First grade poems with sight words

A first grade teacher asked me how to teach with sight words in whole group as well as in small group. I teach with new on-grade level high frequency words in whole group through shared reading and shared writing along with posting the words on the word wall. I asked this teacher to give me a list of his sight words and then I’d look for some good poems to use in shared reading. These same poems can later be used at the poetry work station. Here’s one I shared with him from my friend, Betsy Franco’s, book titled My Very Own Poetry Collection: 101 Poems for First Graders available from www.trcabc.com

At  the  Grocery  Store
by  Betsy  Franco

At  the  grocery  store,

always  eat  before  you  go,

or  your  grocery  cart

is  sure  to  overflow.

The  treats  you  pick

will  grow  and  grow  and  grow.

Eat  before  you  go!

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Working with high frequency words

Last year, a teacher I met told me about how her class works with high frequency words during whole group and chooses students to be “Sight Word Masters.” Periodically, a sight word is chosen and placed on the word wall, and connections are made to this word in songs or poems during shared reading. Then a child is chosen to be the “Sight Word Master” for that word. The teacher adds this child’s photo beside the word on the word wall and says, “By all the powers invested in me as your kindergarten teacher, I now pronounce (or dub) you the master of the word _______.” Kids love this part! If the student has become the master of the word, he gets to wear a visor with that word on it for the rest of the day. As the class leaves and/or enters the room, all the students have to spell that word.

A special thanks to Gretchen Longfellow of Brookston, IN for sharing this idea and her photos with me.

 

 

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