Self Portraits & Phonics Schedule

Greetings! Man I'm beat. Tonight we had Open House which is like having company over. You want everything really clean and put out your special fancy dishes. You sweat like a beast because you've run around like a chicken w your head cut off, watching the clock like a hawk until people arrive. Oh wait, is that just me? :) 

Anywho, I wanted to share a few things with you, First are these super cute self-portraits that my students created. I called one group at a time back to my teacher table and modeled how to draw circle and create a face. They drew the face in pencil and then I outlined itwith black  marker. Then they color their picture with crayons. I didn't give any input as to what their hair, skin, or clothing should look like. They turned out so cute. I put them above the alphabet because it's really high and I usually  don't put anything there so they will stay up all year. 

Aren't they so stinking cute?! 

Another thing I wanted to share with you is my phonics schedule. I get asked a lot about how I teach phonics. I use the same resources every week and stick to a schedule. I have this schedule posted on my wall so my students and I can see it. 

 I love Fog Street Press and use their songs, DVD and charts to teach letters and sounds. I use my own Alphabtetasic Unit for handwriting / activities and I use Moffat Girls alphabet watches. I also love Inspired Apples highlight activities (free on TPT) and little alphabet books by Mom printables.  

During the first two weeks phonics takes forever and ever and ever. Eek! But, by the third week, because  I follow the same schedule, phonics becomes an independent piece of the day...which is awesome. It also goes from taking  up 30 minutes a day to 10 minutes a day because of the regular schedule. Even students who already know their letters benefit from it. So here it is. 

You can find these resources here:

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Alphabet-Tastic-Learning-for-Whole-Group-RTI

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Highlight-A-Letter-Letter-Identification

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Phonics-Watches

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Little-Letter-Books

http://www.frogstreet.com/frog-street-live-alphabet-dvd.html

I'm totally not getting paid anything to plug these resources lol. I created or paid for them. It's just what works for me and what my students LOVE. 

I hope this post turns out okay. Confession: I'm blogging from my Blogger app on my cell phone because I'm just that tired! ;) I hope your week is going great. Have a great hump day tomorrow!! 

I'll leave you with a funny pic I posted on my FB yesterday. Love and virtual hugs!