Sight Words -- Captain Word Whiz!

Let’s face it, sight word instruction can be very boring, but it is crucial for our kiddos. I’ve tried a million ways to “spice up” sight word instruction and there hasn’t been anything that I felt truly motivated my students until Captain Word Whiz.  Here is how it works

Organization

The key to success to any sight word program is organization.  Take the time to make the copies and get organized for the entire school year and you will not regret it!  I copy and staple all of the lists and organize them into file folders. 

 Assessment
At the beginning of the year I assess my students on their sight word knowledge and assign them to the appropriate word whiz list.  Each list has 25 sight words on it.  For example, if Reagan knows the first 58 sight words, I would place her on list three.  Note:  She will not become Captain Word Whiz for list one and two, ONLY after she has successfully completed list three.

Let’s Practice!
My students keep their lists in their binders or folders that go home with them every day.  I give my students the opportunity to work on their words during daily 5 and I also assign sight word practice as homework every night.

Quiz Time!
Each morning, I orally quiz each student on one page of their list.  Once they have mastered the full page of five words, I whole punch next to each word.  When they have mastered the entire booklet, the whole class sings a superhero tune and I announce “Reagan Word Whiz!” while my teacher helper brings the cape over for the new word whiz.  The kids go crazy with excitement!  I then give the Word Whiz his or her certificate and they put it on the board for the day.  I allow the Word Whiz to wear their cape in the classroom all day and take a picture to post on our classroom website. 


There you have itI hope your kiddos enjoy it as much as mine have!

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$1 Sparky SALE!!

My friends from A Spark of Inspiration and I are having a $1 Sale!

I cannot WAIT to get my shop on! :)  
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Growth Mindset



growth mindset.               What exactly IS growth mindset and why should I care about it?  This is the thought that has been going through my head for the past year.  I’ve seen a lot of talk about it, but I didn’t understand what it was.  I finally took the plunge and bought Mindsets in the Classroom off of Amazon.  It had me hooked right away.  What?  There is actually brain research about the “summer slide”how did I not know this??  We are talking real, scientific information.  HmmmI guess I see what all of the fuss is about! 

You wouldn't have to spend more than a few minutes in the lounge to hear this...
“They just don’t care.”

“These kids just don’t know how to work hard anymore.”


There has been a cultural change over the past several years.  We are painfully aware of this change.  It is the everyone gets a trophy mindset.  How can we combat this in the classroom?  We need to teach our students about hard work and perseverance.  That is the easy part, identifying what we need to teach, but how we effectivley teach our students to change their mindset is another.  

Are you interested in collaborating and learning with other teachers about growth mindset?  I have created a Facebook group to do just that, click here to join!


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