My Review of now!Board™ For Your Classroom

Originally submitted at Learning Resources

now!Board™ For Your Classroom

Perfect If Your Room is Set Up Correctly

By Heidi of HeidiSongs from Southern California on 2/27/2012

4out of 5

Pros: price
Cons: Room Configuration Issues
Best Uses: Whole Group Teaching

About a month ago, I was contacted by the nice folks at Learning Resources, and asked to review their new product, the Now! Board.  I was very pleased to be sent one of these portable interactive white boards to review, and I was so excited to use it with my class! Unfortunately, I could not get it to calibrate properly due to the fact that my screen does not lie flat against the wall. I use a pull-down screen in my classroom that lays against a molding on the wall that covers an electrical cord. (The cord and its cover was placed there during our modernization.) This prevents the Now! Board from laying flat against the wall, and therefore, every time I tried to push the pointer against the screen, it moved. This Now! Board works best when projected onto a hard, flat surface. I emailed and was given some advice on how to make it calibrate, but unfortunately, I never could make it work properly in my situation.

The Now! Board includes a small laser that projects onto the center of your screen.

The other thing that my "trial" model needed is a room in which you can place the computer, projector, and Now! Board laser right in the middle of the room, about 8 feet from the screen. (However, the "full" models will have the capability of projecting from 12 feet, I understand.) Unfortunately, my computer and all of the connecting cables are totally in the wrong location, so what I needed were some very long cables to stretch the Now! Board laser across the room to get it into the right place so that it would project onto the screen. Since I already knew that I had the wrong type of screen for the Now! Board, I decided not to go purchase the cables that were necessary to make it work in my classroom.

The screen in my room has a lot of "stuff" behind it, including a cover for some wires that was added during our school's modernization.  So, it moves every time you touch it!  That makes it impossible to calibrate the Now! Board. 

So I decided to try this Now! Board out in another classroom with a better set up, and guess what? It worked like a charm! The kids loved it, and it has all of the same great features as any interactive white board would have. I can imagine that it would be an EXCELLENT deal for $499, if your room was set up just right for it!  The only thing you need is the right room configuration, and you are all set. Just make sure that you have:

1. A hard, flat surface to project on.
2. A place for your computer, projector, and the Now!Board laser to rest on that is about 8-12 feet in front of your screen.

Each time you set it up, be prepared to spend a minute re-calibrating your screen. It's not hard, it just takes 60 seconds, but it has to be done. It also has to be done again if somebody knocks the laser down or moves it. But these are really the only disadvantages of the unit! Other than that, you can do anything with it that you can do with any interactive white board! It's a wonderful, interactive tool, and it would be a great addition to any classroom, provided that your room configuration will allow for its use.
Heidi Butkus

The laser needs to be set up 8-12 feet from the screen.

Look at the picture, and you can see how far I had to push the computer table over and stretch the cables as far as they would go in order to make use of the Now! Board.  My students usually sit where the computer table is in this photo, and then I had to stretch the cord over and set the laser onto a chair to try it out.  I did get the board calibrated for a short time.  Then once I touched the screen hard enough to make it move, the board had to be re-calibrated again.  Of course, the children are usually seated where those cords are stretched across, so they would probably be touching that cord and therefore moving that laser that projects onto the board.  This would cause the whole thing to need to be re-calibrated again. 
The solution to this problem would be to purchase a VERY long cable and thread it through the ceiling and have the district mount the laser up by the projector, which is also mounted on the ceiling.  The only problem with this is that there is no money for the project, and then there is the problem of the screen...  So I decided to let it go and give the unit to a colleague that has the perfect room set-up for it!  She was absolutely THRILLED!  And I am jealous- but happy to have done a good deed.  I will enjoy watching that class learn to use it and learn from it!

The cords that come with it are a bit short.   You may need to purchase longer ones.

(legalese)

Teaching Kids About GERMS!

Last month in January, I felt like a bit like a "sitting duck" in my classroom, just waiting to get sick!  There were so many children coughing and sneezing, and there were so many runny noses that I was certain that it was only going to be a matter of time before I would certainly fall ill with the very same thing.  It is so very difficult to get children into the habit of covering their coughs and sneezes, and it is so frustrating to tell them to do so, over and over and over again- only to have your instructions repeatedly ignored.
So, I decided to try to develop some lessons on germs, with the goal of communicating the importance of NOT SPREADING THEM clearly to the children, in a way that they could really understand.

But before I get into that, I would like to share a few more of our video contest entries with you!  Time is running out, so get them in by Feb. 29th! Competition is really good this year, and you can see even more videos at our YouTube channel here.  Remember, it can simply be a still picture of children using our products.  You can send your videos to contest@heidisongs.com or upload them via MailBigFile (http://free.mailbigfile.com/) to easily send larger files up to 200mb.  For the complete rules, click here.



No one enjoys a good cheer more than I do, so seeing this video of the Four Leaf Clovers Soccer Team just makes my day! From the green hair and ribbons to the overwhelming energy and enthusiasm, I think this team is a winner! Thanks so much for sharing your team spirit with us!



The "out" song is a fun example of mixing music and movement, and Mrs. Ward's class from LISA Academy in North Little Rock, AR have the motions down perfect. The swami dance is a good fit for this group and I really appreciate them sharing it with us!



Holidays are a good opportunity to have a little fun while learning, and Halloween is a great time of year to be working with numbers, as demonstrated by Mrs. Langham's Hill Elementary Kindergarten class. I love how much energy her students have while counting and singing about the bats and cats of Halloween! Thanks so much for sharing your holiday fun with us!

Ms. Cullen's Primary class from Yarmouth, Nova Scotia has done a wonderful job of making sight words out of the printable Alphabet Pattern Blocks! I think their good work and great smiles are worthy of a special category award all their own! Thanks so much for sharing your work!



As for me, I am in Atlantic City, NJ this week for SDE's Kindergarten Conference for New Jersey Teachers.   I am super excited to be there, since I have never presented in New Jersey before, and have never been to Atlantic City before at all!  So it's all a big adventure!  And next week on March 2nd, I will be giving a half day session for the Pre-Conference Institute at the Southern California Kindergarten Conference, and then presenting again on March 3rd for their regular conference.  Oh, and by the way, my report cards are due on March 2nd!!  (Thankfully, I've been preparing for THAT and I am ready for it!  I am going to do the comments for my report cards on the plane.)  The following week on March 8th and 9th, I will be presenting at the Illinois ASCD Pre-Kindergarten & Kindergarten Annual Conference.  And that should be the last one for this school year, I believe!  I am very blessed that my principal and administration are so very supportive of my speaking engagements and professional life outside of the classroom!  

Hand sanitizer and a bottle of cosmetic glitter to mix in.

Glitter Germs
One wonderful lesson that I stumbled upon was "Glitter Germs," which I found posted on the blog titled, "Little Miss Kindergarten."  I loved her activity so much that I had to try it out myself!  So I emailed the author of the blog, Mrs. Coe, to find out a few more details of how to mix up her "Glitter Germs," because these details were not included in her post.  She told me that she took some regular hand sanitizer and then purchased some make-up glitter at a beauty supply store.  (I found mine at Sally's Beauty Supply for just one dollar!)  Mrs. Coe told me that it is important to use the very fine make-up glitter because that way, if it gets into anyone's eyes, it shouldn't hurt.  She simply mixed them together ahead of time.  I only mixed a little bit in my hand at a time, though, adding a little bit of sanitizer and then dumping a little bit of glitter into the palm of my hand afterwards.  I encourage you to also read Mrs. Coe's post to see how she did it, as I know that it was done in a slightly different way.  In any case, here's the activity, the way I did it:

1.  I  told the children that germs were very small bits of bacteria, or "bad little dirty things that can make you sick." I told them that they are so small that we cannot even see them- but they are there!
2.  I asked them if my hands looked clean or not, and they agreed that they did look clean.  BUT, I told them that there were still surely germs on my hands anyway, even though they couldn't see them.
3.  Then I put the hand sanitizer and glitter mixture on my hands and rubbed them together.  I asked them to take a look at my hands and see if they could spot the glitter, and they all said that they could.
4.  Then I invited my helper of the day to come up and "high five" me.  After we slapped our hands together, we checked to see if some of the glitter transferred from my hands to hers.  We saw that they did.  I told them to think of the glitter as germs, and to realize that any germs on their hands was going to be left behind on anything that they touch.
5.  Then I put more glitter germs on my hands, and put on my "Friend" spelling song from Sing and Spell Vol. 4.  We all walked around "high fiving" each other, during the song.  When it was done, we checked to see if the "glitter germs" had spread from person to person, and indeed they had!
6.  After that, the children watched as I proceeded to touch as many different things in the classroom as I could think of, leaving my "germs" behind on every single thing!  I left my glitter germs on pencils, markers, scissors, glue, papers, erasers, chairs, etc.  The children then helped me think of other things that the germs would be left on.  We also saw that the glitter would transfer from the pencils to other children's hands, even if only just a little bit.

So our grand conclusion of all of this was that it is VERY important to wash your hands and do a good job of it!  AND, it is very important to remember NOT to stick your germy fingers in your nose, mouth, or eyes, because that will make you sick quicker than anything!

Cornstarch based baby powder, with some glitter stuck to the bottle!

Cover Your Cough!
Getting kids to cover their mouths is certainly not easy.  One thing that I have always done is have children show me how they will cover their mouths next time, and I think that helps a little bit.  But this little lesson that I found online at this website helped a LOT!  I modified it a little bit, but I got the basic gist of it there. 
The idea is that if children can see and/or feel the germs as they move about the room as a result of a person's cough or sneeze, and understand what germs do, then they would realize the importance of keeping them covered.

Here is how I made the "cough" something the children could see and feel:
1.  Purchase a small bottle of cornstarch based baby powder, and hide it in your hand, making sure the bottle is opened.  (It is important to use cornstarch based powder because this type of powder will not hurt the children if they inhale it.)
2.  Pretend to cough, and as you do, squeeze the powder out quickly as if it were coming right out of your mouth!
3.  The children could all see the powder "coming out of my mouth" as if were the cough, and they all started yelling, "Ewwwww!"  The powder was also getting on many of the children, and this intensified the effects of the experience, because they could also feel these "germs." 
4.  We talked about the fact that there were germs in my mouth, and if I were sick and coughed on everyone without covering my mouth, then all of those germs were going to get on everyone else and make them sick, too!

A spray bottle with a little bit of red water color paint in it.

Stifle Your Sneeze!
Here is how I did the same type of thing to teach about covering up sneezes:
1.  Get a spray bottle that will spray in a direct spray and a fine mist.
2.  Put some colored water in it.
3.  Pretend to sneeze and when you do, just spray the class with the "germs."
4.  Watch them freak out!

This lesson was quickly taught and quite easily grasped!  The children all know how gross nose mucus is, and that this is not something that they want sprayed on them.  Even if they do not understand about germs and the significance of spreading them, they definitely know that they do NOT want those goobers sprayed on them!  In fact, as soon as I started spraying, the whole class got up and RAN for the back of the classroom, LOL! 
Once I got them back under control, (ha ha) the first thing that they wanted to know was WHAT WAS IN THAT BOTTLE?????  I assured them that is was only water with a little bit of paint in it, but at that point, it had become a big game, and every time I picked up the bottle, some of them wanted to begin screaming and running away.  So, I decided that that would be a good time to end the lesson!  I put the coughing powder, the sneezing spray, and the glitter germs away, and we just talked about it for awhile.
Later on in February, I was having trouble getting one of my little boys to cover his mouth when he coughed.  After I reminded him unsuccessfully a few times to cover it, I reminded him of the coughing powder and the sneezing spray, and asked if he would like for me to spray him again to help him remember?  His eyes lit up with the memory, and he said that he did not need that.  And after that, he remembered to cover his cough!  Hooray!  Lesson learned.  :)

To view a video illustrating highlights of this lesson, click here.

Phonics: Teaching Kids to Read Words with Sh and Th

A precious gift from one of my students.  :)

Phonics!  It’s the dreaded word:  PHONICS!  It’s not an easy thing to teach.  We spend gobs of time trying to teach the children that each letter carries one sound, and then the next thing you know, we are telling them that those same letters sometimes will make different sounds!  So this week, I am going to tell you how I have been teaching my class how to read words with the “sh” and the “th” sound in them.  We have been working on our these phonics skills for a long time, practicing every day.  The trick is to get the kids to recognize these letters as a UNIT when they see them together, and not to attempt to sound each letter out individually.

I print out the pages that I need from the download
and then put them in page protectors in a binder.

AND, by the way, Volume One of the Sounds Fun workbook is finally FINISHED!  (As I mentioned last week, the download is immediately available, and the printed version of the book should be coming in a couple of weeks.)  The delay was not the content of the book, it was the illustrations!  At the beginning of last summer, I started the process of illustrating the pictures needed for the workbook.  But it soon became apparent that it would take me at least one week per unit to complete them all, and this would mean that I would not complete all of the units over the course of the summer because I cannot draw them fast enough.  I also cannot draw many of the pictures WELL enough!  So we decided that we would have to hire another illustrator to get this project completed.  We found a great one, but we are not her only clients, so it has been a long process.  She also had to stop illustrating the Sounds Fun Phonics books twice to draw both of the Wiggles books, too!  And while we were glad to have the Wiggles books, we were sorry to have delayed the phonics book.  The second volume of the phonics book will be done in about another month.  I know, I know- you can’t wait, but here's a sample of the TH section of the workbook for you to try out as my free download for the week!

This is my Sounds Fun binder from the inside.

Our video contest is in full swing!  
We are still hoping for a few more entries!  So if you can get permission from your principal and even just a couple of students, we would love to have a photo or a video of your students using HeidiSongs products!  The contest ends at the end of February.  And here are some of our entries:



What a neat activity for this wonderful little boy! I sure wish every parent did this with their children!
Thanks so much for sharing this learning experience with us!




Oh, what a bunch of super cute smarties!!! Thank you so much for sharing that video with us!!!




I LOVE the enthusiasm in this group of children! What fun! I love how they are just singing and dancing their hearts out!!!!
Thanks so much for sharing this video with us!


Here are the general steps I have been following in order to get my students to read words with the “sh” and “th” sounds in them.  If you have been following my blog for a while, then you will already be familiar with the first few steps, since they have been happening over the past few months.

1.  Introduce the Sounds Fun cards, including the ones with the “sh” and the “th.”
The children make the motions and say the sounds when they see the character with the letters on the cards.  I first introduced the cards, sounds, and movements in late November, in response to a     question that a child asked about why a word was spelled with an “s” and an “h.”  This is usually what happens with my phonics cards; I wait for the children to express and interest and ask questions.  From that point on, I begin to teach them, and we keep going with it as much as they are able to comprehend and for as long as they are interested.  (Keep in mind that I teach Kindergarten, so much of this that I have introduced has been “extra” and not required in my district’s curriculum, at least up to this point.  In my district, Kindergartners are required to read certain high frequency words that begin with an “sh” and a “th,” but are not required to pass tests showing that they know these phonics sounds.  So they can be taught these words as sight words only, or we can teach them via phonics, or both.  I usually try both methods, and if one doesn’t work well with a child, then he or she can always try another.

Sounds Fun Phonics DVD's!

2.  Sing the songs that go along with the phonics sounds I am trying to teach.
I first started singing the “Sh Song” from the Sounds Fun Phonics CD in SEPTEMBER!  That’s because I was using it as a song to get the children to quiet down, rather than a song to teach phonics, LOL!  But at the same time, I also showed them the “Quiet Girl” card that has the little girl with her finger in front of her mouth in the “shush” position, and told them that an “s” and an “h” put together make the /sh/ sound.  Since we have sung that song many, MANY times, just trying to get them to be quiet, I think this really helped them internalize the concept quite well!  The kids all seem to know that the “s” with the “h” after it make the /sh/ sound!

We have been reading the Sounds Fun cards and matching them to their flash cards whole group.

3.  In January, we started sounding out “sh” and “th” words daily whole group.
I have been using the same routine that I have been writing about in my blog in the past two posts, in which EVERYONE must put their hands up to get ready to sound out the words with the motions.  We use the Sounds Fun Phonics motions whenever we get to the “sh” and “th” sounds.  Otherwise, we use Zoo-Phonics motions.  But as long as I have everyone moving along with me, then NOBODY can be just sitting there, picking at their shoe laces or buttons, etc.  No daydreaming allowed!  If anyone puts their hands down and starts daydreaming again, I spot it immediately and insist that they put their hands up and keep going.  Otherwise, they have to do it with me or my aide privately during recess or playtime.

In after school tutoring, my struggling students worked ONLY on the required words on this small pocket chart.  As you can see, the flashcards for some of the words reflect the lyrics of the song!  So the the "they" flashcard shows a boy that wants some girls to "go away now," just like the song from Sing and Spell Vol. 1, etc.

4.  Read and match the words to the flash cards .
I had the whole class try to sound out even more CVC words from the workbook with the flashcards provided in the workbook.  I tried very hard to include words that would be as easy to read as I could find in the beginning units, for “sh,” “th,” and “ch.” In any case, all the kids have to do is TRY to begin each word with a /sh/ or /th/ sound, and then I’ll help them from there.  It’s just a matter of getting started with the correct sound.

For most of the words, it's simply a matter of finding the words that begin with a "th" and circling them.  Then they copy the word below it.

5. Circle the words with the "sh" and "th" phonics patterns.
Now, with the completed workbook, we are finding words with the “sh” and “th” spelling patterns on the worksheet pages and circling them.  THEN the children can complete the workbook pages.  Having the children highlight the “th” and the “sh” sounds that they see on the pages will also help them, I know. 
At first glance, it seems like some of the pages might be too hard.  But then if you really look at the example in the picture, you’ll see that there is only one “th” word to choose from of the two words given!  So all the children have to do is find the ONE word that starts with an “th.”  Then they have to circle it, and copy it.  So some of the pages can be done at this time of year with the average Kindergartner, as long as they have someone to go to when they need help.  My high students enjoyed being able to go on to the harder worksheets that I placed in dry erase sleeves when they were finished with their work. 

We put the extra pages in page protectors and dry erase sleeves so that they could try a few of them without the pressure of HAVING to complete every single thing! 

6.  Listen for the “sh” sound in other books that we are reading, and then look for the “sh” spelling patterns on the pages- especially in big books.
This is a great activity to help children learn that this spelling pattern pops up everywhere, in real writing and in the real world!

The worksheets with spaces to draw pictures are always a hit!

7.  My best advice is to have children look for these phonics patterns FIRST, (before they begin reading), and perhaps mark them lightly with a pencil, if possible.  
This should help remind them that the word is coming and assist in comprehension and fluency while the child is reading.  Just make sure that it is the CHILD that does the marking of the letters, not an adult!  They need to do it themselves to help them remember.
 

Do you have any other ideas on how to teach this? 
I would love to hear them!  Leave a comment below!

Teaching Kindergartners to Write PARAGRAPHS!

 Today I am going to tell you how I am teaching my students to begin to write PARAGRAPHS!  (Yes, you read that correctly- paragraphs!  It could happen!)  They are very short paragraphs, but they are still paragraphs, none the less!  Okay, some of them have only two sentences, but hey- this is kindergarten, for goodness sake!

These are Kimmie Butkus' Fishy Hearts!

Along the way, I would like to post some pictures of our little "Fishy Hearts" that my class made.  I am especially proud of this project, because my "baby" Kimmie came up with the idea for this art project!  She will be 21 years old this month, and is studying to become a teacher.

This is my daughter Kimmie with one of her best little friends!  Doesn't she look a lot like her mother?

She is also an aide in a Kindergarten class at my school, and so she created this art project for them, and then shared it with me.  It was perfect, because it tied in both Valentine's Day and our unit on sea animals as well.  I would give you a free download of it, but there really isn't one!  All we did was take a paper plate and have a parent cut out a triangle for the mouth ahead of time.  Then we went to the Ellison Die Cut Machine and pre-cut some large hearts for the tail fin and some small hearts for the gills or side fins.  (I guess you have to decide what those little hearts on the side of the fish represent, LOL!  My class thought they were gills!)
We gave the kids a one inch black square to form the eye; all they had to do was cut off the corners of that square to form a circle.  After that, the children used water colors to paint the fish.  It was a wonderful project, and went right along with a book that I found called, My Heart is Like a Zoo by Michael Hall.  In this book, the author/illustrator uses hearts to create a whole zoo full of animals.  The children enjoyed the book, and then LOVED making their "Fishy Hearts!"  So three cheers for Kimmie!  By the way, Kimmie is also the soloist on all of my albums so far, so if you ever hear a solo voice in one of my CD's, you are hearing my daughter Kimmie singing!  She sang on the Addition Doubles Song on Musical Math, for instance.

Last year in a blog entry, I posted a Writing Rubric that I had created to include on my presentation called, "Developmentally Appropriate Ways to Get Kindergartners Writing."  I adapted my version of this writing rubric from one that was originally made by a teacher from my district that is now retired.  I made some changes that I thought were appropriate, and added my own artwork that I based on writing samples that I had collected over the years. 

This is a sample page from the book.

One problem with this rubric is that it only addressed writing conventions, and did not address the problem of staying on topic.  So for example, if a child that writes the first sentence about lions and the second sentence about Easter Eggs, then there was nothing in the rubric to address this problem.  Indeed, many years ago when the original rubric was written, we had only begun to scratch the surface of getting kindergarten students writing enough to even THINK about whether or not they were staying on topic!  (In our own defense, we had only half day Kindergarten at that point, and the standards were MUCH lower, as well!)  In any case, up to that point, we were pretty glad to have had a legible sentence or two that the child could read back and had illustrated.  This is probably why the rubric did not include any notes regarding content.  Given that problem, I am revising the rubric that I had posted last year to include a few notes on the content of the child's writing, and re-posting it here for you today if you are interested.

This year, we are being trained in using Step Up to Writing.  At the Kindergarten level, this means that we are supposed to work with the children orally to first brainstorm ideas.  Then we train them to organize their thoughts into paragraph form.  Finally, we teach them to write these thoughts down, hopefully into a paragraph that they can read back.  Assuming that they can write phonetically and that they can write a few sight words, then they can at least make an attempt to do this!  Admittedly, this really is a very TALL order for Kindergarten students!  But we are breaking it down into the tiniest of steps to help them along.  This is how we did it this week:

First, we read some books about Valentine's Day, and then brainstormed a list of things that happen on Valentine's Day, and what we like about it.  Then, I tried to get the children to give me a "Big Idea Sentence" that would tell us what our story about Valentine's Day would be mostly about.  They gave me several ideas, including sentences like, "I like Valentine's Day," "Valentine's Day is Fun," and "Valentine's Day is Cool" or "Valentine's Day is Awesome!"  I told them that any of these sentences would work just fine!

We did have to discuss some of the suggestions that were a bit off, such as the more specific sentences, such as "We give cards on Valentine's Day."  I kept telling them that I need a "bigger idea," and tried to point them to a sentence that would tell MORE about the holiday, rather than just one thing about the holiday.  I asked them, "Does that tell me one thing about it, or more than that?"  We settled on one sentence, and I wrote it down.  Then, according to our Step Up To Writing program, we give that sentence a green dot.  That is supposed to help the kids organize it in their minds.  The green dot sentence is the "Big Idea Sentence."  After that, the supporting sentences get a yellow dot.  As you can see, some of the children have started adding their own colored dots to their own writing, too!

This is what I demonstrated to my class whole group.  Note the colored dots.

Then after that, it was easy!  All we had to do was think about our list of things that we liked about Valentine's Day and make up sentences about them.  I just had to remind them that, no matter what- the sentences HAD to be about Valentine's Day!!!!  NO MATTER WHAT!  Because if we start out talking about Valentine's Day, then we must keep talking about it, and we can't start talking about sharks or iguanas, etc.

My class hasn't gotten to the point where we finish up our paragraphs with a conclusion sentence, but I know that one easy way to do it is to have them just rewrite their first sentence at the end of their paragraph.  In any case, I think my students did very well with it!  I am posting some writing samples from the children in my top two groups.  Naturally, some of the children in the bottom two groups needed quite a bit more support to complete this task.  (And yes, I do group by ability.)  And when the children in my lowest group got to my writing table, I guided them through it, step by step.  I keep a
dry erase board next to my table and I wrote on it as they wrote on their papers.  Together we sounded out each word and talked about how we might spell and write it, and then they copied my sentence down onto their papers.  I let them know that if they dawdle and get behind, they are on their own, and I am not going to help them catch up later.  So they had better sit up and follow along and just DO IT!  They are a good group this year, and I generally don't have any trouble getting them to follow along with lessons like this, thankfully!  This is how I differentiate my writing lessons for my lowest group.

With the group that is one step higher than they are, I get them started with the first sentence, and then release them to finish the second sentence on their own.  The top two groups do the whole thing on their own, though I do answer questions and help sound out words as needed.   The Sounds Fun Poster, cards, and songs are really a big help when trying to get kids to sound out words and write them down!  I am constantly amazed by how much it helps to have a visual aid right there in view all the time in the form of that Sounds Fun Poster, mounted on a tri-fold presentation foam board.  I can move it wherever I need it to be at any time, and that makes a big difference.  Whenever the kids need to write a sound that they do not know, they just refer to the poster or the cards on the wall, and copy the sound that goes along with the character.  So if they need a /ch/ sound, they look for the choo choo train, and copy the "ch."  If they need a /th/ sound, they look for the boy that is blowing raspberries and copy the "th."  If they need the /oo/ sound, then they look for the monkey that says, "oo-oo," and copy the "oo."  It makes sense to them, and it's fairly easy.  (For a more detailed overview of how it works, click on the link for the CD below and scroll down.  There are videos of the songs, too!)  Many of them have memorized the letters that go with each character, too, because of the songs on the CD.  By the way, the first volume of the Sounds Fun Workbook is finished and is up on the website now as a download!!! (The printed book will arrive in a couple of weeks.)

 

This is the Sounds Fun Poster stapled to a Tri-Fold Presentation Board.  I can move it around wherever it is needed.

None of the children were allowed to copy from the brainstorming list that I made, nor did I allow them to copy from the sentences that I wrote in front of them as a group.  I erased the sentence from my white board easel, and the brainstorming list disappeared from the easel the day before sometime during playtime!  :(  So all of that was just plain gone.  In any case, even if I were to have written the whole thing on a large chart paper, I still wouldn't have let them copy any of it, because I consider that to be a hindrance to the goal of them learning to sound out words.  If I let them copy something, then they will never attempt to sound out those words, and that is a learning opportunity that is lost, in my opinion.  Besides that, our school does not have the budget to buy us anymore large chart paper, I have been told!  So I guess it all works out that I don't want them to copy it anyway!  It's just a shame that the children cannot refer back to our shared writing samples later.

On a lighter note, check out the writing sample above!  The little boy that wrote it told me exactly what he wanted to write, and then I helped him sound it out so that he could get it done.  He wanted to write, "God gave us Valentine's Day.  He is our Father."  The only thing that I encouraged him to change was to write "He is my Father,"  since were running out of time, and I knew that he could already spell "my," (because of the spelling song from Sing and Spell Vol. 1) and it would be quicker!  Later, I read all of the children's papers back to the class.  After I read his paper, one of the children looked over at him and said, "Wow, God is your father?  That's COOL!"  (I think the other child was picturing Jesus sitting down at the table nightly, eating dinner with him and helping him with his homework, LOL!)  There were exclamations of agreement in the class, as many of the other children congratulated the first boy on having GOD as his father, as I tried to suppress my giggles and smiled in wonder at this beautiful conversation!  Then the little boy that wrote the sentence burst out in irritation, "He's EVERYONE's Father, not just MINE!"  (I think that if he had known the word, "DUH!" he would have added that onto the end of his sentence, too, but thankfully he did not.)  After he clarified this point, half of the class all said, "Yes, He is everyone's Father," while the other half just sat there, saying, "Huh?"
I wished that I could have clarified what was going on there, but you know how it is in a public school....  We just have to leave it up to children to deliver the lessons that God wants delivered.  I hope that enough of them go to Sunday School, Awanas, and Vacation Bible School to make that happen.   :)

Teaching CVC Words: What to Do When They Are STILL NOT GETTING IT

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I had a wonderful time last week presenting at SDE's Kindergarten Conference for Texas Teachers and SDE's Kindergarten Conference for Mississippi Teachers!  I met lots of wonderful people, and had a chance to see another part of the world.  I am so blessed and thankful to be able to travel and have these experiences!  And it is wonderful to have the opportunity to share my ideas with others, too.  Here is one picture from the Dallas conference below!  There was another one that I had on my camera, but it didn't come out, unfortunately.
And guess what???? I'm a featured presenter at the I Teach K! Conference next summer in Las Vegas!!!! Check it out!!!!  It's July 9-12, 2012.  Download the brochure here.

Want free stuff?  Enter our video or photo contest!
All you have to do is send us a photo or a video of your students using some HeidiSongs products, and YOU can win free HeidiSongs stuff!  First prize is a $100 worth of products of your choice from our website, HeidiSongs.com.  There will be several more Honorable Mentions that will win gift certificates for $20 worth of HeidiSongs products of their choice.  The contest ends at the end of this month.  So grab your camera's and start filming!  We can't wait to see your best footage and photos!

Heidi and Lori Riley at the TX Conference for Kindergarten Teachers

And now down to business!  The question below came up on my HeidiSongs Facebook page this week shortly after I posted my blog last week.  After I answered the question, I decided that it might make a good blog entry for those of us that might have missed it!  I also added some more ideas to it at the bottom of the question.  I hope this is helpful information for those of you with students that are still struggling with this difficult to master, yet vital skill.

Question: 

I really enjoy using your songs and activity ideas in my kindergarten classroom each day. I wanted to seek your advice for a couple of my readers. They have phonemic awareness skills in place and can segment a CVC word independently, but they are unable to blend it into the word independently. If I segment the word for them, they can blend it just fine. I use the Elkonin boxes, manipulatives, etc. to help, but still they are not really making progress and they are the only ones who are unable to demonstrate this skill in my class. I would love to hear any suggestions you have. Thanks!
Michelle S. 

Answer:

Well, I assume that you have read my blog last week, right? It is all about sounding out CVC words. There are several activities for that.

 I have found, in years past, that a few kids that couldn't seem to hold the sounds in short term memory long enough to blend them together. By the time they got to the third sound, they couldn't remember the first one. That's a learning disability in my humble opinion, but please keep in mind that I am not a school psychologist.  However, in these cases, it was confirmed by our school psychologist at the time. Those children had short term memory deficits. 

Short Term Memory Issues?
To give yourself a clue as to whether a child may have short term memory issues, try this little "test."  We used to have The Three Step Direction Test that we had to give at my school.  Kids that couldn't concentrate very well had trouble with it (like ADHD), but kids with memory issues NEVER got it, even in a quiet room with no distractions. 
Give them three directions in a row, and see if they can do them.  You'll have to make sure that you have their attention when you give the directions, and get them looking you right in the eye.  Tell them that you are going to give them three directions in a row, and they will need to do them in the exact order that they are given.  You can even make up an example question and do it together first, just to clarify that they understand first. 
If I am recalling the test questions correctly, they went something like this:
1.  Stand up, turn around, and pick up a red crayon.  (You have to have several colors of crayons on a table close at hand.)
2.  Jump up and down, clap two times, and touch the floor.
3.  Pick up a yellow crayon, touch your nose with it, and put in next to the box.

I used to narrow it down to a two step direction test for some kids to see if they could do two directions in a row if they never got three steps.  Some of the kids that later wound receiving special ed services at my school were able to do some of the two step directions if they really concentrated, especially if they involved crayons, but not necessarily the other ones.  I think that this was because they were used to being given directions such as, "Sit down and pick up a red crayon."

Click here to learn more about Memory Train.

There is one iPad app that I know of that works on stretching the short term visual memory, though not auditory memory. It is called Memory Train, and my kids really love it.  If anyone knows of an iPad app that works on stretching auditory memory, please let me know!


Addressing Letter Sound Fluency
The other thing that might be happening to your kids is that having to identify the letter sounds themselves is stressing them out and making the whole process harder.  This really could be it, since you say that if you segment the word for them, they can blend it, right?  So how quickly can these children say the letter sounds when shown a letter?  Does it take a while for the child to retrieve that sound, or is it quick and automatic?  If the sound doesn't pop out of the child's mouth very quickly and fluently, that's probably your breakdown right there, and you'll need to work on that.  So get those letter cards back out and start drilling them on those letter sounds again, and try to get them to say all 26 of the letter sounds in 30 seconds or less.  The goal should be 1 second per letter.  If they cannot do that, then reading will be too slow, and fluency in sounding out the words will not come, in my experience.  If anyone knows of an iPad app that develops letter sound fluency, please let me know!  I know of lots of apps that work on letter sounds, but none that encourage the children to say them quickly.
If a child can't say anything fast-even things he or she knows very well, such as the names of common objects or colors, etc.- then I think that this is a matter of visual processing.  It is also sometimes referred to as "Rapid Naming Deficits."  Children should be able to tell you the names of things that they use daily very quickly, like in about one second.  So if you have flashcards or real objects that you know the child knows that names of, like toys, clothing, furniture, etc., then ask the child to name them for you and see how quickly the child can name them.  The child should be able to say them all fairly quickly.  If there is a lot of hesitation you may want to seek professional advice.  Children that cannot do this, often wind up having trouble naming the letters, sounds, and sight words quickly as well, no matter how well they know them.  That makes sense, doesn't it?  This impedes their ability to read fluently, so the child my need some extra help getting past that issue.

These CVC cards and pictures are from my CVC book.

Here are some other things to try!

 1.  Daily Whole Group Practice, Using Movements
I have been having my entire class practice sounding out words from a pocket chart, using Zoo-Phonics motions for the letter sounds, or the RISE motions that I made up for the blog lesson that I posted on in November.  (There is a video on my Facebook page of the movements; click here to see it.)   Nobody gets away with not doing the motions, because I start by saying, "Everybody, hands UP!"  If I notice anyone ignoring that command, I make an issue of it.  Now I know that some of the children can easily sound out the words without using their hands, but lots of them cannot.  So I insist that ALL of them do the motions.  This forces all of the ones that might prefer to "opt out" of this activity and just sort of daydream while we do it to focus and think.  No hands in the pockets, no hands in the laps.  No picking at the fingers, clothing, shoes, or jewelry.  Eyes up, hands up, here we go.  Got it?

In addition to the daily practice, which has obvious benefits, my thought is that the children that know how to do it are modeling this process for the ones that don't understand.  And often times, a child modeling a skill for another child is better than an adult modeling a skill for a child.  I have heard this lots of times from teachers in the past.  If a teacher cannot explain a skill to a child, then sometimes another child might be able to do it and get the point across.  

*  I have decided that when we do this that some of my higher kids are giving away too many answers too fast.  In fact, the other children are basically letting them do practically all of the work, and the children that need more processing time to come up with the answers really aren't getting enough time to even think.  So I have sent them to go read books while we do this for five minutes.  I explained to them, and to the rest of the class, that they already know it, and I want the rest of the class to have a chance to think.  Guess what?  Suddenly the rest of the kids are all enthusiastically shouting out the answers!  I think that some of the other kids want to be included in that "elite" group.  Hmmm.....  :)

Daily whole group practice can make a difference.  Add movements to insure all children stay focused.

*  My class is getting really, REALLY good at sounding out words when we do them in word families, going DOWN the chart, like this:  pot, dot, hot, got.  Then pot, pop, fox, dot, hop, box, etc.  So we are reading down the chart first, and then going across the chart, to mix up the word families.  It is SO much harder when you mix up with word endings (and vowels)!

2.  Dumb Things That (Sometimes) Work
My kids love to pop bubble wrap bubbles, so when I get something in the mail that is wrapped in bubble wrap, I save it.  Then, in small groups, each time one of them sounds out a word, I let them pop one of the bubbles.  The added bonus is that it develops fine motor skills by working those finger muscles as well.  :)

3.  Tell Them Your Fingers SING!
Try running your fingers under the words while they sound out the words.  This is the routine that we were given from the SIPPS program, and it is a good one:  the teacher says, "Sound," and starts running the finger under each letter.  The child says each letter sound as you run your finger under it.  Then you do it again, but a little faster.  Hopefully, the child will start to blend them together.  If not, I tell them, "My fingers make the letters sing.   Help me make the letters sing."  Then do it again, and see if the children start singing the letter sounds.  This often makes them blend the letter sounds together as they are singing the sounds.

This is the free download paper that we used from last week's blog entry.

The other thing that helps is that when we practice the alphabet sounds, we do the same thing:  Just say, "Sound," and run your finger under the letter from left to right while the kids say it.  The only difference is that there is only one letter on the card.  If you want them to give the letter name instead, say, "Letter."

I keep all of my CVC flashcards in a binder like this.

4.  Once a Child Sounds Out a Word, Have Them Do It AGAIN IMMEDIATELY
I started doing this last year with a child who was really struggling, poor thing!  He finally got one word sounded out, and I thought to myself, "Maybe I'll give him success by having him do the same word in a row."  Much to my surprise, he could not do it a second time in a row!  I was stunned.  He said, "No, I can't," and groaned and moaned, even though he had JUST told me the answer!  So now, with the ones that are struggling so terribly, I will sometimes have them go back to the very same word that I just gave them, and do it again.  (And again, and again, and again!)   I tell them, "Show me how you do that one more time," just to solidify it in their minds.  "Or, let's practice doing that again.  Show me how you sound that word out."
Another way to approach it is to put that very word into the "Sound It Out" song on Little Songs for Language Arts CD.  Just change the words so that you have the child singing the word that you want him to sound out, rather than the words that are on my CD.  That should really help a lot; even my students that are struggling the most can sound out the words that we sound out on that song!

CVC flash cards are stored by word family in baseball card sleeves!

5.  Try a Different Movement
Have your kids touch their shoulder for the first sound, then their middle arm (or elbow) for the second sound, and their hand for the last sound.  Then blend the sounds together by sliding their hand all the way from their shoulder to their hand.  This variation of movements helps some kids get it.

We practice sounding some sight words out daily, with movements whole group.

6.  Try a New Game
Sometimes adding in some novelty helps a child practice something that they have already practiced a hundred times before.  My kids love velcro!  I think that they love it because of that funny sound it makes when you pull it apart.  We now have CVC Spelling Puzzles, and my kids really LOVE them!  Yes, they are very similar to the the CVC Pockets, but in this case, there is the visual clue of the puzzle piece that helps the child know where to put the piece down, and that always helps.  They are just a tad easier than the CVC Pockets.  Click here to try a few!

These are our CVC Puzzles.  They attach with velcro.

Our new CVC Pockets are a hit with my kids!

7.  Read My Lips
This activity is done to practice blending the sounds together without necessarily looking at the written letters. 
Have kids watch your lips make all three sounds in succession while you say the sounds.  Make sure you get their attention focused right on your mouth before you begin.  I usually tap my mouth with my finger or the end of my pencil, and say, "Watch my mouth."  Then I look them straight in the eye and make the sounds.  Then I tell the child, "Now say that back to me."  After they do, then ask them to speed it up and say it faster. 
The idea here is that you have got the child to use a little bit of lip reading as a visual clue to help them identify the sounds that they are hearing.  Once the child has identified the sounds that he has heard, (and you'll know this because he or she has repeated them back to you,) then he can start to blend them together for you.  Hopefully, then, you won't get children telling you things like /sssssss/ /iiiiii/ /t/ is the word "pig."  When children are taught to focus on the speaker's lips when that person is talking, then it teaches them a new way to pay attention and listen.  And if a child has auditory processing problems, this can be a real life saver.

8.  Try a New Teaching Routine
Here is another routine that I was taught to use as part of our SIPPS program.  It is sometimes helpful to the low kids, especially- although the high kids do get impatient with it, I have found!
1.  When teaching, first model the new skill twice.
Example:  "My turn.  /fffff/ /iiiii/ /sssshhhhh/."
 "My turn again.  /fffff/ /iiiii/ /sssshhhhh/."
 2.  Then have the kids do it with you twice.
Example:  "Together:  /fffff/ /iiiii/ /sssshhhhh/."
"Together again:  /fffff/ /iiiii/ /sssshhhhh/."
3.  Then have the kids try it alone- twice, of course!
Example:  "Your turn.  /fffff/ /iiiii/ /sssshhhhh/."
"Your turn again.  /fffff/ /iiiii/ /sssshhhhh/."

If they don't get it, you are supposed to start over with this routine.  I don't know if I buy into that whole "Start over and try it again from the beginning, no matter what, forever and ever" theory, though.  For me, if something doesn't work with a child fifteen times in a row, trying it a sixteenth time seems like the definition of insanity to me. But I'll let you draw your own conclusions on that one.