Educational Websites

Educational Resources

Popcorn (Sight) Words

I selected these particular sites for their excellent content and potential interest for the whole family. Please let me know if there is a problem with any of the links.

Educational Websites
Kiddo.net
Starfall.com

ReadWriteThink.org
Reading Matrix

Reading Rockets

Enchanted Learning
Weekly Reader
Crayola
Enchanted Forest
I Know That
Literacy Center
Discovery Kids
Writing Uppercase Letters
Writing Lowercase Letters

Figure This Math
PBS Arthur
Learning Planet
Clock Games

Georgia Aquarium
Clifford

Ask Kids.Com

Dictionary for Kids by Yahoo

U.S. Dept of Ed: Helping your Child Become A Reader

Gifted Learners:
American Association of Gifted Learners
Discovery Brain Booster Games
Hoagies Gifted Education

Or visit my Filamentality HotList for K-5th grades.

Popcorn Words

I call them popcorn words because these words always 'pop up' while we are reading. Popcorn words are words that a reader can recognize and read without sounding out each individual letter. Many sight words are hard to sound out and usually break our grammar rules. They must be memorized! Spelling the sight words correctly is very important for students' writing.

In my classroom, I give each student a keyring and every week I add two or three new sight words on index cards to the pack. The cards stay in their D.O.G. folder zipper pouch and should be reviewed each evening. I have found this to be the best way to have students review their words and keep them all together.

Tips for Learning Popcorn (Sight) Words:

Use flashcards and review daily
Write or trace popcorn words in bright colors or fun letters
Write popcorn words outside with sidewalk chalk
Search for popcorn words while reading books together
5. Play sight word bingo or matching games

Sight Words

green	orange
red	blue
yellow	black
white	purple
the	and
name	to
see	you
it	is
we	an
look	said
of	was
she	as
like	are
one	two
from	three
now	four
when	five
all	some

Curriculum

We use Saxon Phonics and Spelling for our language arts/reading curriculum. This is a "success-oriented program that enables most children to develop a solid foundation in phonics and thus become successful readers and spellers." Controlled vocabulary and reading practice is used to reinforce the concepts that have been learned and taught, and to build confidence in their new readings skills. Literature also plays a major role by allowing numerous opportunities to listen to the "rhythm of our language, to enrich student vocabulary, and to ultimately develop a love of reading." Lastly, spelling rules will be taught and continually reviewed throughout the program. "By practicing the most common ways to spell specific sounds, children can successfully spell all words with regular spelling patterns and are not limited to memorizing words." However, there are words that do not follow typical patterns (sight words).
[Simmons, L. (2003) Saxon Publishers, Oklahoma, U.S.A.].
Saxon Scope & Sequence

We use Handwriting Without Tears for our handwriting curriculum. Since good handwriting is one of the foundational skills of language development, I will work daily to ensure that each letter formation is mastered. The goal is for handwriting to become automatic and fluid. You may visit www.hwtears.com for more information.
Helping Lefties
Name Practice

Open Ended Questions for Students

What do you think about ...?
What could you do about it?
How could we fix it?
I wonder if there's another way?
What's your opinion?
Just suppose that...then what?
What would happen if ...?
What else can we use this for?
What is this like?
Is there another way to do this?
What if we added this?
What if we take this away?
Why do you think this happened?
How do you think this works?
How did you ... ?
How could you ... ?
How else could you do that?
What's similar about these?
In what ways are these different?
What could you tell me about?
What did you notice about ...?
How do you think we could ...?
Tell me about it.

My Wordle

www.wordle.net