My First Guest Post

Hi everyone! I am so excited to have my first guest post!!!! Mary from Mrs. Lirette's Learning Dectectives is with us today! If you have not checked out her blog...you must! She has some FABULOUS ideas!

Hello there! Are you as excited as I am about today's Blog Swap and Hop? I hope so!

I'm Mary from Mrs. Lirette's Learning Detectives.  I was thrilled when I found out I would be posting at sweet Mrs. Shelton's blog today.  Her blog is too cute and full of wonderful ideas! :)

I'd like to share one of my favorite alphabet and sight word activities with you today.  Have you ever thought about teaching your students the alphabet letters in Sign Language?  Maybe you already do this in your classroom!  Having your students sign the letters as you sing your daily alphabet songs or chants really takes the activity to the next level.  It gives them the opportunity to become actively engaged while providing a multimodal learning experience.  Not to mention it caters to several different learning styles and we know how important it is to address the needs of all learners!  {think Gardner's Multiple Intelligences}

These days it's relatively easy to find alphabet charts that include American Sign Language.  I have a few charts that I keep posted in my classroom that were all purchased from the dollar store a few years ago.  I actually cut apart the letters in one of these charts and it has served as the letters on my word wall ever since.  Here is a picture of my word wall from when I taught 2nd grade.  The words are obviously different from what you would use in a K or 1 classroom but you can see the Sign Language on my letters.

I love to incorporate finger-spelling into our whole group and daily literacy stations.  My kids really enjoy using Sign Language to practice their sight words, vocabulary words, spelling words, etc.  I've done this with kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grade- it is always a favorite! Spelling with your fingers just makes it more fun!  Sometimes we play a game with our words by trying to be the first to guess which word is being spelled (using our fingers instead of oral language).  Also, I like to keep select cards on a mini pocket chart in our Word Work station for extra practice.  I love it when I catch my kiddos quizzing themselves or friends on how to finger-spell a sight word!

Here are a few examples of the cards I use:

I like to showcase the alphabet letter beside each symbol and the complete word on each card to support print knowledge and phonemic awareness.  Multiple exposure can't hurt, right?
I put together a packet of all 40 Pre-Primer Dolch words that you can grab for free {HERE}.

I hope your class enjoys using these cards as much as mine do!  I'll be working on creating free sets for the Primer and 1st-3rd grade lists as well.  Make sure you are following my blog, facebook, and store so you will be the first to know when they are posted! Thanks again to Mrs. Shelton for having me over! 

See???? Didn't I tell you she was AWESOME!!! Love this idea! Aren't you having fun hopping along and getting some great ideas and freebies? Today I am a guest blogger at Caitlin's Blog: Kindergarten Smiles! I hope you will come visit me there and grab your freebie!



Make sure to hop along to all of the other great blogs that are participating today. {See below}