Mining for Spelling Patterns

Happy Saturday!  I'm Pamela from Hedgehog Reader, and I am here to share a fun way that students can play with letters and words to discover, practice, and reinforce spelling patterns.

Have you ever played Word Mines?  Maybe you've called them something else...  Basically, here is how Word Mines go:

You are given a word (or sometimes a phrase).  To play, you form as many words as possible in the given time using only the letters presented.  (If there is one R, then R can be used only once in that word.  It can be used once again in another word, and so on.)

Call me a nerd (believe me, you won't be the first!), but this has been one of my favorite pastimes for as long as I can remember.  So it was a natural thing for me to develop Word Mines for my students, because I knew it would be a fun way to identify, discover, and play with spelling patterns!

How to Start:

Although it doesn't take long for students to learn Word Mining strategies and procedures, it does require at least one session of whole class instruction to ensure smooth sailing ahead:

• Students are ready for Word Mines when they have started to develop phonemic awareness, and have begun to identify common spelling patterns.  They should also have some sight words under their belts.
• Make sure that any word you give students to "mine" is one that holds plenty of words within it.  Not all words are suited to this activity, so my best advice is to try it yourself first.
• It's fun to use seasonal words or vocabulary pulled from content areas of current study.
• I find that controversy is avoided by declaring the following rules:  *No proper nouns   *No foreign words   *No contractions
• I begin by projecting the word to be mined.  (I've created cute seasonal Word Mines so that I could put them under the document camera, but you can also simply write it up on your board.)  Although traditional Word Mines are done with a word or phrase in its original form, I always scramble mine so that students get the bonus activity of solving the "secret word."
• Depending on the age of your students, it's often helpful to begin with letter tiles, one for each letter in the scrambled word.  This allows students to physically manipulate the letters (concrete reasoning), until they are ready to move into mentally manipulating the letters (abstract reasoning).  This also ensures that letters are only used as many times as they are found within the word.
• I model my thinking aloud as I "solve" the projected puzzle.  I make sure to demonstrate how patterns can help.  For instance, if I see the pattern ALE, I will play with each consonant and blend to see if it fits with the pattern to create a word.  Then I move from ALE to EAL and repeat the process.
• Normally after one such session, students are ready to mine for words on their own, with a buddy, or in a team.

Use Word Mines as a Whole Class:

Once students have a grasp of how to work with Word Mines, these make a great Morning Work activity or sponge activity, either individually, in buddies, or as teams:

• Students stay even more focused if they know they will have 3 minutes for team consultation to tally up total words once the time is up.  It only takes a moment or two to quickly go through how many words each team came up with  (I am not picky, and the students do a wonderful job holding one another accountable for following the rules), and points are awarded for order of most words found.  For instance - If you have 6 teams in your classroom, the team with the most words earns 6 points, and then work your way down to 1 point for the team with the fewest words - so everybody earns something!

Use Word Mines in a Literacy Center:

Word Mines make a great literacy center activity:

• Glue a puzzle to the front of a file folder or manilla envelope.  Hide an answer key inside.  Provide a set of laminated letter tiles.
• Students can record their answers on notebook paper or whiteboards, or on prepared worksheets.
• It’s best to use only one puzzle at a time to prevent confusion; puzzles can be changed out based on your students’ need.  

I've created this FREEBIE for you to try out a Word Mine with your students!  (I have various seasonal and thematic Word Mine resources in my Teachers Pay Teachers store, and I add to my collection often.)

Have a wonderful year with your students, and thanks for reading!

Spring Poetry Picture Books

Happy Weekend!  I'm Pamela from Hedgehog Reader, and I'm so happy to be guest blogging again here on Who's Who and Who's New!

With Memorial Day come and gone, it sort of feels like summer already, doesn't it?

But the reality is that we have several weeks left of spring, and I am sticking to that until June 21 - living here in Phoenix, I like to prolong the cooler mindset of spring as long as I can!

Springtime's sensory bonanza provides a palette of colorful language, experiences, and details that our students can pull into their own writing.  And what better way to mentor our young writers through the process than with picture books that feature seasonal poetry?

I've collected nine wonderful titles to share with you today, along with a few instructional tie-ins and activity ideas along the way.

Sun Above and Blooms Below: A Springtime of Opposites by Felicia Sanzari Chemesky and illustrated by Susan Swan

While this book is written in verse - qualifying it for our spring poetry category - it has a bonus:  Every page features at least one pair of opposites.  (Cameo credits to some adorable hatching chicks, another springtime theme that I recently shared a few books and activities for.)  Idea - Create a class book of other thematically-curated opposites in verse!

Did You Hear Wind Sing Your Name?:  An Oneida Song of Spring by Sandra De Coteau Orie and illustrated by Christopher Canyon

Richly written and illustrated in imagery and symbolism that reflects Oneida tradition, this book is described by the author as "a song."  Idea - Discuss various places poetry is found in our daily lives - poems, songs, raps, jumprope rhymes, hand-clapping games, advertising slogans, etc.

Seeds, Bees, Butterflies, and More!:  Poems for Two Voices by Carole Gerber and illustrated by Eugene Yeltsin

My students have always enjoyed the playful interaction required to read a "poem for two voices."  They're also a lot of fun to write with a buddy!   Idea - Challenge students to work in pairs to write and perform their own poems for two voices.

Spring Rain Winter Snow by Edward J. Rielly and illustrated by Angelina Buonaiuto

Haiku is such a natural fit to describe seasons; after all, haiku by definition is poetry to describe our relationship with nature.  Idea - One project my kids have always loved is to paint a nature scene in watercolor, add their own related haiku in permanent marker, and finish it on a student-made scroll.  I will try to write a post about this later; they turn out so beautiful and make a wonderful display.

Hi, Koo!:  A Year of Seasons by Jon J. Muth

Here is more seasonal haiku fun with a healthy dose of friendship tossed in for good measure.  (The author was awarded Caldecott honors for his Zen Shorts.)  Idea - Muth deviates from the traditional haiku format, leading to valuable classroom discussion of poetry form and "rules."

Laughing Tomatoes and Other Spring Poems by Francisco Alarcon and illustrated by Maya Christina Gonzalez

I have a particular fondness for books that provide text immediately accessible in both English and another language.  Children naturally seek to break the code of languages other than their own home language - and quite often the home language is something other than English.  Bilingual books tap into the diversity of language and into our students' natural curiosity about it.  As the title hints, this book features a lot of fun examples of anthropomorphic figurative language.  Idea - Examine as a class how this type of figurative language contributes to the imagery of the poem.  Why does some anthropomorphism work?  (It works when the behavior seems almost believable for that particular non-human thing.)  Why would some not work?  (It doesn't work when the behavior is not even close to being believable by any stretch of the imagination.)  Students work in pairs to brainstorm a list of human behaviors that might be displayed by a non-human thing.  After they select their favorite from their list, they join into a collaborative small-group discussion about why their particular favorite works.

Outside Your Window:  A First Book of Nature by Nicola Davies and illustrated by Mark Hearld

This gorgeously illustrated book features poetry about nature in our own everyday environment.  Idea - Take a playground field trip with clipboards in hand.  Students note examples of nature on the playground (or other nearby locale), and choose from their list to write a Nature Outside Our Window poem.  This makes a great classroom book!

A Stick is an Excellent Thing:  Poems Celebrating Outdoor Play by Marilyn Singer and illustrated by LeUyen Pham

The title says it all!  This fun volume of poetry extolls the value of timeless outdoor pastimes - many of them likely brand-new to some of our students.   Idea - What fun to set up Celebrating Outdoor Play stations that feature jacks, catch, hopscotch, and other activities featured in the book so that students can rotate through and experience these playtime staples for themselves!

Red Sings from Treetops:  A Year in Colors by Joyce Sidman and illustrated by Pamela Zagarenski

This 2010 Caldecott Honor book features a beautifully sensory exploration of color in nature through the seasons.  Idea - Use a web graphic organizer to brainstorm examples of color in nature.  After completing one as a class, students can work on their own or in small groups to generate more ideas.


I hope this list provides you with a new title or two to add to your favorites list - if you have more book or activity ideas, please share them in the comments section!

Planning Pi Day in the Primary Classroom

Hello there!  I'm Pamela Wendt from Hedgehog Reader, and I am absolutely delighted to be the guest blogger today on Who's Who and Who's New!

It's Almost Pi Day!

Tomorrow is being hailed as the most epic Pi Day of the century, thanks to the date aligning so perfectly with the first five digits of this most famous irrational number:

(Adorable clip art and font credit to Krista Wallden and Kimberly Geswein)

Although the fact that Pi Day falls on a Saturday this year pretty much eliminates celebrating with our kids on the actual day, those always-ready-for-a-holiday youngsters are not going to mind one little bit that the festivities occur a day early or two days late!

Planning for Pi Day

There are a gazillion Pi Day ideas, activities, and lesson plans out there to choose from, so I wanted to put together a one-stop post of how I plan the day.  I hope that there might be something here that helps save you a little time!

First, I establish the length of the period.  Typically I will spend only one day for an observance like Pi Day, but I do allow for some activities to trickle into another day if necessary.  (This is especially true of writing activities, or visual arts - activities in which students are particularly self-paced and often requiring adequate production time.)

Next, I find it easiest to organize my thoughts - as well as the wonderful ideas out there on Pinterest and other treasure troves - into a graphic organizer.  I've always been a fan of Multiple Intelligences, so that is the foundation of my structure, but I've modified the categories to fit my needs.  For instance, bodily-kinesthetic becomes "movement," and verbal-linguistic is divided into "literature" and "writing." 

I've created a freebie based on the graphic organizer I use for my own planning.  Please feel free to click and download it from my store:

Pi Day Plans Galore

Here are some ideas (and links gleaned from Pinterest) for each region of the graphic organizer to help inspire your own creativity.  This is only the tippy-top tip of a very huge iceberg, so have fun exploring as these links will undoubtedly lead you to even more!

Literature - 

Sir Cumference and the Dragon of Pi

Writing - 

Author's Purpose - What better day to refresh our understanding of Persuade, Inform, and Entertain?

Another fun activity is to write haiku based on circles, pi, and other related content.

Math - 

Cutting Pi - a hands-on look at the relationship between a circle's circumference and its diameter

How to Teach Pi to Little Ones can be adapted for all grade levels

Pi Plates

Math Bites: The Pi Episode

Science - 

Celebrating STEM on Pi Day

Social Studies - 

Exploratorium's History of Pi

Movement - 

Introduce vocabulary and discuss concepts with this Fun with Balls and Hoops activity

And here are 10 Games to Play with a Ball

Music - 

Music Playlist

Pi Day Songs

What Pi Sounds Like

Art - 

Pi Day Crafts

Two Ways to Turn Pi into Artwork

Pi Skyline

Group - 

Mnemonic Devices - A fun independent or small-group activity would be to come up with tricky ways to remember the value of pi.

Self - 

Where is Your Birthday in Pi?

Other Notes - 

Many Teachers Pay Teachers stores will celebrate Pi Day with a sale tomorrow.  This graphic will take you to a clickable download created by Bethany Lau of Science and Math with Mrs. Lau:

Pi Day is also the birthday of Albert Einstein, so there are some fun tie-ins there.  I will leave you with one of my favorite Pinterest finds for Pi Day this year:

Happy Planning, and Happy Pi Day!