Started Phonics Workshop Today!!!

Today I started day 1a of our Phonics Workshop. I introduced blending to my first graders using the -at pattern. Their letter sound fluency is pretty on target, so I decided to start the blending process today. Our Phonics Workshop has been such a positive addition to our instruction in first grade. It teaches students that sound by sound blending AND blending by onset and rime...it's the best of both philosophies....It helps the students rely on the strategy that works best for them. Research shows that systematic phonics instruction works best. That's what we've created. Research also shows that students need a great deal of practice to embed decoding skills. Application to text is of vital importance, but so is encoding and recoding words. Phonics Workshop has it all. We have picture support, word wheels, handwriting and writing practice, word sorts for many different combinations, blank graphic organizers for student to practice writing and illustrating, Smart Board files, and tons of ideas on where to get that application to text. (Check out Scholastic for word family/pattern books and songs!) There is progress monitoring for each vowel that includes a dictation with an alternate if needed. There are also various forms of fluency grids to help students practice reading those patterned words. There are also excel files that help you track the results of your dictations. The at, an, and ap patterns are free. We have the graphic organizers listed together. We have created smaller blocks by vowels to help defray costs. Those vowel packs have everything you need to teach 5 - 7 word patterns for that vowel. There are literally hundreds of files. If you find out that you like teaching phonics our way, you can also purchase all of the short vowel materials for one low price of $30.00. In that file you get it all: picture cards, Smart Board Files, word wheels, word sorts, writing papers, the blank graphic organizers, and lesson plans for implementation for all the short vowel patterns. That's 24 word patterns in all. It's enough to keep you teaching for several months. Totally worth it. Best of all, you have us. We are here for support and advice whenever you need it. Try it...you will love it...Teacher and kid friendly...once it's up and running, it runs itself. The students take ownership over that process and you never have to give new directions again...and even better...they learn to decode effectively AND efficiently! 

The whole short vowel pack for $30.00

The vowel packs one by one

You can also find the system broken up by just word wheels, just picture cards, and just word sorts if you would like supplemental materials!