This post is about one of my absolute favorite reading + writing activities.  I know it's been done before in a ton of different ways and has been given various titles, but I just call it 'Mixed Up Sentences.'  Here's the low down:

9.  Let your students get to work!  You can have them do it individually, in pairs, or in small groups!  Sometimes I even split it up and have two centers with five sentences each... especially if they're rigorous sentences.  They just do five, put away their recording sheet, then get it back out when it's time to do the rest.   

They piece together all of the sentences, color their little circles, and write!  

HINT:  If this activity is not for an assessment, then I like to check their sentences before they write.  They simply raise their hand when they've pieced a sentence (or all) together and I let them know if it's correct or not.  Saves time and frustration on their part.

Hopefully all those little instructions make sense!  Once you do it one time, you be able to whip it up again quickly.  This activity can be used for virtually any topic, any level, and I like to weave in some science and social studies topics when I can.  It's another way to integrate content.  

Here are some more adaptation ideas:

• I usually do this as a center with only one set of sentences, but you could do it whole class if you wanted to.  Type the same sentence onto a page (multiple times), copy onto colored paper, then cut.  Might be a bit crazy with pieces getting mixed up, but it works if you're kiddos are super organized.  Maybe they could use little trays to keep their pieces in?
• Since I have a small class sizes (10 EFL/ESL students in each class), I do this as a whole group activity by having them sit in a large circle and giving them 2 minutes with each sentence.  They piece it together, raise their hand, I check, they write, then we rotate when everyone is done!  Works like a charm.  
• Sentences can be hints to a special activity or something else.  If you're studying bears, then you could have sentences that stated facts about bears!  Roar.
• Use the font version (above), cut out the words, mix them around on a piece of copy paper, glue down, copy, and send home for homework!  Students could bring it back all cut apart and pieced back together.  

There are many ways to adapt this activity.  Got any more fun ideas or ways to adapt it?!  

Here's a little freebie for ya'll!  It's the recording sheets I use when I do this activity.  There are different types depending on the level you teach and how many sentences you want to use.  Dotted lines for younger kids and plain for older.  I most often use the 10 line portrait version (the one in the photos).  My fave.  See on TPT.

So, what do you think?  Have you done this before or is it something you think you can use?  I really do love it and my kids do too!

Enjoy!

I'm done!!!  Woohoo!  This thing has seriously taken up a lot of my time, but I'm so pumped to use it this year.. from the beginning and not the last two months!  I gave you a little sneak peek, but here's a preview of what's included in this 600 page pack of Fry word resources...

Yes, there are exactly 600 pages.  No.  I didn't plan that.  It just happened that way.  All the files are smaller PDF's that are nicely organized and zipped up into one compact place. 

Now for a look at what's included in this beast...

All 1000 words broken down into 40 manageable sets of 25.  These are the set cards.  Each set has 25 cards, title cards, and each card has a number in the bottom corner to indicate which set it belongs to.  I copied all of my sets onto colored paper to organize them and make it more fun!  See photos.

So... that's it.  I bought a Fry pack a while ago and was sad that it only came with the first hundred words.  And what do crazy people do when they can't find what they want?   Spend hours on making something.  Right?  

Let me know what you all think.  If there are enough people who want the Dolch version, I'm sure I could adapt it.  I'm just so glad I'm finally finished and can use it from day one (or two) now!  

I have a giant project that I have been working on for WEEKS.  Yes, weeks.  It's about to drive me crazy.  It's a ginormous pack of Fry Word resources.  Come to think of it, it's been on the burner for a few months now.  I tried it out in my ESL/EFL classes before school ended and I'm just now getting around to making some changes and adding a few things that I wanted.

I know some of you use Fry's and some use Dolch.   For some reason I use Fry's, but I like and have used Dolch before.  I'm thinking that it would be easy to create a Dolch version if this goes over well.  Let me know if you're interested.  So far, there are over 300 pages of printables.  I've included all 1000 words separated into manageable sets of 25.  My kids loved the student achievement sheets and I'm loving how I decided to store them.  Here's a sneak peek below!  

I've been told that anything that includes the word 'mega' in rainbow colors is legit.  

No clipart and it's all black and white so you can copy the sets onto colored paper if you want.  I'm really excited about using it from the beginning this year!  I include pronunciation into my assessments, so I'm able to use it for students who are a bit older than PK-3.  I'll be sure to do a more detailed post soon so you can see if you're into it.  :)

The pack is full of cards, various assessment sheets, checklists, student achievement recording sheets, certificates, cute labels, and a very detailed 'contents' page with a screenshot of each page.  I've worked my little fingers off!  

So what do you think?  Something you could use with your PK-3 students?  I wanted to include all of the words because I bought a set before and was a bit sad that I couldn't get the same thing for all of the words.  So, I did the psycho thing and made my own.  

See you soon!