HeidiSongs Teaching Resource

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...

This week, I would like to share with you some tips and ideas that I have developed over the years for organizing classroom testing efficiently, and getting the very best from your students.  I started writing them down as I was explaining what to do to my wonderful job share partner this year, as we were making our way through the testing process together. It’s funny- I really had never thought about my testing procedures before, but as I was describing these things to my job share partner, I realized that this might make a good blog post.  I hope that these suggestions are helpful to you!   This week, I changed my “learning objective sign” to what we were REALLY doing this week when we took a practice test on mathematical reasoning.  Getting Ready to Test 1.  Do a mid trimester assessment and send home the results to parents so that they can be practicing with their kids.  2.  Consider using ESGI online software to keep paren...

Today I am going to tell you about a very simple and fun idea that my class really enjoyed!  It’s called Sight Word Headbands, and you do it in a whole group setting, so it is really easy to manage. I saw a similar idea on Pinterest, where the teacher had the kids lick their foreheads and stick a flash card on it.  The card apparently sticks there until the activity is finished.  The children were to draw a line from their friend’s name to the sight word.  (Follow the link above to the exact pin.)   I already had this list of names typed up, so I just told them to write the word next to their friends’ names.   I really didn’t want to have the kids sticking my cards to their heads with spittle, and I couldn’t imagine that the cards would stick very long.  I also wanted them to write the words instead of draw a line.  AND, I already had a list of their names printed out that I wanted to take advantage of.  (This list is in t...

Last week at the International Reading Association Conference , I  had the wonderful privilege and pleasure of hearing Mo Willems speak, since he was the keynote speaker for the last general session of the conference on Monday morning. In case you are not familiar with his work, Mo Willems is the author of Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus ! and Don’t Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late!   He also writes the “Elephant and Piggie” books, such as We Are In A Book , and There Is A Bird On Your Head !   I had no idea that he was such a funny guy, but I guess I should have known!  His speech was a string of great one-liners that kept all of the teachers literally in stitches!   This is Mo Willems as he taught us how to draw his famous Pigeon. At the end of his speech, this what he said to everyone in the room, “I invite you to infringe on my copyright.  PLEASE teach your students to draw the characters from my books!”  And then he taught us all ...