Oh, Fiddlesticks!

Hello!  Sharing a fun and simple game with you today to help your students practice sight words.  {In my class we call them Super Words!}

It's a simple game of Fiddlesticks.  Sort of like Old Maid... you don't want to get stuck with the fiddlestick at the end of the game.  Students draw a stick out of the container and read the word.  If they get it correct, they keep the stick.  If they do not know the word, they return it to the container and the next player goes.  If a player draws a fiddlestick, they must return all their sticks to the container, exclaiming "Fiddlesticks!". Play continues until time is up (you can either set a timer or just play until clean up time) or until the fiddlestick is the last stick drawn.  The player with the most sticks wins.

Prep is quick and easy.  You'll need a Sharpie, some craft sticks, and several Crystal Light containers (save them up or ask friends to save them for you...)  The covers were designed to wrap around these containers perfectly.  Just print, wrap, and tape.  Easy peasy.

In my Fiddlesticks packet, you will get 9 covers to make 9 games, each with a different set of sight words.  I use the 220 Dolch sight words.  Each game has approximately 24 words, enabling you to differentiate for your students.  You'll notice the sets are labeled "weeks 1-4" etc.  That's because these games coordinate with my Sight Words Flashcard Ring resource, an entire year of sight words learning and practice.  You DO NOT need to have that resource to use these games, but I encourage you to go check it out!

My students LOVE this simple game of Fiddlesticks.  In fact, they often beg to be able to play during our choice time.  Gotta love that!

Check out all my Super Words (sight words) resources in my TPT shop!

Sight Word Assessments using the Seesaw app

Do you teach primary and need an easy way to assess sight words on a regular basis?  Now available are my Sight Words Assessments using Seesaw!

If you have access to iPads in the classroom, or another means of using the Seesaw app, then this is the resource for you!

Gone are the days of assessing my students one-on-one with flashcards.  Now, I simply upload the sight words onto Seesaw and my students work independently to read the words and upload it to their learning journal.  This saves me a HUGE amount of valuable time because I can then listen and evaluate at another time.  I can work with other students in the classroom while several students are taking the assessment.  EASY PEASY!

Here is a video of one of my students reading his sight words to me using the Seesaw app:

After reading the words, my students save it in their learning journal for my approval.  I simply open it, listen and assess, then approve so that connected parents can see their progress.

Click here to learn more about how I teach sight words in my classroom (I call them Super Words!).

Also available is my Sight Words Bundle with Seesaw Digital Assessments.

You are going to love this simple and easy way to get those sight words assessments done and keep your students on track.  Thanks for stopping by to check it out!

Sight Words Books

New in my series of coordinating Super Words resources... Super Words Books!!  In my class we refer to sight words as Super Words, because once you know them, you have reading power!  So, Super Words Books are really sight words books.

 This year, I'm not going to use a word wall.  I know!  I can almost hear you gasp at the very thought.  I've been blogging about some of the changes I am making to my classroom for the coming year, many of which are inspired by the direction my school district is going.  There is much discussion about what should and shouldn't be posted on the walls of our classrooms.

What I'm going to try this year is to use a small chart to display the 6 Super Words I am introducing each week, plus the 6 we learned last week.  Each week I will rotate them out and add new words.  Now, usually, I would staple these to our word wall, but this year we will use these Super Words Books to refer to when we need help spelling a sight word.

I'm actually excited about it for a few reasons. 

1.  No more stapling up words each week and taking all 220 down in May.  Yippee!

2.  I think it's difficult for my students to see the wall from every vantage point in the room.  I often see them straining their necks or eyes to see the words up on the wall.  Having a booklet right in front of them will help with this.

3. Looking up words in the book will help us learn ABC order.

4.  This one is my favorite... Now students will have access to all 220 Dolch sight words from day one.  They won't have to wait until it's been introduced and stapled on the wall to have access to it.

I have included two covers to choose from:  a full color version and a blackline version which can be printed onto colored paper or card stock.  Assembly directions are included in the packet for easy printing and stapling.


Now my students - and yours - can have the entire word wall (220 Dolch sight words) at their fingertips starting on the first day of school!

You can check out the product preview by clicking on the link below...  Thanks so much!

Super Words Book

Outta Sight!

Oh, goodness.  My Super Words Flashcard Ring was in need of a makeover.  It was the very first product I created for TPT, so, you know, it was so last year!  lol

But, seriously.  This product was the very reason I began selling on TPT because I was so excited about my Super Words flashcard ring and what it has done for my 1st grade students.  I mean, 5 years of using it in my classroom and each and every group of students has fallen in love with those little beads.  Who knew pony beads could be so motivating?!

You can read all about how I use Super Words Flashcards to teach and motivate my students to learn 220 sight words in the course of a year.  CLICK HERE for that post.

Check out the newly updated product here.  It comes with weekly flashcards for the whole year, assessments, motivating incentives, and full directions.

I also bundled this packet along with several other coordinating products.  Games, sight words cards, word wall cards, etc.  You can check them all out in my store where you will find all the links provided in the Product Description.

I hope you love it as much as my students and I do!  Thanks for checking it out!

Ta-dah! New product cover complete!

I've spent some time giving my product covers a makeover!  Here's the new cover for my Super Words flashcard ring...


Muuuuch better!  BTW to find out more about Super Words check out this post.  Happens to be my favorite classroom tool.

Off to makeover more covers!

Time to update this Super Words cover!

This cover needs a makeover!  Time for some updating!

I've been going back to older products and giving them new covers with a cuter, more updated look!  This one definitely needs an update!

It's time for... Super Words!!!!

THIS is it!  My favorite resource that I have ever created for my classroom.  Super Words!

I love it so much that this is the reason I decided to open a TPT store to share it with others.

I'm excited to tell you all about it...

Super Words! is a sight word study resource I came up with a couple of years back.  My students have absolutely LOVED IT.  Really!  And, it's all because of these:

Beads!!  Who'd have thought that giving my students a bead to put on their flashcards ring would be such a HUGE incentive!

Would you love to have your students learn all 220 Dolch sight words over the course of a year?  If so, read on...

Here's how I use my Super Words! resource in my classroom.  Each week my students get a new flashcard to put on their ring with 6-7 new sight words to learn.  Flashcards are printed out and pre-cut by me.  They quickly use a glue stick to adhere to an index card.  I hole punch it and they put the new card on their ring.  This only takes 5 minutes once they have the routine.  These go home with the students with their "baggie books" for nightly practice.  They also use them during reading time during Daily 5 in the classroom.  And, of course, I put the new Super Words on our word wall to practice throughout the week.

Every 4-5 weeks, usually at mid-term, I assess my students.  I DO NOT let them read the words off their flashcards.  (Some students will memorize the words in order...)  I use my Super Words Sight Words Cards, mixed up, to assess (shown above).  If a student knows all the words, I stamp the check boxes on their flashcards, indicating words they've mastered.  I use the eraser from a brand new pencil as my rubber stamp.  (See pic below...)  You could also hole punch, or use a marker to check off the words.

**UPDATE 6/7/18:  I now assess my students on their Super Words using the SEESAW app.  I upload each assessment into the app and students take the assessment independently.  To see this resource in my TPT shop, CLICK HERE.

Then, this is when the magic happens.  They earn a new bead to put on their flashcard ring.  Stop the world!  You cannot believe HOW EXCITED your students will be about this!  I'm telling you!  I talk it up real big at the beginning of the year and make a huge deal out of it.  I keep the color a secret and they get so excited when I reveal which color they'll be receiving each time.  MAGIC!  I can't believe how hard they work to earn those little beads.

You might be wondering, what happens if a student doesn't know all the words when assessed.  No problem.  I simply tell them they did awesome, here's a couple of words you missed and need to work on, and I'll test you again in a few days.  Students can work at their own pace and everyone has the opportunity to earn all the beads.

As I said, I test every 4-5 weeks.  Our school runs on a 9-week quarter, so that is how I set this up.  By the end of each year, my students earn a total of 8 beads.  Plus, a bonus bead if they take my Super Words Challenge.  More on that in a second...  If your school doesn't have 4 quarters like we do, no problem, you can still use this.  I have 36 weeks of words, simply break it up however you wish.

My Super Words Challenge is one final, huge 220-word assessment that I do at the end of the school year.  I have parents test their kids on all the Super Words first, and when they are ready, I test their student.  If the student can read all 220 sight words, they earn a special certificate of accomplishment.  They get super-proud about this!

Let me tell you how successful my students have been with Super Words!  I'd say 98% of my students have earned all 8 beads and an equal amount have taken my Super Words Challenge and passed.  Woo Hoo!  I truly believe my students' success with this program has made them better readers.

If you're looking for a fun new idea to help you teach sight words, give this a try this school year.  My Super Words Flashcard Ring comes with 36 weeks of flashcards, 4 quarterly assessments (which can be used to do a year-end assessment also), and a Super Words Challenge certificate.  Download a copy in my TPT store here.

I also created some additional resources that I use in my classroom.  You might find some of these helpful as well.

Super Words Sight Words Cards

Super Words Games for Practice

Super Words Word Wall Cards

Thanks for your interest in learning more about Super Words!  If you have any questions, please let me know.