrical tape flat on the table, I could keep the Xacto knife flat on the cap. Rotate the tape slowly and cut the tape with a little bit of pressure to cut the tape. Be sure to cut away from your body.

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Try CVC words.

CVC words are great for this game. After we play the Uno CVC game, I will choose some words they need to practice writing.

Using the tic-tac-toe game is great for practicing sight words. Try capital letters and lowercase letters. Especially in words like the letter /i/ (It, If, Is, In) Those are good words to work on. Remind the students to sound out the word as they write it.

Sometimes we practice just the letters b, and d. This helps with letter reversals.

Hu bu hu bu Handwriting – Helps with b d reversals

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C Pirate Letters Sand Tray

Correct formation of the letter e is very important. This has been helpful for many students. Letter e is the only letter that starts in the middle.

Montessori-Style Letters with an Engaging Pirate Theme

Handwriting can be an engaging activity with a pirate theme in a sand tray. In book two of this handwriting letter adventure, the pirates have just realized that they have no vowels. All the letters that they learned in book one can not be used to spell any real words. Their excitement turns to confusion.

A cheeky bird calls out, “Aw, au vowels.” Then it flies away.

The pirates rapidly chase after the bird and learn to make the C-shaped letters along the way. This group includes c, a, g, d, q, o, s, e.

Sand Trays

The use of sand trays in the Montessori style is one of my favorite ways to practice letters. Normally, I just would rotate different colors of sand, or customize the tray bottom with different colored or shiny paper. But this storybook pirate theme opens up my options and lets me add items from the book. The kids can recreate the letters by following along or re-enacting the story. This gives me more opportunities to talk to them about starting spots and correct letter formation in a fun way.

Choosing the right supplies to make a mini fake coconut for the C-letter theme.

Gathing Supplies for the C-Letters to Trace Around

Any box will do to make your own sand tray. It can be a fancy wood one like this, or a shallow box with a lid if you are concerned with spills. The fake coconut may be harder to find. My husband brought me a macadamia nut still in the shell. I think is the perfect size. I need to cut it and paint the inside white. The larger object next to it was an avocado seed, but the shape it off. I don’t think I will use that one.

Yellow paint on the coin gave it extra shine.

Pirate gold at the top marks the start spot for most of the letters in the group. I had a foreign coin that was about the size of a penny, with some extra yellow paint added, it now stands out from the sand color. This was the best size for my small box. If your box is bigger, you could use the fake gold they sell in the party supply stores.

The Letter e, Starts in the Middle

You might want to have one fake coconut that is still whole and roll it in your sand tray for the letter e. In the story, the pirates hear a weird noise in the brushes and one of them rolls a coconut like a bowling ball in a straight line. Then, the monkey pushes it away and it makes the letter e shape.

When I teach this to students at my writing table, I open the book and show them the pictures. We say the steps together roll it straight and the monkey pushes it around in the c shape. That is the letter e. This has been helpful for many students. Letter e is the only letter that starts in the middle.

Correct formation of the letter e is very important. Many students make sloppy rushed letters. In the case of letter e, it might look the same as the letter c. This is a problem that impacts spelling especially if the /e/ is close to the letter /k/. Then the word looks like it ends with /ck/.

You can order the books from Amazon and the letterstrips, letter cards and worksheets can all be found on TPT.

The adventure continues, the pirates think that someone has been digging for treasure on the island. A huge surprise in the sand leads them to learn the next set of straight-line letters.

These letters are the third handwriting group they learn: i, j, l, t, f, k.

The straight lines of the turtle tracks leading to the water are a very good way to explain the direction of travel and remember to start at the top. The hatchling eggs mark the dot on top of the letters i and j.

Book 3 of the handwriting adventure.

The pirate’s journey is complete and they find the last vowel and the treasure in book four X Pirate Letters. Shark teeth are used to make the pointy slanted line letters.

The whole pirate adventure is available in one storybook on Amazon. The Pirate Letters: Lowercase Handwriting Storybook.

R’s Pirate Letters Handwriting Storybook

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Back to School Handwriting Program

letter shape patterns help to avoid letter confusion.

Engaging Handwriting Orton-Gillingham Styled Letter Tracables and Story Book Lessons

This book and handwriting program has fun visual links to help students see the letter shape patterns and avoid letter confusion.

Great for back-to-school, colorful pictures with an animal and pirate theme.

Find the book here on Amazon. The printables can be purchased on TPT

Phonics Spelling Games Bundle Decodable Digraphs

Leveled educational intervention for the different structured literacy stages.

Lots of great phonics spelling games in one big bundle.

A fun way to learn spelling rules and reading flashcards in a game-style educational setting.

Great for leveled educational intervention for the different structured literacy stages. Easy to fit into your scope and sequence.

CVC, CVCC, Floss, R-controlled, CVCe, Long a, C+le, Many sounds of y, many spellings of sh, Many silent letters, syllables, vowel teams, many spellings of “ew/oo” and sight words.

Based on many familiar kids’ games: Uno, War, Old Man, Go Fish, Crazy Eights, Rummy, and some editable play cards. You must see, there is so much in this bundle.

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You might also like the tricky Schwa sounds

Long Vowels Spelling Test Clip Card Bundle

Decodable game-style testing ay, ea, ei, e, i, -y, ey, igh, y_e, ie, ign, oa…..and more. Long a, e, i, o.

This is a great way to check on the student’s spelling without them knowing that they are being assessed for spelling. It works well in small groups and it is fun.

There are four sets of cards in this bundle.

You can get them here from TPT.

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Which do I use letter C or the Letter K?

I remind them to listen for the vowels. If it is a, o, u, use c. If it is e or i, use the k.

Do your students ever ask you this question? Is it c or k?

Letter C or Letter K . Reminding the students to listen for the vowel sounds is great to figure it out. If the sound is: a, o, u, the use letter c.

If the vowel sound is: e or i, use the k.

This game is one way to let them read words that have the c and k spelling patterns.

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Many Sounds of the Letter u.

How many sounds does letter u have? This is one of the rare vowels that has more than one long sound. This can make reading tricky for words like tube and use. One has /oo/ sound the other has a sharp /y/ sound.

Explore the many sounds of the letter u, with this a helpful unicorn mnemonic.

Do you know all the different sounds letter u can make?

This might be a tricky one to teach. Some students that are learning to decode by the traditional phoneme sounds have trouble with words that do not follow the normal sounds. Example words: you, push, pull, put, was, banana.

So, with that in mind. I made up this silly picture and sentence to help them.

Unbelievable the U pushed the super unicorn

The vowel can make lots of different sounds. This sentence and the silly picture is a clever way to remember some of the sounds and different spellings of the Y-oo!

You can find it here.

The letter u can make a shocking amount of sounds. The sounds can be hidden in many different spellings. Example words: the, was, push, super. In the word unicorn, the letter u name and the schwa sound comes from the letter i.

Crazy! Right ….

Unbelievable! You pushed the super unicorn

This Super Unicorn Collection can be helpful for teaching and clearing up some of the sounds and spellings by grouping them together in word lists and adding colorful pictures to create mnemonic clues.

Check out my large bundle of Long Vowel Spelling Test Clip Cards.

Phonics Spelling Games Bundle Decodable Digraphs

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