Silly questions with lots of funny “w” words for answers.
How far from their far north snow-covered homeland would walruses be willing to waddle, for waffles?
A funny question with silly illustrations. Lots of words start with the letter w like: wigs, wallets, whales, and wrestling too.
This book was created to fill a void in my “W” letter library, for my letter of the week curriculum. It also is a beautiful artistic tribute to the land that I love, covered with snow and beautiful auroras.
Hidden within the pictures of the story are a few little rubber ducks. Try to spot them all.
This could be fun to use with older students too. Challenge them with a writing task about the waffle hunting adventures.
Once I got started making waffles, I just could not stop there. Check out my waffle letters theme for handwriting. The yellow butter drips show the direction the letter should be written. It is all good letter formation practice. Start your letters at the top and follow the butter drip.
You can add some math with waffle counting too. When I was teaching preschool, my students loved any game that let them feed animals. Check out this feed the walrus waffle printable. You can make your walrus to feed with this simple printout.
The tricky sh sound spelled ci, ti, si, xi, ss, sh, ch, s, c, can now be used as a game. Students love playing card games like War and Uno. These 144 cards were made to highlight the tricky “sh” sounds in words and added a point value to the different spellings. Including the French ch = sh, and letters like c and s, in words like ocean and sugar.
“It is a trick?”
Knowing there is a trick is the best way to avoid being tricked by it. This is a fun play on words. Words like ocean, sure, and sugar all have a “sh” sound that we can not see from the spelling clues.
144-Word cards with color-coded /sh/ (many different spellings of the “sh” sound) with single beginning syllable and ending syllables.
You can find it here on TPT . The are many different ways to play. Use the cards for UNO, War, or flash cards. Printing out multiple sets have been extra helpful for me. I work with many different students at different levels. It is easier for me to have the cards grouped into leveled decks ranging from easy to advanced.
The lesson posters can be cast to the TV or smartboard. I like to keep them all bound up in a booklet, it is handy for working with small groups or tutoring students.
We review the spelling lessons and write a few words from the word lists. Some students like to draw mnemonic pictures for different /sh/spellings. Then we play the card game to put reading into practice.
Level one starts with the main spelling of the sh sound, and explains to the students that these are single-syllable words. The next level can be introducing tricky words like: sure, sugar, and ocean. Or moving on to multiple-syllable words and compound words.
Lesson Booklet Option
Binding up the pages created a valuable handy resource for me.
These mnemonic picture-embedded spelling tips have been very helpful. Especially for the very tricky R-controlled Trigraphs.
Letter reversals can be a huge problem, and sometimes the letter b comes out looking like the number 6.
This is a fun way to practice the correct letter formation and the letter sounds at the same time.
Letter reversals can be a huge problem, and sometimes the letter b comes out looking like the number 6. Some students start both by drawing a straight down and then they can not remember which way the b or d should turn.
So we use the h b h b practice. I tell them the letter h and b are almost the same, the only difference is the letter b is closed at the bottom. So, make the tall letter h then close the bottom. Now it is the letter b. Be sure to make the letter sounds when you write. “h, b, h, b.” This is very important to make the letter sounds. Be careful not to use the letter name too much. Referring to the letter by its sound can help to avoid letter name interference. Letter name interference is very common with w, y, and u.
This is also a great time to remind them that the letter h is a tall letter, and the letter n is a small letter.
It is super important that students learn to start the letters at the top, not the bottom. We have found that when students start the letters on the bottom line there is a good chance that they will turn out backwards. We were seeing confusing letters and thought “Is it dyslexia?” In this case no, it was not. It was just bad handwriting habits that needed to be corrected by teaching the students to start the lowercase letters at the top, and not the bottom.
This is one of the reasons that I wrote this book R’s Pirate Handwriting Storybook. The shape of the letter r is a really good way to group all the letters that make the same starting shape. Practicing these letters together can also help remove the b d confusion. This book series is full of effective practices for teaching writing.
Think of a blue tongue to remind you how to correctly spell the word tongue. They both have the same /ue/ ending.
Teaching with card games.
Spelling tip today.
Think of a blue tongue to remind you how to correctly spell the word tongue. They both have the same /ue/ ending.
The other day we were playing the CVCC Uno card game after our reading group. The word tong, was one of the cards that we took the time to discuss vocabulary and meaning. That brought us to the word tongue and blue, in a roundabout way. One student was thinking the word (tong) might be “tongue.”
They were surprised when I wrote the words tongue and blue on the whiteboard. I underlined the ue and told them to think of the word blue to remind themselves how to spell this tricky word.
There are many teachable moments in these small reading groups. It is pure joy for me to hear them working out new words that they have never read before and discuss their meanings during our games. Teaching the students with flashcard games helps them to sound out new words that they may not find in regular reading passages. When they have confidence in their decoding abilities, then they can stop guessing with the whole word strategy. It is awesome, to hear the shock in their voice when they realize they can read a new word they never knew before.
I have created some hints within the letter shapes to help remind the students of words that make the same digraph sound.
Creative Picture Embedded Hints with the Letter Shapes
Digraphs might be more complex to learn than blends, especially with all the tricky sounds, silent letters, and spelling rules. I have hidden some hints within the letter shapes to help remind the students of words that make the same sound as the digraph. Example ch – one of the sounds of ch is in chomp and chicken. The letter c has teeth to chomp or chew on the chicken leg, which is very similar to the h shape.
This is the first sound of ch, as in chicken. Some kids have it mixed up with the sound /tr/. I was very surprised by this until they explained that /ch/ is for the train picture. (oops!) Some programs have a Choo-choo train for /ch/ sound and it was confusing the emergent readers.
There are many more clever hiding pictures with the digraphs and trigraphs in this set. Including the 3 different sounds for the ch.
These grapheme images incorporate the letter shapes with embedded images to help students recall the sounds that they make. Pictures aid phonemic sound recall and link to memory pathways.
3 different sounds of ch ch, k, sh:
ch – 1 st sound ch, Letter c has teeth to chew the chicken on the letter h.
ch – 2nd sound k, Christmas tree image, letter c is a sack of gifts and letter h on the tall tree has the “sh” silent hand.
ch – 3rd sound /sh/ chef, letter c shape is uncovering the food. (French Word Origins)
3 different sounds of gh:
gh – Ghost images laughing, thinking, and shhhh hand. (3 sounds on one card)
gh – Gh sleeping and coughing with h shhhh hand.
Other digraphs
ck – Duck image with bubbles on letter c and letter k has duck feet
th – Letter t is sticking a tongue out at the thumb image on letter h.
ph – Letter p using a phone and h looks like a phone.
wr – Wrench image with silent w.
tr – Covered with train tracks and a train on letter t.
and much more……
Check out the whole set on my Teachers Pay Teachers page Pure Joy Teaching
The cards can be printed with a word list on the back. Some cards have very helpful spelling tips too. Color-coded to help highlight the digraph or trigraph.
Keep watching this space, I am working on a card game to help reinforce some of these tricky sounds and teach some spelling words at the same time.
Easy letter formation instruction with four sets of illustrated card and posters.
Orton Gillingham Style Illustrated Handwriting worksheets, letter strips, and letter cards.
Lowercase letter support to stop letter reversal errors. Easy to follow letter groups. Make handwriting fast and simple to remember by grouping similar letter shapes, making a muscle memory link.
These 4 different letter groups make a wonderful classroom display and reference for handwriting instruction.
Letter Group 1
1. r, n, m, h, b, p – The letter /r/ is seaweed on the sand, the pirates trace the /r/ shape and that helps to make the other letters in this group. These are the dive down, slide up, and hook letters.
Dark blue water on the bottom of the handwriting cards.
This first group helps teach students to start the letters at the top
Left to right direction of reading and writing
Letter Group 2
2. c, a, g, d, q, o, s, e – Letter c is half a coconut. The pirates trace around the coconut in the sand to make the curved letters in this group. The /c/ curved letters share the same starting point. Letter e was added to this group because it shares the same c shape. (Follow the interaction between a pirate and a monkey. It is a funny story in the book for letter /e/.)
Tallgrass on the bottom of the cards.
Letter Group 3
3. i, j, l, t, f, k – Letter i, are tracks made by turtle-hatchlings. The pirates copy the straight-line letters in the sand.
Light blue water on the bottom of the cards.
Letter Group 4
4. v, w, y, x, z, u – The letter /v/, traces around a shark’s tooth. These are the slanted line letters. Letter u was added to this group. (funny story in the book for letter /u/ and pirate underwear)
Tree trunks on the top of these cards.
Print your own set of letter strips. Great for daily practice, intervention, and more….
Using the Letter c worksheet and letter strips is a great way to teach letters c, a, g, & d. Make a tactile handwriting adventure with a sand tray.
Letter g is just the letter a with a monkey’s tail. In the story, the monkey jumps down from the tree to grab the coconut.
Pirate Book Series Starts with the Letter r.
Starting the r letter set is what the pirates do. This is the best letter to start with, it sets kids up for the correct starting and stopping pencil strokes. It helps create good writing habits. This letter needs to start at the top, not the bottom. It has the same shape and pattern as the often tricky letter b. (r, h, b, they all go the same way)
The red and black text makes the decodable parts stand out.
We play with cards face up, and it is improving their reading skills. This gives the group a chance to help each other when they spot a match, and it keeps everyone’s attention on reading the words.
Teacher tip – The colored groups make it easy sort and to use these as flashcards. I will often introduce just the /er/ sounds together ( er, ur, ir) and students are surprised how quickly they can read now that they know how to decode with the 3 different spellings that all make the same sound.
This game can be found in a group with other games.
Orton-Gillingham Style Handwriting in a storybook to make learning the letters a fun adventure.
This is the fourth book in the handwriting series.
The pirate’s lower case letter adventure is coming to a close with one of their favorite letters the X.
In this book they will learn the slanted letters: v, w, y, x, v and surprise the last vowel the letter u. The letter u is a very funny part of the story and it includes the vowel sound in the story. Thanks to the helpful parrot that flies by.
In this storybook, the lowercase letters are grouped to help improve muscle memory and indicate a common starting point. The pictures illustrate a sensory experience of writing in the sand to stimulate the brain for learning. With letters grouped by similar starting points and slanted downstrokes, it can speed up the handwriting process and improve letter print recognition for reading. Images of the letters share the same shape to help avoid common letter reversal errors. Special attention to made to the vowel letter, by a colorful bird. Paired with a fun and memorable story to engage the interests of young students.
This is a perfect book to use with sand tray letters.
Orton-Gillingham Style Handwriting in a storybook to make learning fun.
This is the third book in the handwriting series.
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.
In this storybook, the lowercase letters are grouped to help improve muscle memory and indicate a common starting point. The pictures illustrate a sensory experience of writing in the sand to stimulate the brain for learning. With letters grouped by similar starting points and straight downstrokes, it can speed up the handwriting process and improve letter print recognition for reading. Images of the letters share the same shape to help avoid common letter reversal errors. Special attention to paid to the vowel letter, by a colorful bird. Paired with a fun and memorable story to engage the interests of young students.
Handwriting letter strips can be found on my TPT page. These are great for students to use daily. Practice writing the letters and making the letters sounds are very important for reading and spelling.
This is a perfect book to use with sand tray letters.
R’s Pirate Letters: Handwriting Storybook Lowercase Letter Formation
This is the first book in the Pirate Handwriting series.
The letters in this book all share a similar ‘r’ shape and fine motor direction with a common downstroke and slide-up hook.
Letters: r, n, m, h, b, p
Treasure-seeking pirates are distracted by a new adventure. That leads them to start learning the valuable skill of handwriting.
The lowercase letters are grouped to help improve muscle memory, picture a sensory experience to stimulate the brain for learning, and avoid common letter reversal errors. With letters that are grouped by similar starting points and down strokes to speed up the handwriting process and improve letter print recognition for reading. Paired with a fun and memorable story to engage the interests of young students.
