easi-speak Digital Microphone Giveaway

I know you've been seeing a lot of reviews in blogland lately for the easi-speak Digital Microphone.  

So if you haven't had a chance to win one yet......this could be your opportunity!

Once I got mine, I felt like it would be perfect to place in a fluency center for my students to practice rereading books that we had read during Guided Reading or library books that I knew they could read independently.  My 6-year-old triplets were also happy to use it and check it out!  They were kind enough to provide some photos and videos for you to check it out!

Here's my sons using it.

And here's a video I took of my daughter reading.  I took it with my iphone so the sound isn't fabulous.

The only problem I found with it is that my kiddos liked to move their thumb on and off the recording button.  So that took some trial and error and instruction to get them to keep their thumb on the recording button for the whole time they were reading.

I liked how the quality of the recording was very clear.  I also liked how it was rechargeable by just plugging into a computer.  No batteries is always a good thing!  The best part was that the students were excited about it and it kept them engaged in reading for fluency.  You can't beat that!

So one lucky winner will win one of their very own.  You have up to 3 chances to win:

1.  Follow Extra Special Teaching's blog {click here}

2.  Follow Extra Special Teaching on Facebook {click here}

3. Follow Learning Resources on Facebook {click here}

Yikes - I worded this wrong the first time!  You can leave a comment stating for each thing so you can have a total of 3 entries.  This giveaway will close Friday, May 4th at midnight Central Time.

You might also want to check out Learning Resource through their Twitter, YouTube, or website.

Aloha! Sight Word Giveaway Winner

Thanks everyone for entered!

The winner is....

Shar, check your email!

Sight Word Assessment (freebie)

FYI: The Aloha! Sight Word Game winner will be posted and announced after I get done with my day of soccer games and beach!

Lately, I've been seeing some Facebook posts from different blogs that are asking how do you manage sight word assessment and how many sight words Kindergarten students are expected to know for your school.  So I figured I would show you guys how I assess sight words and the list of words our district uses for Kindergarten.

Our district has adopted the Imagine It! reading curriculum.  The curriculum dictates that Kindergarten students should know 70 sight words by the end of the year.  That seems like a high number to me, but the gen ed Kindergarten teachers tell me that it's really not that hard for most students to learn them.  Since I have triplets in Kindergarten, I have to say that all 3 of them have learned the words pretty easily.  I really worked with them at the beginning of the year but not so much the 2nd half of the year.  Now my special ed students that I teach have a much more difficult time learning and RETAINING these 70 words.

All of the Kindergarten sight word games I make {if you want to check some out click here or here} contain these 70 words since that's what my students are expected to know.  I am planning on making some 1st grade games using the 1st grade list this summer.  I don't know if anyone would be interested in those.

Ok, on to how I manage my assessment.  My set-up looks like this:

I made a powerpoint with a black background and white letters.  I have the students read the word as I hit the enter key to go from slide to slide.  Since I can't take any video or pictures of my students due to confidentiality concerns, I had my youngest daughter stand in for the video!  She LOVES school and learning and anything teacherish so she was happy to oblige.  I don't know how well you can hear her responses but she read all the words!  

The things I like about this set-up is that I can position my paper behind the laptop, so the students can't see whether I mark their answers as right or wrong.  I try to not give feedback other than some occasional encouragement during the assessment, especially if they're getting them wrong.  I don't want them to get discouraged.  I also like how I'm not worried about finding flash cards or having the cards out of order than the list on the paper.  Since the students are only seeing one word at a time on the screen, they don't get overwhelmed with a big long list.

I don't know if anyone else would be interested in the powerpoint or my form that I use but I thought I would include it.

Click on this picture to download the powerpoint.  Now, you will need the ABCPrint font, but it can be downloaded here for free.  I liked this font, because the letters are all properly formed.  

Here's the form I use to monitor their progress.  I got the form from Mrs. Perkins' Dolch Words site {here} and made some adjustments for how I liked it.  Click on the picture below to download your copy.

So there you have it.  It's how I do sight word assessment in my class.  Do you have a good system?  I'd love to hear about it!