Friday, September 21, 2012

The Phonics Dance

The 10 minutes before lunch each day is devoted to "The Phonics Dance." My students L~O~V~E this time of day!

What is the phonics dance? 
It is actually pretty simple. We name letters and match them to sounds while using gestures. Often our gestures are ASL related. Sometimes they are silly. Whatever helps them remember and works!

 It is very whole-brain teacherish!

Here are my little guys practicing the 't-h' sound.

While they are doing the motions the teacher is holding up a tiny flashcard with the letters and sounds. Yep... a flash card. Why... cuz we can't find what we want any bigger!!

As I mentioned yesterday -- matching resources are hard to fine! So I created my own but I realized as I was creating them that not everyone uses them the same way. For example, there are four second-grade teachers.

We all teach the "phonics dance" (yep... even the male teacher!) but we use different resources to do so.  I created these different products with them in mind.


16x20 Alphabet Poster

My mentor teacher prefers one big poster for this activity. This way she can just pick a child to use the pointer to go through the song and dance. She has been searching everywhere for a cute version in color and here it is!!

8x10 Alphabet Posters

One of the team members prefer 8x10 posters as he hangs them up above the board just like you would an alphabet strip and uses a laser pointer for this activity. These are great for him as while they have the kid cute factor it is not so overly cute he will lose his man-card. This is very important as there are not enough man-card friendly elementary products for teachers as he reminds me often!


5x7 Alphabet Posters/Large Flashcards
These are large flashcard size post cards. One of our team members uses this as she likes to be able to shuffle the cards and hold them up. She also has a smaller area where she posts these and the smaller size makes it fit perfectly!

So you maybe asking what the big deal is about this set? 
You can find alphabet things everywhere. 

1.... There Melonheadz! Duh! That automatically makes them special!

2....matching personal dictionary/interesting words book

3 .... that is my secret for another day but when you see it you will have the "Ah Ha" moment and directly after that a "FINALLY!" moment.

Leave me a comment for your chance to win a poster set in the size of your choice!

19 comments:

  1. Your posters look great!!! I will have to try the phonics dance with my kiddos!

    Karmen
    carmenb104@gmail.com

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  2. This looks great! I do something similar, but don't do movements. I know what I will try today. thanks.

    Heather
    higgystyx@yahoo.com

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  3. I must have been living under a rock...so I am off to find out more about the phonics dance.

    tokyoshoes (at) hotmail (dot) com

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  4. Movement and songs really help kids!! I would love the poster set, any size!!

    Jenna
    Just Diving In

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  5. Man, you have intrigued me all week with your comments! I look forward to having an "Ah Ha" moment and my "Finally!" moment, too! Your posters look perfect!

    Ѽ Lori
    Teaching With Love and Laughter
    luvyorkies@gmail.com

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  6. I would LOVE to have these posters for my firsties! I would even buy it...
    Alyce
    Alyce.bartel@gmail.com

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  7. I love these! Y'all made some really cute things as a partnership! Nice work :)

    Sara
    Miss V's Busy Bees
    ventrellasara@gmail.com

    PS. Tried your TPT link via your blog... it just takes me to the picture. Just wanted to let you know!

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  8. What a great idea! Thanks for sharing.
    schewkinder@gmail.com

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  9. I like it all! I would put whatever I got in my guided reading area.
    Mandmyoung(at)chartermi(dot)net

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  10. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  11. I love it! My kids love putting everything to music! Those posters are adorable!
    eileengriffin14@gmail.com

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  12. Perfect!

    Keeping my fingers crossed!

    teachinginhighheels@gmail.com

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  13. I love your posters and the idea of doing the phonics dance.

    Penny

    spkmw4@gmail.com

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  14. so cute :) we'll have to try the phonics dance!!

    lorinademello@hotmail.com

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  15. I also do a phonics dance with my class, but it's more like a phonics jive with little motion breaks. I'd love to use your posters along with it to add some new variety!
    darcyaubrey@hotmail.com

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  16. I absolutely LOVE these, Misty! They are very useful and kid-friendly. I cannot wait to be able to put them above my board as the alphabet line because they're so fun and clear and concise! Thank you for these :)

    Sara

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  17. Hi! Love your phonics dance....children learn best when music is involved in any learning activity. Your large alphabet poster would be a perfect addition to my classroom....the graphics are bold and eye-catching, sure to grab my students' attention! Thanx!

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  18. I use the phonics dance and have the book by the creator Ginny Dowd. In her book there are the alphabet cards..large and small...and small hunk and chunk cards. I just colored them and laminated and post them above as my alphabet line. The kids LOVE this and use it when spelling and writing!!
    I use it as a reminders when they are reading too.
    Love your creations!!

    ReplyDelete
  19. I use the phonics dance and have the book by the creator Ginny Dowd. In her book there are the alphabet cards..large and small...and small hunk and chunk cards. I just colored them and laminated and post them above as my alphabet line. The kids LOVE this and use it when spelling and writing!!
    I use it as a reminders when they are reading too.
    Love your creations!!

    ReplyDelete

I love comments! Thank you for taking the time to chat with me. =)