Teaching the OI and OY sound is a lot of fun! There are many words that make this sound (the oy as in toy sound) that kids know. Plus, it's fun to say. :) Here are my favorite worksheets, games, and phonics activities for learning these 2 common diphthongs!  OI and OY Words Spelling Rule  First, I recommend quickly introducing the sound with picture cards that have the words printed largely on them. My OI and OY picture cards are perfect for this, if you don't have any already. As you're showing them the cards, point out how OY usually comes at the end of words. Show a couple of e ..read more

Teaching 2 digit addition and subtraction without regrouping is fun because kids get to add and subtract "big" numbers. It makes them feel so smart and can be a huge confidence booster for students! Since there is no regrouping, all students are essentially doing is two addition to 10 problems, or two subtraction within 10 problems, that happen to be next to each other. :) An awesome trick is to teach them to point out their pointing finger. Place it on top of the 2 numbers in the tens place and simply solve the addition problem in the ones place. For example, in this yellow worksheet, they ..read more

 Need some Fun R Controlled Vowels Activities and Games? Here are my favorites! First, what are R controlled vowels? R controlled vowels, often called Bossy R sounds, are OR, AR, ER, IR, and UR.  These sounds are often introduced in first grade. OR and AR are usually taught first, with a week dedicated to each (an entire week of AR and an entire week of OR). Some people teach them together. If you have enough time in your schedule to dedicate a week to each, that's what I personally recommend! :) After OR and AR, ER IR and UR are typically taught together in the same week sin ..read more

How to Teach Hard and Soft G Hard and Soft G  Hard and Soft G are when first grade phonics sounds start to get tricky! I wrote this little guide to help you navigate teaching these sounds! I hope it helps! :)  What is the Soft G sound?  The Soft G sound is when the G in a word makes the sound J typically makes. Words that make the Soft G sound are giant, giraffe, gym, gentle.  It typically occurs when G is followed by E, I, or Y in a word.  This can happen at the beginning of a word like gem or at the end of a word like cage. The E following the G makes the G say t ..read more

Fun Ideas for Teaching Halves, Fourths (Quarters), Thirds, and Eighths! Example worksheets and activities to show you engaging, colorful ways to learn fractions! I love learning about fractions so I wanted to take a moment to show you some of my favorite worksheets for practicing halves, fourths, thirds, and eighths! I personally think it's nice to have an individual worksheet for each kind that is super visual. For example, an entire worksheet that only practices eighths. See how they are only practicing situations where you're dividing a shape into 8 equal parts? This will give t ..read more

Winter long vowels reading practice is one of my favorite concepts of the year! Firstly, what's cuter than penguins and polar bears? Move over reading passages - these little phonics readers (books) for long a, i, o, and u are my favorite way to practice comprehension skills, long vowel patterns, and fluency all in one!  I wrote a little reader for each vowel sound. For example, this is the Long A reader to practice the a_e sound. The a_e sound is when there is a silent E at the end of the word so the a makes the long a sound (example: lake). "Let's Skate at the Lake" is filled with w ..read more

Christmas Addition Word Problems! I wanted to show you some fun worksheets I made to practice and review addition to 10 story problems. Each one has a different theme and pieces for your students to cut out to help them add and solve! :) Instead of simply plopping Christmas themed pictures on the page, the images they see and work with are actually the objects the passage is talking about. I feel like this is great reading support too and also simply helps them understand the math better too! I dislike when word problems are hard for kids to read so I try to write with simple words so kids ..read more

Christmas Blends Activities for First Grade! I am excited to show you 5 fun ways to practice including puzzles to match pictures and their beginning blends sounds, cute little readers to practice reading stories with each phonics skill, and fun worksheets that are differentiated! If you know my resources, you know I have A TON of blends activities. They are always a favorite so I made some Christmas versions! :) Cut these cute Christmas blends puzzles out and they're an instant reading center or small group activity! Kids simply match the Christmas word to the beginning sound they hear ..read more

Multiplication facts practice is an activity that can be SO fun if you have engaging math games and worksheets to use! I am excited to show you some of my favorite ways to help kids master their facts. Building fluency and automaticity is really important and it can be made easy with a few secrets. Want to know how to teach multiplication facts? Here are my top 5 tips! 1. Make it super fun, of course! You can do mazes. Puzzles! I love puzzles for math! Number searches! Cutting and pasting activities!  You can use these activities with any age.  Even "big kids" will be so excit ..read more

How to teach the OA and OW sound is simple. They both make the long O sound and there are so many fun worksheets, games, activities, and reading passages (including in the forms of puzzles!) you can do to help your students learn them. I will show you a couple of my favorite strategies. First, let's go over a couple examples of OA and OW words. OA Words: boat, coat, goat, soap, road, coast, goal, coach OW Words: blow, mow, grow, snow, show, glow, throw If you say these words aloud, you'll notice the OA and OW inside of them says the long O sound. OA usually appears in the middle of a wor ..read more