Common Core Phonics and Sight Word Fun!

I am a big fan of using phonics in the classroom.  I believe it is important to use in all grade levels in Elementary School and even if you have strugglers in middle and high school.  Common Core Standards include:

K.RFS.3, 1.RFS.3, 2.RFS.3, 3.RFS.3, 4.RFS.3, 5.RFS.3

Why not make phonics, sight words, and spelling fun for your students?

Here are ten activities that I have done with previous classes I have taught in centers, small group, or seat work:

White Boards - Kids love to use white boards to write their words.  Either give them their list of words or call them out one at a time during small groups and let them practice writing them.  It's a good quick assessment for you this way.

Elkonin Boxes - I sometimes draw a rectangle and divide it up into squares and the students push a magnetic counter into each square as they say the sounds of the word.  Then I give them a dry erase marker and they write the word into the boxes.

Shaving Cream - Children LOVE shaving cream!  I didn't have time to use it with the 5th graders, but toward the end of my short term with them they were asking me about using shaving cream.  Spray some on their desk and let them practice writing their spelling words.  It also cleans the desk, which keeps those custodians so happy!

Sand Art - Check out my previous post on sand art.  Children love making letters using colored sand.

Magnetic Letters - Let children use magnetic letters to make words.

Letter Tiles - Use letter tiles to make words.  You can use the ones in Scrabble kits or check out Lakeshore.

Chalk - If you still have the old chalkboards in your classroom let the children use chalk to make words on the chalk board.

Stencils - Write the words using stencils,

Spelling City - Type in the words on SpellingCity.com and let your students have fun playing games and taking quizes!

Word Sorting - Give your students a list of words and have them sort them using a T chart or 3 way chart by the different spelling patterns.  I always listed the children's spelling words on the board and they would sort the words into a composition notebook each week.  If they forgot a previous week how to spell a word I would remind them to check their composition notebook.

If you are a fan of word sorting you are in luck!  I have created a ton of different word sorts: cvc, cvce, blends, long vowel patterns, digraphs, dipthongs, r-controlled vowels, silent consonants, and soft and hard c and g.  41 pages full of fun!  This is on sale for over 50% off today, Sunday, September 30th and will be back to regular price $6.00 on Monday.  There are some free samples in the preview so be sure to download the preview file!  Click on the pictures to check it out.

What ideas do you have to make phonics fun.  Please post your ideas in the comments below!

As always thanks for hoppin' by Hopkins' Hoppin' Happenings.  Keep on smiling!