I can’t believe it’s already April! I know some teachers haven’t even had Spring Break yet, while others have just a few weeks left of school. Either way, it’s still a new month and time to switch up some of the materials used for practicing literacy skills.
In the month of April, spring really begins to show up with more signs of it, outdoors. Butterflies often start to appear, so “butterfly” is a fitting theme for this month’s sight word chart. As you’ll notice in the middle of the butterfly on the chart, some early readers may still be focusing on figuring out each letter name/sound. I like that you can easily differentiate what material is being focused on with this chart, without creating more than one. This one chart lets you meet the needs of various readers all at once! Simply choose some words (or letters) your readers are still working on and list them in different spots on the butterfly. If done in small groups, then specify which words you want that group to focus on.
The student response page is a great way to get readers to focus on their specific words, as well. Encourage readers to write down words they’re still working on. They will then focus on these for the month, hopefully mastering them well by the end of the month. You can watch the video and grab the freebie to get set up for April in your room here!
Another thing many primary readers are still working on at this time of year is blends. Understanding the concept of blends can still be challenging (or even just being introduced) for many readers. If your readers need some extra help with reading and writing using blends, this freebie makes a great writing center activity. Writers choose a few picture cards, identify those blends and then write a story describing a fun day. The words are provided at the top of the writing page, as well as on the cards with a visual clue. It’s always fun to read what writers come up with. Some just write random sentences, while others will develop a story. Either way- they’re practicing those blends, which is great. You can grab this freebie here!
