What do you do during CAFE's mini lessons? The last two weeks, I focused on Stretchy Snake with my kinderkids. There are so many cute freebies on TPT about Reading Strategy buddies. However, I am using what I had found originally before I discovered TPT. I still use Christina Bainbridge's mini posters (free) and now I have included Deanna Jump's Guided Reading activities ($) to help with introducing and practicing reading strategies using little stuffed animals. I only introduce one at a time. So far, we have Eagle Eyes, Lips the Fish, Stretch Snake, and Chunky Monkey. I post my CAFE menu on my cabinets.
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| I created my own strategy cards. April Larremore has a great freebie that inspired me to make my own. |
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| I found the colorful CAFE headers on TPT for free from Rachelle Rosenblit. |
Two weeks ago, with our Reading Street series big book, Flowers, I took out some bean cards made from Growing Kinder's Math & Literacy for Little Sprouts. I dispersed the 12 green bean cards around the room and had my students work in pairs. They folded their papers into quarters to make 4 boxes. They worked together to use "Stretchy Snake" to sound out CVC words. Then they numbered the box to match the bean's number, wrote the word, and drew a picture. They looked like they were having a good time, and they did such a great job working together!
While they were working, some of my kinders finished quickly, so I had them do 4 more on the back. I thought to myself about doing this activity again, but differentiating it for my students. So this past week I created another version using fall leaves. Some of my kinders needed more challenging words, so I moved to using some blends and sh- words. Many need practice with CVC words, so I had those out as well. We colored a yellow or red dot on top of our papers to help us remember which words we were going to try and read during this mini-lesson.
I made a fall packet of words that can be used for kindergarten or first graders. There are short vowels, long vowels, and blends. I also included black and white patterns so you can print on colored cardstock and write your own words on them. You can find this 70 page packet at my TPT store for $2. Click below to see more about the packet there.
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