Teaching Phonics with Decodable Reading Passages

Why Use Decodable Reading Passages?

We know that students need explicit instruction in the essential components of reading including phonics, phonological awareness, comprehension, fluency and vocabulary. Decodable reading passages are a great way to teach phonics, fluency, and comprehension!

Decodable passages:

• Provide systematic phonics instruction
• Are fun for students and easy to implement for teachers
• Provide quality text at a carefully controlled level
• Are a flexible learning tool that can be used in a variety of classroom settings

How to use the decodable readers:

On the front cover students are introduced to, or review, a phonics sound. They practice reading words with the pattern, picture clues are included for support. I like students to use a highlighter and highlight the target skill. The words will appear again in the reading passage.

Next, students open up the booklet. On the left column they apply their phonics skills to read words with the pattern. I like students to read the list at least three times to increase their fluency. 

Now it is time to read the phonics-based reading passage! Students should be able to read the text independently. There may be a few high-frequency words that you need to introduce prior to reading. Again, I recommend having the students read the passage multiple times to work on fluency. 

Students search through the passage and find all the words that fit the word pattern being taught. You can have children circle or highlight them. Then, they write them on the list at the bottom center of the page. You can see students are getting a TON of practice with the new phonics skill!!!

After reading and finding the words, it is time for students to do some reading comprehension work! At this level, students complete a cloze reading activity. Later in the year, students answer questions about the text. This is a great way to get students back into the text one more time!

The back cover of the booklet provides a great opportunity for students to apply their new learning! Students write words that contain the learned phonics pattern. Children should be able to write the words without looking back in the passage. This page is a great for you to assess your students understanding of the learned skill.

Currently, I have five sets of phonics-based reading passages: short vowels, silent e, r-controlled vowels, vowel teams, and diphthongs.

The bundle is a great deal because any new sets will also be added to it for free!

Short Vowels Decodable Passages

Sign up to receive a free short a and short u decodable passage.

Thank you!

Check your email inbox for your free decodable passages.

Teaching Strategies for First Grade Writing: Stretch the Sentence

Do you struggle with teaching your first graders to revise their writing? It is such a hard skill to teach in first grade. My students always struggled with understanding the difference between editing and revising. As an early elementary teacher, you CAN begin to lay the foundation for teaching children about revising their writing. Today I wanted to share one of my favorite revising strategies for primary aged children- Stretch the Sentence.

The strategy is just as it sounds. We start with a simple sentence and make it more descriptive and complex one word or phrase at a time. It is a great way for students to begin using adjectives in their writing!

Begin the lesson by modeling a think aloud. You'll want to start with a simple sentence on your projector, chart paper, etc. Let's use the sentence- Mom made cookies- as an example. Underneath the sentence you will rewrite the sentence adding more detail to it. 

You could write:

Mom made sugar cookies.

I like to underline the newly added words.

Then you would repeat the process:

Mom made sugar cookies with frosting.

Keep adding even more! It is great to repeat the process 3-4 times.

Mom made sugar cookies with pink frosting.

Mom made sugar cookies with pink frosting and sprinkles.

Repeat this process over several days using a gradual release of responsibility. You'll want to use a new sentence each day.

Day 1- Model the Strategy/Think Aloud

Day 2- Shared Writing- Teacher writes, but students share ideas for words to add

Day 3- Work with a Partner

Day 4- Independent Practice

Remember to build in some time for sharing along the way. Students can share just the final sentence. It is fun for them to see the different sentences that everyone developed!

Once students are familiar with the strategy, it is important for students to continue to practice it, so that the skill becomes more internalized. 

You really don't need anything special to teach this strategy. If you want a quick and simple resource to practice this skill, I have created a series of worksheets to simplify your planning. You can click the picture to learn more about this resource.

Ultimately, we want our students to be able to apply this skill to their personal writing. Have students choose a sentence from one of their writing pieces and use the strategy to revise their writing project!

Want to try a free sample? Click the picture!

View the full resource here:

Need more writing ideas? Check out this post about teaching opinion writing to first graders!

Three Activities for Teaching Earth Day in First Grade and a Free Earth Day Book

Earth Day Activities for First Grade

I LOVE April! The weather is beginning to warm, and the flowers are starting to bloom. It's the Goldilocks month- not too hot, not too cold...but JUST RIGHT! It really is such a great month to teach about how awesome our Earth is and ways we can take care of it. I hope these Earth Day activities for first grade will help you plan some quick and easy lessons this month.

Activity 1- Reduce

1. The word reduce is likely a new word for many of your students. Start by teaching kids that the word "reduce" means to use less of something. Water is a great item to teach students about using less of it, electricity is also a good option.
2. Brainstorm with kids all of the ways they use water. Write down their ideas as they share them. They might think of drinking, bathing, washing clothes or dishes, watering grass, swimming. 
3. Next, talk about "why". Why should we use less water? Many students have probably never thought about using less water. We turn on the tap and water magically comes out!
4. Last, have students think of ways to use less water. Again, you may want to write down their ideas as they share them. Some simple ideas for first graders to grasp are: turning off the water while they brush their teeth and making sure they shut the tap completely off when they are finished washing. This is a great prompt for students to write about in their journals.
   

Want some ready to go activities for teaching Earth Day?  I have written mini-books to help teach these topics to your students.

Activity 2- Reuse

1. Bring some reusable and nonreusable items into your classrooms such as disposable and reusable water bottles, plastic and reusable grocery bags, paper towels and dishcloths, regular and paper plates. 
2. Show the "pairs" of items to your class one at a time. Ask what happens when you finish using the items. Help students see that some items get used once and then thrown away (or recycled) while others can be used again and again!
3. Last have students get creative! Show items such as a cardboard box or glass jar and have them write about ways they could reuse one of the items.

Want a craft project to go along with this lesson?  Check out this fun reuse-it craft project!

Activity 3- Recycle

1. Consider reading a book such as The Adventures of a Plastic Bottle: A Story About Recycling by Alison Inches. 
2. Bring a variety of items (recyclables and non-recyclables) into your classroom. Some good non-recyclable items include styrofoam, fast food cups and packaging, used pizza boxes, and plastic utensils.
3. Go through the items together the first time and sort them into two groups: recyclables & trash.
4. Talk about how the non-recyclable items will go to the landfill.
5. Now sort the recyclable items into categories: glass, cans, plastics, and cardboard/paper.
6. Since you have learned all three R's, today is a good day to talk about which one is better? While recycling is good, we want students to begin to grasp that reducing and reusing is even better!

Try one of the Earth Day books for free here.

Ten More and Ten Less: Hands on Activities for First Grade

Ten More and Ten Less

Teaching ten more and ten less is a lot of fun in first grade!  There are so many fun, hands-on activities you can do with your students to work on this place value skill. 

There are a variety of skills students need to be successful with this standard:

• Can students orally count on from a given number?
• Do students have good number sense? Can they easily compare and order numbers?
• Do they understand our base-ten number system?

If not, you may need to do some pre-teaching before they are ready to mentally find 10 more and 10 less than a given number. These activities can help you build these skills.

Hands-On Activities

Use cubes to count on. Start with a given number and touch or push cubes as students count on ten more. Once students can count on ten, then work on counting back ten. You could use a simple ten frame to do this activity- or you can make it more enticing with these fun snail mail mats!

We know that students love variety, and many students learn in different ways! Cubes and fingers are another way to practice in a hands-on concrete way.

Once students can orally count on and back ten, then work on writing the numerals. This is a great way to continue building number sense. Number lines are a great way to practice. You can use a simple number line or spice it up with math mats to make it feel like a game!

After students have mastered the skill of orally counting on ten less and ten more and can write the numerals then they are ready to dive deeper into place value understandings.  

Here are some of my favorite activities:

Use Place Value Blocks

Students build a two-digit number with place value blocks. They add another "ten" to make ten more. Then they take away a "ten" to show ten less. You can use a simple two-column place value mat, or these pails are super fun!

Use a 100 or 120 Chart

I love that "aha moment" when first graders realize they can use a 100 or 120 chart and go up and down a row to find ten more and ten less! Be sure to talk with your students about why this works and how it relates to our number system. This mat is perfect for using a math link to "circle" the numbers.

Mentally Finding 10 More and Ten Less

Now that you have spent a good amount of time building students' place value understanding, most students will be ready to mentally find ten more and ten less. This is the math standard students are expected to master in first grade.

I love that this mat connects the idea of addition and subtraction to the skill. Children place a number card in the middle and then they write the ten less and ten more numbers. Students shouldn't need to "count" our goal now is automaticity. You can download a free black and white version of this mat and number cards here.

Task cards are a great way to fluency! This set comes with three sets of cards and recording sheets for three different activities to practice ten more and ten less: Scoot, Write the Room, and a Math Station. Your students will love these games!

Your students will love using these hero number mats at a center. The starting number is written in the middle and students write the ten less and ten more numbers. This is also a great small group activity.

Kids always love to play Bingo! This is another great way to work on fluency for the skill of 10 more and 10 less. It is perfect for use in small groups, or at centers.  

Want to learn more about this set?  Click here.

Check out more of my first-grade hands-on math units:

Six Tips for Successful First Grade Math Centers

Six Tips for First Grade Math Centers

We want students to be able to work independently at their first-grade math centers. This allows the teacher time to be able to work with small groups or individual students and meet a variety of needs within the classroom. Here are six of my best tips for successful first-grade math centers.  

#1- Math Centers should be fun

Math centers need to be fun and engaging for your students. Look for ways you can provide opportunities for students to move and interact with others during the activities. Write the Room is a favorite center activity that allows students to move around the classroom. 

Partner or small group games are also great! You will want to think through your level of comfort with students moving around the room and working with others. Take the time to train your students to work at an appropriate volume level for your classroom.

#2- Keep your centers predictable

One of the easiest ways to encourage independent work at centers is to keep the format of the activities similar from week to week. This helps students know how to use the center and reduces the number of questions your students will have. It will also cut down on the amount of time you spend explaining centers each week. You can easily change the skill you are working on while keep the activity the same. Activities like dice games, memory, and task cards work great for centers and can be used a lot of different ways.

Kids love playing memory!  This set is available as a free download in my TPT store.

# 3- Use math centers for review

Centers are the perfect place to practice and refine past learned skills. It's okay to place items in centers that seem "easy" or were taught several months ago. This increases the opportunity for students to work independently and gain fluency in their math skills. 

Avoid placing new content into math centers too quickly. Your students may have too many questions, or they may practice the skill incorrectly if the content isn't review work. You want to know your students have a strong understanding of the math concept before they are working without your guidance or support.

# 4- Students need accountability

We want centers to be fun AND we want students to stay focused on the task. Without something to turn in, some students will not be on task. One option is to include some type of recording sheet or exit ticket for students to complete with their center activity. It isn't usually necessary to grade these tasks, but it allows you to track that your students were engaged and on task. A sticker or stamp for completion of the task works great for accountability.

Recording sheets work great for student accountability!

#5- Utilize Technology

Classrooms today are full of technology and digital resources. Utilize the resources you used during remote learning and repurpose them for digital math centers. Platforms like Google, Seesaw, and Boom Cards make great first grade math centers.

Digital activity for practicing ten more and ten less from my digital place value bundle.

Students love digital activities that incorporate moveable pieces!

#6- Stay Organized

One of the most challenging aspects of math centers is keeping your supplies organized and picked up.  Develop an organizational system of containers, labels, etc. and train your students well on how you want them to clean up. Allow plenty of time for students to clean up centers correctly and put supplies away. Take the time to teach and practice clean-up procedures. Check out this blog post for ideas on staying organized.

Need some easy to use first grade math centers? Check out this bundle that works great for memory, write the room, and task cards.