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ISSUE 43 | OCTOBER 2023
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For students to become fluent and accurate readers, they must be provided with instruction and a great deal of practice with blending letter-sounds in decodable words. Daily blending and decoding practice with words in isolation is essential. Superkids provides explicit instruction in letter-sound associations and how to blend the sounds of letters as they appear in words. The goal is for children develop a strategy for reading unknown words, so they don’t have to guess! This issue focuses on these critical reading skills.
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Beginning with Unit 6 (Sal), kindergarteners should practice blending for at least ten minutes every day in addition to the practice they receive during the core lessons. This practice does not have to be completed during the reading block. Blending practice can occur at any time during the day. Some teachers choose to break the practice up into two five-minute sessions. Do what works for you and your schedule.
Visit the Materials page in MyZBPortal.com to view two Quick Guide to Blending resources for Meet the Superkids and Superkids’ Club. These documents review the blending procedure and include additional lists of words to use for blending practice.
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Students at any level of Superkids who struggle to decode often lack prerequisite skills. They may have weak phonemic awareness skills, have trouble remembering letter-sound associations, or have had insufficient practice with blending. To improve these students’ decoding skills, you may need to focus on these initial skills individually or during or small-group instruction.
In addition to the Ten-Minute Tuck-Ins, the Superkids Skill-Building Book is an excellent resource to find activities to strengthen these preliminary skills in any grade. Use the Quick Assessments and Workout Plan at the beginning of each section to help pinpoint skill gaps and determine the instructional focus for individual students.
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The Big Book of Blending in kindergarten and the Big Book of Decoding in grades 1 and 2 are ideal Superkids resources for providing practice with blending and decoding at the word level. Whether you are using the Big Book resource or the pages available to display and print in the portal, use the pages that correspond with your current unit. Return to past unit pages if students need additional practice with previously learned phonemes.
Superkids teachers have created many ways to use the Big Book pages with the whole class, with smaller groups, during independent work time, and to help prepare activities. Here are a few super ideas teachers have shared.
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Individual Little Books
Using the printable Big Book pages, create a resource for blending and decoding practice at an independent center. These would also be great to use with a small group of students. This teacher added a fancy pointer and attached a small piece of ribbon to the bottom of a three-ring binder so the book would stand up.
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Time-Saving Tip
If you need word cards for group activities or independent work time games, this tip can save you some time! Print and laminate Big Book pages for your current unit. Cut out each word to create small word cards. This is an easy way to keep activities current and ensure the words are always tied to core instruction.
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Focus on Each Sound
Provide extra practice with the Big Book by using the printable pages from the portal. After placing the pages in plastic sheet covers, children highlight words from left to right as they blend each sound.
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Word Finder
Make a word finder by cutting a rectangular hole out of a piece of thick paper. The opening should be large enough to show the longest word on a Big Book page. Use the finder to choose a word for children to read. Students can also take turns using the finder and call on classrooms friends to read.
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Big Book Cover-Up
The Big Book can reinforce encoding skills, too! Select one word from each row on a page. Using self-sticking notes, cover one grapheme in a selected word from each row. One at a time, say the whole word aloud, and call on a child to tell which letter or letters have been covered. If the child gives the correct answer, they can peel back the note to reveal the letter(s).
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Rhyming Words
Point to and read a word on a Big Book page. Have children identify other words on the page that rhyme with the word you read. Challenge them to think of additional rhyming words that are not on the page.
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Blending Races
Place a sticky note with the word “start” at the beginning of the first row and “finish” at the end of the last row. Students take turns rolling a die and will move a toy car over the number of words rolled on the die. The student will then roll the car under the letters in the word they landed on to blend the sounds. The first one to the finish wins!
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Let’s Have a Word Race!
Here is a way to turn the Blending Race activity into a partner activity for independent word time. Provide printouts of two different Big Book pages, two game markers, and one die to pairs of children. To play, partners take turns rolling a die, read aloud as many words as the number rolled, and then move their marker to the last word they read. The first player to get to the last word on their game board wins the game.
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Big Book Bingo
Provide each student with a Big Book of Blending or Decoding page. Create game cards by printing out three additional Big Book pages and cutting the words into cards. Children choose a card, read the word, and place it on the matching word on their game board. The first to fill a row across is the winner!
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A Gem of an Idea
When practicing blending and decoding, kids slide jumbo vase gems over words to ensure they are focusing on each phoneme. If a sound is read incorrectly, you can place the gem on the phoneme you would like the student to revisit.
Older students can use the large gems to identify words with similar sounds.
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Use these Blending Puzzles to provide practice with blending and decoding. Students put puzzles together to form a word, say the letter-sound for each puzzle piece, and then blend the letter-sounds quickly and smoothly aloud.
Provide practice blending longer words that are cut into logical word parts for children who need more of a challenge.
Download the fillable PDF, customize your cards, print, and cut into puzzles—this activity is ready to go!
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