Tips for Using Sing and Spell Effectively in the Classroom!
Here are some tips for using Sing and Spell the Sight Words more effectively in the classroom. If you want to help your kids learn to read and write the sight words in a fun and easy way, this is the post for you! This is how I introduce and teach new sight words in my kindergarten classroom.
Pacing for Introducing New Words and Review
1. Introduce your first word (usually “the”) after about 3-4 weeks of school. (You may wish to introduce color words earlier.) Download my Pacing Guide here, towards the bottom of the page under “Program User Guides.”
2. Kindergartners can usually handle at LEAST two new songs per week. First graders can do more. If they are getting it, you are doing it RIGHT.
3. Keep reviewing the previous songs as you go. If you make a playlist of videos on Uscreen, our internet video streaming platform, I highly recommend putting the words in REVERSE ORDER. That means you will start at the end of the playlist with your first word. When you introduce your second word, it will be second to last on the list. So, once you have taught two or three words, the playlist will play your new one first, and then automatically review the others you have already learned.
Tips for Using Sing and Spell
1. Always include motions of some kind. As Howard Gardner says, “When the body moves, the brain remembers!”
2. Establish a procedure for getting the kids to calm down when you are done singing. I have two bells that I use. One means, “FREEZE- No matter what!” The other one means, “We’re changing centers now. Time to start cleaning up and join me on the carpet.” If you use the same bell for both messages, they will not know what to do each time.
3. ALWAYS show the word when singing the song. I always use our streaming site, HeidiSongs.tv, but if you are using only the audio, make sure that you display the word somewhere. Before I had DVDs, I had sight words on a ring in the order they would play. I held it in my hand while singing!
4. Important!!!!! As soon as a song is over, display the word and ask them what it is. Ask them to spell it sometimes, too.
5. Have the children write the words while the songs play. This helps them connect the song to the written word.
6. Apply the skill. A skill is only partially learned until it is applied. MODEL how to use the songs while writing. And be sure to tell the kids WHAT THE SONGS ARE FOR! You might be surprised that they don't realize they are spelling the word aloud while singing. 🤪
Using HeidiSongs during shared writing:
1. As you write, ask children for spellings and have them sing the songs to you as you write.
2. If there is no song, then have kids stretch out the word and sound it out together.
3. Reread as a group what you have written together. Discuss capitals, spaces, and periods.
Use Music as a Classroom Management Tool
1. Whenever your students are getting restless, stand them up and sing a song. Use it as an opportunity to review a sight word!
2. Sing a few songs in between centers when some kids are cleaning up and others are already finished.
3. Use the songs as a transitional tool. This keeps the review going continually without dedicating much extra time.
What should we do with kids that are reluctant to participate?
Do everything you can to “nip it in the bud.”
1. Explain that we are learning through this activity. Refusing to sing and/or move is the same as refusing to do a worksheet.
2. Do what you can to motivate them. Settle on a consequence and stick with it.
3. Get parents to help with “non-participants.” Explain that passive children learn more slowly.
4. Move “class leaders” that participate near the front, and reluctant or shy children more to the back. Non-participation (and bad attitudes!) are contagious!
Tips for Motivating Reluctant Students
1. Choose one “Super Singer” who was a super singer/dancer that day and give him or her a sticker.
2. One teacher gave her “Heidi’s Super Star” a silly band to wear for the rest of the day (or until she sang again later,) and then collected it before the kids went home.
These are “silly bandz.” Give your “best” or most enthusiastic singer a silly band to wear until it is time to sing again next time. Then reclaim it and choose another child to be your “best” singer!
3. If YOU do the movements and sing with the kids, they are more likely to do it WITH you! If you go take a break every time you put the videos on, the children will understand that the activity is not very important.
4. One teacher told me that she would choose a “best singer” of the day and let them push the “Easy Button” and everyone would say, “Way to go, Suzy!” etc.
5. Do “Sight Word Solos” (or duets, etc.) if you are all waiting for something, such as someone to finish up in the restroom, etc. !
6. Mix favorite songs in with others that they need to work on. A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down!
Of course, the more activities you DO with the sight words and song, the better your outcomes are likely to be.
Here is a list of things that you can do just to help your kids practice the sight words even more.
Some are specific to using HeidiSongs, and some are more “generic” and could be used with any program.
1. Use the videos as a "listening/viewing center." Log a child into your HeidiSongs.tv account on an iPad or Chromebook, and let them chose which videos to watch. Have them write the words or letters on a dry erase board as they go.
2. Play Sight Word Shuffle!
Here’s how to play: Choose a child to be “it.” Start a video. The child that is “it” has to identify the word whose song is playing, and then run to find it on the word wall before that song is over. If you like, then you can match girls against boys and see who finds it first, awarding points to the winning team.
3. Put on a Sing and Spell Show! Parents always love to see their children perform, and this is a pretty easy thing to do that doesn’t interrupt the curriculum at all! You can have the kids sing along with the audio by purchasing the songs on iTunes. (Search for artist Heidi Butkus).
These are ALL free downloads on different posts. The summer themed one is on THIS post!
4. Make a Sight Word Surprise, and drill the kids on their words using them. There are several free ones on my blog that you can choose from. The basic idea is that it is a white crayon resist with a sight word written with a white crayon in the middle of a paper. The teacher or helper writes a sight word ahead of time on the page with a white crayon. Then the children water color it to see the surprise sight word come up. Then when they are dry, the teacher uses the papers to drill the class on the sight words. You can find the original Secret Sight Word Surprise here. The Valentine’s Day themed “Sweet Sight Word Surprise” is here. The St. Patrick’s Day themed “Secret Shamrock Surprise” is here. You’ll find the “Easter Sight Word Surprise” here, and finally the “Secret Insect Surprise” is here.
And you can download my new Summer Sight Word Surprise right here on this blog post! We had a lot of fun painting it the day after Open House, which was Wednesday night of this week for me. Busy, busy, busy! (It’s a good thing I started this blog post EARLY!)
5. Use the songs in literacy centers for further reinforcement. I like to use the Sing and Spell File Folder Activities with Velcro from time to time as a work station. With these “Velcro Books,” the kids read the words to the songs and put the letters back in to rebuild the songs.
With the “Velcro Books,” the kids read the words to the songs and put the letters back in to rebuild the songs.
This is a very similar activity to our Sing and Spell Cloze Activity Worksheets, which are sold as a download along with the Sing Along Song Books.
In these worksheets, the children write the target word several times, but within the context of the song. Then they try to read the song back when they are done! They also practice their printing skills while they are at it.
The Sing and Spell Puzzles are also lots of fun and are great reinforcement, as are the CVC puzzles, by the way! (They are also less work to put together than the Velcro books.)
Sing and Spell Puzzles are fun! They can be used with or without folders and Velcro.
My kids love making little Sing Along Songbooks, too! They can take these home with them immediately, and they like that. These are a part of the Workbook, Mini Songbooks, and Flashcard Set. You can download some sample pages from this workbook on this blog post here.
These little take-home Mini Sing-Along Song books are a HIT with kids and parents!
This is what the rest of the workbook pages look like. Download some sample pages here.
Of course, there are the ever popular Hidden Sight Word Worksheets, too! Oh my goodness! I never would have guessed what a HIT these are! We now have them available for all six volumes of Sing and Spell the Sight Words, too, thanks to the tireless efforts of our HeidiSongs office staff. You’ll find some free samples to download here.
This is what the Hidden Sight Word Worksheets look like.
I hope you enjoyed this blog post! Have a great school year!
-Heidi :)
----------------------------------
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5. Have the children write the words while the songs play. This helps them connect the song to the written word.
6. Apply the skill. A skill is only partially learned until it is applied. MODEL how to use the songs while writing. And be sure to tell the kids WHAT THE SONGS ARE FOR! You might be surprised that they don't realize they are spelling the word aloud while singing. 🤪
Using HeidiSongs during shared writing:
1. As you write, ask children for spellings and have them sing the songs to you as you write.
2. If there is no song, then have kids stretch out the word and sound it out together.
3. Reread as a group what you have written together. Discuss capitals, spaces, and periods.
Use Music as a Classroom Management Tool
1. Whenever your students are getting restless, stand them up and sing a song. Use it as an opportunity to review a sight word!
2. Sing a few songs in between centers when some kids are cleaning up and others are already finished.
3. Use the songs as a transitional tool. This keeps the review going continually without dedicating much extra time.
What should we do with kids that are reluctant to participate?
Do everything you can to “nip it in the bud.”
1. Explain that we are learning through this activity. Refusing to sing and/or move is the same as refusing to do a worksheet.
2. Do what you can to motivate them. Settle on a consequence and stick with it.
3. Get parents to help with “non-participants.” Explain that passive children learn more slowly.
4. Move “class leaders” that participate near the front, and reluctant or shy children more to the back. Non-participation (and bad attitudes!) are contagious!
Tips for Motivating Reluctant Students
1. Choose one “Super Singer” who was a super singer/dancer that day and give him or her a sticker.
2. One teacher gave her “Heidi’s Super Star” a silly band to wear for the rest of the day (or until she sang again later,) and then collected it before the kids went home.
3. If YOU do the movements and sing with the kids, they are more likely to do it WITH you! If you go take a break every time you put the videos on, the children will understand that the activity is not very important.
4. One teacher told me that she would choose a “best singer” of the day and let them push the “Easy Button” and everyone would say, “Way to go, Suzy!” etc.
5. Do “Sight Word Solos” (or duets, etc.) if you are all waiting for something, such as someone to finish up in the restroom, etc. !
6. Mix favorite songs in with others that they need to work on. A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down!
Of course, the more activities you DO with the sight words and song, the better your outcomes are likely to be.
Here is a list of things that you can do just to help your kids practice the sight words even more.
Some are specific to using HeidiSongs, and some are more “generic” and could be used with any program.
1. Use the videos as a "listening/viewing center." Log a child into your HeidiSongs.tv account on an iPad or Chromebook, and let them chose which videos to watch. Have them write the words or letters on a dry erase board as they go.
2. Play Sight Word Shuffle!
Here’s how to play: Choose a child to be “it.” Start a video. The child that is “it” has to identify the word whose song is playing, and then run to find it on the word wall before that song is over. If you like, then you can match girls against boys and see who finds it first, awarding points to the winning team.
3. Put on a Sing and Spell Show! Parents always love to see their children perform, and this is a pretty easy thing to do that doesn’t interrupt the curriculum at all! You can have the kids sing along with the audio by purchasing the songs on iTunes. (Search for artist Heidi Butkus).
4. Make a Sight Word Surprise, and drill the kids on their words using them. There are several free ones on my blog that you can choose from. The basic idea is that it is a white crayon resist with a sight word written with a white crayon in the middle of a paper. The teacher or helper writes a sight word ahead of time on the page with a white crayon. Then the children water color it to see the surprise sight word come up. Then when they are dry, the teacher uses the papers to drill the class on the sight words. You can find the original Secret Sight Word Surprise here. The Valentine’s Day themed “Sweet Sight Word Surprise” is here. The St. Patrick’s Day themed “Secret Shamrock Surprise” is here. You’ll find the “Easter Sight Word Surprise” here, and finally the “Secret Insect Surprise” is here.
And you can download my new Summer Sight Word Surprise right here on this blog post! We had a lot of fun painting it the day after Open House, which was Wednesday night of this week for me. Busy, busy, busy! (It’s a good thing I started this blog post EARLY!)
5. Use the songs in literacy centers for further reinforcement. I like to use the Sing and Spell File Folder Activities with Velcro from time to time as a work station. With these “Velcro Books,” the kids read the words to the songs and put the letters back in to rebuild the songs.
This is a very similar activity to our Sing and Spell Cloze Activity Worksheets, which are sold as a download along with the Sing Along Song Books.
The Sing and Spell Puzzles are also lots of fun and are great reinforcement, as are the CVC puzzles, by the way! (They are also less work to put together than the Velcro books.)
My kids love making little Sing Along Songbooks, too! They can take these home with them immediately, and they like that. These are a part of the Workbook, Mini Songbooks, and Flashcard Set. You can download some sample pages from this workbook on this blog post here.
Of course, there are the ever popular Hidden Sight Word Worksheets, too! Oh my goodness! I never would have guessed what a HIT these are! We now have them available for all six volumes of Sing and Spell the Sight Words, too, thanks to the tireless efforts of our HeidiSongs office staff. You’ll find some free samples to download here.
I hope you enjoyed this blog post! Have a great school year!
-Heidi :)
----------------------------------
Follow me! Did you enjoy this post? Do me a favor and share it with your friends! And follow this blog by signing up for my email updates here, or follow on Bloglovin', or follow me on TPT! I'm also on Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google+ and YouTube, too! Don't forget to sign up for our email newsletter for special deals and promo codes that you won't find out about anywhere else.
