Hanging Out With Mrs. Strout: What Works! Teacher Appreciation Linky and Huge Giveaway

I'm so excited to join up with a group of fabulous teachers to bring you a HUGE giveaway with lots of teacher tips!

My first teacher tip is all about words. Whenever I am teaching a new sound I use word cards with that particular sound. I put the words all over the place. I put them in the hallways, in the classroom, anywhere my kiddos will see them.

I put up the words in the morning so they can see them. It really builds excitement for reading. As soon as they see the words they start asking if we are going on a word hunt. When it's time, my kiddos take turns to go find a word. They bring it back to the classroom and read it to the class.

Everyone gets a chance to find a word. We can then use the words over the next few days for various activities like word sorts and games.

My 2nd teacher secret is a highlighter. We love highlighters in first grade!!! I like to photocopy the stories that we are reading in class so they can take a copy home and practice reading. Before the story goes home we use a highlighter to highlight the sounds that we are working on. For example, if we are learning the long a sound spelled a-e then they would go through the story and highlight all of the words spelled with a-e.

My 3rd tip is a tech tip. We use the Smartboard throughout the day and sometimes it's hard for some kids to move things on the board using their finger. Another teacher had shared the idea of using a pompom to move things. It works great! The other thing that is difficult for my kiddos is writing on the smartboard. They use the markers that come with the board but their letters often are very large and/or don't come out neatly. Then it's hard for the others to read it. That's when the lightbulb went off! They could try using the pompom for writing too. It worked!!! They write the same as when they write on paper.

Now it's time for a giveaway! Enter the rafflecopter below for a chance to win some fabulous prizes. Remember, the more entries you have the more chances you have to win!