Monday, June 23, 2014

Happy Summer Sale!



In my part of the world the school is coming to an end this week. In celebration of all things summer, I'm having a 20% off sale that runs now through 6/26.  I hope you'll stop by and stock up on your Really Reading favorites.  Here's a few things you may want to check out:














Thursday, June 19, 2014

Friday Freebie: Math Testing Treat Labels

I still can't believe my son is a week away from the end of third grade!  This was the first year he had to take our state ELA and math tests.  I had already made two different versions of my testing treat labels that worked for any test, but I thought it would be fun to make a math themed set as well.  Today only you can get my math themed treat labels free in my TpT store.  Click the picture to download.  While you're there you may want to check out my latest product: Road Readers Phoneme Segmentation of Short E CVC Words.  Remember the labels are only free today, so stop by and pick them up.  Have a great Friday!



Friday, June 13, 2014

Free App Friday and Road Readers Update

I can't believe it's Friday! It's been a tiring week, but we made it through.  Our students still have nine more days of school!  For them, it seems it will never end.

Since it's Friday, I thought I'd remind you to stop over at freeappfriday.com to see what apps you can get for free today for your iOS devices.  There are quite of few free book apps as well.  I see several alphabet apps highlighted this week, so if you have preschoolers at home or school you may want to check them out.

As I look over the list, there is one that jumps right out at me: Pocket Charts: Compound Words.  That's a skill I work on with my struggling readers and it's always fun to have a game for review or practice.  I hope it's a good one!


Remember to visit freeappfriday.com to see what over apps are available for free today!

As for me, I've been working on a short e version of Road Readers.  It's almost ready to be uploaded to TpT.  It just needs the cover and then the packet is ready.  I hope to get it finished this weekend or early in the week.  Until then you can check out my freebie for the short a version or the full version on TpT.  Click the pictures below to be taken directly to the products. 

Have a great weekend!







Sunday, June 8, 2014

Attitude of Gratitude Giveaway

I'm proud to join many other TpT authors in participating in Differentiation Station Creations Attitude of Gratitude giveaway. Laura is celebrating her one year TpT anniversary with this great giveaway.   I have contributed my polka dot alphabet pennants to the preschool kindergarten giveaway.  Over 80 products  have been donated to these giveaways!






Visit Laura's blog for complete details, meet some great TpT authors, and learn more about their products and stores.  You can enter the drawing that includes my product below.  Find all the giveaways at Differentiation Station Creations.



a Rafflecopter giveaway

Friday, June 6, 2014

Friday Freebie and Phoneme Segmentation

Phoneme segmentation is breaking a word into its individual sounds.  That sounds easy, but roughly 25% of first grade readers struggle to master phonemic awareness skills, especially phoneme segmentation.  This lack of mastery can lead to other reading and writing difficulties.

Why is phoneme awareness so challenging?  This happens in part because people do not focus on sounds of phonemes when producing or listening to speech.  Instead we focus on the meaning of what is being said, processing the phonemes automatically.

As a reading specialist, I always have students that need additional practice with phoneme segmentation. The challenge is to find ways to engage students in activities that will get them to notice phonemes and learn how to manipulate them to separate words into phonemes and blend phonemes to make words.  This year I was inspired by my kindergarten students love of die cast cars.  I knew if I could incorporate cars into my lessons I'd have a captive audience.  That's how the product Road Readers was born.

My Friday Freebie this week is a sample pack of pages for my Road Readers short a pack.  You get the following pages and suggestions for use:



I hope you'll stop by my TpT store and check it out.  The full pack is also available in my store that has 33 pages of phonemic awareness activities.  Click the pictures below to download the freebie and checkout the full product.  Other short vowel packs will be available soon.

 Road Readers Freebie







Tuesday, June 3, 2014

We Love it When Someone Reads to Us

I think it's true that no matter how old we get most of us still love it when someone reads to us.  Whether it's at book club, a book signing, or a listening to an audio book, we love the feeling of being read to.   For some of us, it brings us back to our childhood.  For others, it gives us a whole new way to be lost in a book.  For my fifth graders, it gives them a chance to hear different authors and genres.  It gives them a chance to hear what good readers sound like and an opportunity to practice their visualization skills.  

Now that the end of the year is almost here, we're done with our Journeys intervention materials.  I took this opportunity to pick a book to read to my students.  The students and I have enjoyed this time together so much.  We can't wait for the next real aloud session to find out what happens next.  Now I'm just hoping we have time to get most of the book finished before the end of the year.  (They'll have a chance to finish the book on their own, as I bought them each a copy as an end of the year gift.)

Knowing that my fifth grade boys love Gary Paulsen, I was very excited to find his book, Masters of Disaster at a great price from Scholastic Reading Clubs.  Just looking at the cover, it seemed to be a departure from Hatchet and other titles I knew.  I thought it would be fun to see just how different it really was.  So far the book hasn't disappointed.  Even my girls have begged to hear more!



I highly recommend you pick a great book to end your year with too.  It's an experience I'm sure you'll all enjoy.