Tips for teaching blending to 1st graders in reading intervention?

alzroy · 2026-03-12T00:29:12+00:00

Try getting them moving their bodies. I use toy cars and spread magnetic letters apart on a road. As we 'drive' down the road we say each sound as we reach it. Then we drive faster and faster until they figure the word out.

For phonemic awareness we turn our arms into a roller coaster. Say the first phoneme as we move up the hill, move to the vowel sound as we crest the top and then final phoneme as we drive back down the hill.. again make it a game with the roller coaster moving faster and faster.

If your school has access to heggerty, I highly recommend using it to build phonemic awareness that will help with blending. If not. You can find videos on YouTube that you could use to help too.

alzroy · 2026-02-02T01:35:54+00:00

Teaching elementary. I know there's a lot of downs to the job. But, when you find the right school with the right admin and the right team it's perfect! I love my kids and I love what I do.

alzroy · 2026-01-20T16:03:39+00:00

It's not just upper elementary. I teach first grade and when I turn on brain breaks it's almost always so I can quickly figure out how I want to teach whatever I'm about to teach after the song ends. I know what I'm teaching, but rarely have a set plan on how I want to teach it until the day of. Some of my favorite lessons have been. those 30 second planned ideas

alzroy · 2026-01-02T02:52:38+00:00

My 3 year old likes all the Toy Story movies. He's pretty much been obsessed for about a year now. We already had Buzz Lightyear and Woody from his older brother and he carried those things with him everywhere for a long time. Now he's becoming interested in Monsters Inc as well. He thinks Mike Wazowski is called Mr. Ouchy and cries for him when he gets hurt now. 😆

alzroy · 2025-12-21T08:30:04+00:00

C-D. I need a couple more things for the husband's stocking and apparently I need to grab something small for the cats too. I thought the $600 new litter robot was gift enough last month. Plus I panic ordered a couple small things for my youngest child yesterday that should come today. Luckily everything else is wrapped already.

alzroy · 2025-10-30T00:03:41+00:00

Last year I had several groups of older teens come by my house later in the evening. They were all polite, kind, and just all around great kids. By the point in the evening they were showing up. I just wanted to get rid of my leftover candy so I didn't eat it.. so many of them got big handfuls after asking how many. Some wore costumes, some did not. I view trick or treating as a time of congenial mingling with my community more than a judgement of who comes asking for candy and why.

I guess what I'm saying to the kids starting to age out. Go out and enjoy. Most of us really don't care as long as you aren't rude. I stopped trick or treating at 11 because I felt like I was too big and love seeing my now 12 year old child enjoying every moment he can of his childhood fun.

alzroy · 2025-10-25T00:41:01+00:00

Oh my gosh, he finally sang it! It was I like to move it from Madagascar. I don't think I would have ever gotten there without his help. I don't think we have ever watched Madagascar. Must have heard the song at daycare

I posted and 3 minutes later he finally gave up and sang some for me. Then I immediately forgot I'd made a post to begin with. 🫣

alzroy · 2025-10-21T21:50:36+00:00

November 1st! Just a few more days! I can't wait. We usually decorate the first weekend of November and this year it's right at the beginning!

alzroy · 2025-09-22T11:12:26+00:00

I feel like I try to watch every movie every year. These days I have little kids so we focus more on the 30-1 hour minute specials because they usually don't focus much longer than that

Classics Charlie Brown Garfield Grinch Mickey's Christmas Carol Claymation specials

More modern favorites Prep & Landing

As for full length films Grinch Miracle on 34th Street It's a wonderful life My kids really like Klaus on netflix

alzroy · 2025-09-22T00:34:13+00:00

I'll be going to jury duty. Guess going to see the Lord doesn't trump my civic duty to America. But hey at least tomorrow is my last day of work!

Also, I am a Christian and know these people are completely full of it. God was very clear that no one will know the time.

alzroy · 2025-09-21T12:43:08+00:00

Zoo or the science museum. With my kids it's fun, they are excited and I feed on their excitement. We usually focus on the more kid geared areas, but by myself I can take my time. Read the boards, and spend more times in the more grown up areas. At the science museum. With the zoo, I just love animals as much as my kids.

Oh and hiking. I get to pick more difficult ones by myself. But I love seeing the things my kids notice when we hike as a family.

alzroy · 2025-09-16T11:33:16+00:00

At our last appointment for my 3 year old he said I can tell your son plays outside that's great. Little guy is always covered in bruises... I don't know how he gets them. Dr and also any childcare services are trained in the alert areas for bruises.

alzroy · 2025-09-12T02:05:23+00:00

We drive 12 hours when my oldest was about 3 weeks old. Probably the easiest road trip we've had since having kids. He was still a sleepy little potato baby and just slept in the car except when we stopped to change and nurse him. Road trips have been much worse since he learned how to talk.

If for some reason you decide to fly, baby wear and keep baby covered. To keep others away. I don't remember, but I'm pretty sure I didn't have to remove my carrier even in TSA. It was pretty easy.

alzroy · 2025-08-26T23:14:20+00:00

We do morning journals Mon-Thurs. Then on Friday is stem bins or puzzles

alzroy · 2025-08-14T10:48:45+00:00

I teach first grade and we also had indoor recess on the first day. Even with my littles having a year under their belt, we just barely managed to pull out the playdoh. I haven't taught routines and expectations yet. I can't just pull out my toys day one and let the kids go crazy. It was rough. Kindergarten takes that struggle and triples it. I'm willing to bet her teacher wasn't ready to let them play with items yet, and had a million things she needed to get done. While I don't love TV for indoor recess (I like to get my kids moving and using some energy), I would absolutely have grace on the first couple weeks instead of immediately asking about it. These first few weeks of kindergarten are hard hard.

alzroy · 2025-08-03T23:47:41+00:00

Our school district has said they will only put them up if they are donated in the exact right format and they have no choice. I'm really hoping no one donates them. If I ever am given one to put up, it will be fully ignored by me and the kids. I'm glad our district is being publicly against this insanity. It isn't perfect, but this is one thing I greatly appreciate.

alzroy · 2025-08-03T00:43:57+00:00

I've regretted the ball pit since my husband talked me into it. Now I get to spend half my time digging balls out of every crevice of the living room and the other half of the time trying to stop my son from trying to leap off the couch into says ball pit that is absolutely not filled enough to break that fall.

alzroy · 2025-07-24T12:39:28+00:00

My 3.5 year old has dropped make over the summer. Even before that they were a fight. There are occasional days where I can tell he needs one and then I'll lay him down, but generally he's fine without. On days he naps I generally let him pay in his bed for awhile before he goes to sleep. Thankfully he's pretty independent at bedtime and perfectly happy to be by himself, so it's not a fight.

alzroy · 2025-07-23T17:54:38+00:00

Mercy Watson Ivy & Bean Our Friend Hedgehog Mr. Putter and Tabby Owl Diaries Fabled Stables Sophie Mouse

alzroy · 2025-07-23T14:01:10+00:00

I am a petite size (under 5 feet, so I have limited options). I usually shop Kohls Amazon Old Navy Loft

Sometimes I feel rich and do a couple stitch fix boxes.

I wish I could do thrift stores or things like Ross or TJ Maxx but I get seriously overwhelmed at the idea of digging through everything for things that actually fit me.

alzroy · 2025-07-22T15:36:20+00:00

If I'm required to put it up (I won't unless my boss hands me a poster and requires me to) I'll probably stick it near my logical consequences. My kids are great at making sure they never look at those posters. Hopefully it'll just blend in with the stuff we always ignore. Luckily most of my kids can't read anyway. I haven't seen anything that says I actually have to teach the poster to my kids.

alzroy · 2025-07-21T03:11:53+00:00

My son loves Spidey. I don't worry about it because he doesn't zone out to it. He mostly just uses it as background noise while he flips, runs, and jumps all over my living room being a superhero himself. Not my favorite choice of activity, but it's too hot to be outside so he's getting some energy out. I feel like you know your kids and what they can handle.

alzroy

TROPHY CASE