phonics

I found the readings for this week to be way over my head. I didn't realize that reading how to teach reading via phonics can be so confusing. However, I did take some good ideas for phonics activities from Cunnigham and Allington in ch. 5 of the textbook. I never understood how the "guess the covered word" game works but I liked the idea of the "using words you know" activity. I think it's great for students to rely on words they do know and use their knowledge to find other words that have shared letters/letter patterns/beginnings/endings. The "making words" game was also a good idea for students to be able to use what they know to build bigger words they may have never written before. The book, as well as the articles, focus on the importance of breaking words down into sections that look familiar and then piecing them together. It also discusses how sounding out words is crucial to reading unfamiliar words. Both of these skills are important in helping students to read.
Which phonics activities do you think would be most beneficial in teaching students how to read and write in your classroom?

Here is a link to an early literacy tool: phonetic flip charts
http://kidsactivitiesblog.com/phonic-flip-chart/

a new way to teach reading?

I found myself torn between opinions as I was reading the article "Letting Go of Letter of the Week". I really liked how the strategy they used to teach reading helped to excite children about their ability to read and write. It was touching to read about the moment when the students realized they actually can read and write based on their ability to read McDonald's signs and write scribbles or pictures. However, I can't say that I fully agree with the strategy they used to teach reading and writing. While I see that it was successful for the 2 teachers in the article, I can't picture it being successful if I were to try it in my classroom. It seems somewhat unrealistic. I was a nanny for a 2 year old and as we rode in the car he would yell out McDonald's, Burger King or any other restaurant he recognized. However, he was not yelling out the words on the signs because he was able to actually read them. It's hard to say that children could read the word "billing" in a book just because of having a classmate named "Bill" and seeing "ing" in the word Burger King. I'm sure there are some pros to the strategy they used in the classroom, but I personally don't agree with it and I wouldn't use it in my classroom.
Would you use the same method they used to teach your students? Or would you stick with the traditional learning letters and learning letter sounds? 

What a great way to get students thinking about real life examples of letters. When they see the emblem on a Honda car, they can apply what they've learned about letters to recognize that the logo is the letter "H". Encourage the students to come up with their own examples of things they see in every day life! (Ignore the writing at the bottom about pregnancy.. it's not relevant. I just liked the picture for an activity idea)

This is WAY TOO CUTE!!! http://pinterest.com/pin/230176230925646682/

fantastic classroom ideas

I must start off by saying I have never loved reading a textbook so much in my life. Throughout the reading I started putting posted notes on pages because the book offers such great ideas for the classroom that I definitely plan to use. I felt that chapter 2 was like Pinterest in a textbook just providing all kinds of directions for awesome reading activities/ideas. I thought the "Reading and Me" idea was genius, especially the part about making them write paragraphs summarizing their accomplishments. I also loved the teacher record sheet idea because with so little time in the day or time for planning, it's easy to forget to read all types of genres to your students. It's so important that they be exposed to all varieties in order to be successful, well-rounded readers. The reading conferences idea was such a wonderful idea too. What better way to get students excited about reading then giving them a moment in the spotlight with their teacher to discuss anything they want about any book they choose? My favorite idea was probably the "reading parties" that are actually set up like a party with treats and such. Reading parties are not like the typical tangible rewards that help motivate some children to read, they are even better! The best part about all of the ideas given in the textbook is that they are completely realistic and doable. 

Thinking back to your younger years in school, how would you all have felt as students if your teacher did these awesome ideas?