Showing posts with label Learning to Read. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Learning to Read. Show all posts

Toybox Thursday: BOB Books Sight Words Review & Giveaway

Bob Books - I Read The Whole Book!

With my oldest Diva starting Kindergarten in August (gasp!) I have been focusing on teaching her to read. We have been working on developing her phonetic skills and of course recognizing and reading sight words.

Why do we focus on teaching children sight words? It's quite simple - sight words are common words that appear again and again in children's reading material. Some sight words can be decoded using phonics (i.e. sounding them out) but some can not. Knowing these words by sight is crucial to reading fluency and ultimately aids in comprehension. 


I was drawn to BOB Books through word of mouth and online success stories. Once I looked into them and found they had been written by a teacher for her young preschool aged students - I knew I had to try them! If you do not know the BOB Story take a moment to read it. It is quite inspiring how these little books all began and how they have remained a family managed business. I have been corresponding with Lynn the eldest daughter of THE actual "Bob" behind the BOB Books and their current Managing Partner for months and she has been absolutely wonderful to work with - this speaks volumes about both the company and their products. 


Our Introduction to BOB Books:
I have successfully been using BOB Books with the Lil Divas for the past few months. We began with the Beginning Readers (Set 1) which is a great place to start with early readers. The books in this set slowly introduce new letter sounds using consistency and repetition. The set begins with four letters in the first story and gradually introduces new sounds. Each story features simple yet engaging characters/illustrations and makes use of a combination of short vowel and three-letter words in simple sentences and repetitive text.  


The Lil Divas have both had great success with these books at their own rates.  It has become part of our nighttime routine to have them read to me a BOB book each night after our mommy led storytime. The pride they feel after completing a book "on their own" is absolutely priceless! It has really sparked their desire to read and helped build their confidence.


Considering our success with the Beginning Readers we were all excited to be able to review BOB Books Sights Words Kindergarten & First Grade. It seemed they would be a natural fit with everything we are currently working on. Once I received the books I looked them over and pulled a few books focusing on sight words that the Oldest Diva has already learned in order to introduce the new sets to her. 


She was eager to read the books when I presented them to her and once again we were not disappointed. The Sight Words books contain the same characters she is used to from the Beginning Readers Set and with their consistent short vowels, simple/short stories and picture clues she can either sound out or decode most of the story which means a positive reading experience. 


About the Sight Words Books Sets:
Inside each box you'll find ten books which are each 12 pages long. The books are numbered and color coded like the other sets. All the stories are told using three and four letter words and each introduces the reader to three new sight words. The books make use of consistent short vowels, picture/context clues and simple sentences which are ideal for beginning readers. Each book set introduces young readers to 30 sight words.



The sets also include 30 double-sided sight words flash cards with sentences and illustrations from the books. The flash cards are color coded so you can easily figure out which to use with what book.  These would be great to use in games, review or offering a little extra practice of books already read.

Sight words introduced in the Kindergarten set: a, as, can, did, down, fly, get, go, goes, had, has, home, in, is, jump, look, not, off, on, over, ran, saw, see, she, some, they, to, was, went, who. 


Sight words introduced in the First Grade set: after, are, ate, before, bring, come, find, good, he, into, like, little, long, make, my, new, now, old, play, pretty, said, she, than, that, too, under, what, will, with, you.


Our Impressions:
BOB Books have really made my young readers feel confident while learning to read. The way the Sight Words Sets introduce sight words in conjunction with simple sentences utilizing short vowels, repetitive text and picture clues make for a successful reading experience. My Oldest Diva's fluency and comprehension have improved by leaps and bounds in the past few weeks and we couldn't be happier or more proud of her effort. 

Here is a short video of her reading one of the BOB Books Sight Words
Kindergarten Set books - Who? (turn up your volume!) 



I know the BOB books we have used have really made a huge difference in my Lil Divas learning to read which is why I am so excited that the generous people at Scholastic and BOB Books Publications, LLC are giving away two sets of BOB Books Sight Words Kindergarten and First Grade here on Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas blog! :)
**************************
Buy It:
Purchase BOB Books Sight Words Sets via Amazon,
Costco, your local book sellers and Educational/Teacher Stores.
Win It:
Scholastic and BOB Books Publications, LLC are giving away
two (2) sets of BOB Books Sight Words (1) Kindergarten and (1) First Grade
to Two (2) lucky Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas Reader!

How to Enter:
**Contest ends on 7/21/11**
Visit BOB Books and tell me which other book set you would like to try. 

Extra Entries (Optional)
Please leave a separate comment for each entry &
please include your e-mail so I can get back to you if you win! 
*If you are already a follower please comment - that counts as 2 entries*
  1. Follow Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas Publicly via Google Friend Connect (+2) leave 2 comments
  2. "Like" Bob Books on facebook 
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  6. Make a comment on any non-giveaway post on Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas Blog and leave a link.  You can do this for up to 5 posts but please note that comment must be dated after the start date of this post - not valid on previous comments. (+2) leave 2 comment.
  7. Tweet about this giveaway & leave a link - can be done 1x a day!
  8. Tweet: #Win @BOB_Books Sight Words K & 1st Grade Sets w/@Momto2PoshDivas
    #Giveaway ends 7/21 http://t.co/8L3IjS2 #homeschool #reading #preschool
   Giveaway Rules:
Giveaway ends 7/21/2011 at 11:59 (PDT)
Winner will be chosen via random.org.
& contacted via email if an email is given .
Winner will have 48 hours to claim their prize.
    Disclaimer: I received the BOB Books Sight Words Kindergarten & First Grade Sets for the purposes of trying them out for this review. That being said, this review is my 100% honest opinion of this product - I am not paid for my reviews or optinions! They are 100% mine! Please remember that your opinions and tastes might differ from mine.

    Good Luck,
    Bern

    Sight Word Fun & Learning to Read Week #4 (Bug Theme)

    Sight Words: big, come, go, here, in

    Word Family: _ug (this went well with our bug/insect theme) & the short /u/ sound

    Books: This week we used books from Bob Books, Set 1: Beginning Readers (the Lil Divas read these nightly), Sight Word Readers Parent Pack: Learning the First 50 Sight Words Is a Snap! and Starfall Learn to Read Phonics Books.



    Sight Word Fun:

    Shaving Cream Writing: This week the Lil Divas wrote their sight words in shaving cream! What messy learning fun! They enjoyed it so much we went through and practiced spelling/writing all the sight words we have learned so far! It was a great way to make reviewing fun and exciting.




    Sight Words Song - Each week we sing a simple sight word song for each word to help the lil Divas with the spelling/recognition of each word. The Oldest Diva really likes this & sings the song with different sight words on her own!  :)

    The Sight Word Song (sung to to the tune of B-I-N-G-O)

    There was a sight word I wanted to spell and BIG was my sight word.
    B-I-G (clap with each letter) spells big,
    B-I-G (clap with each letter) spells big,
    B-I-G (clap with each letter) spells big
    & big was my sight word!

    We follow the above tune/format for each of our sight words!

    We continued to use the Sight Word Printables from MissChapple.com. They include writing the word, recognizing and finidng the words in a chart/table as well as within sentences. The girls have really gotten the hang of these - even the Littlest Diva.



    Sight Words Color by Number  (from 1+1+1=1)- this week I had the Lil Divas work on coloring their sight words by number. The Oldest Diva enjoyed it but the Littlest Diva had no interest in doing it. She did one word and even that was with lots and lots of prompting from me. I will try just letting her color and/or decorate her sight words next time. I think the color by numbers was too rigid for her - just not her thing right now.

    The Oldest Diva however did seem to enjoy it and it was a good way to review color words with her too.




    Word Family Fun:

    This week we used our _ug word slides (from ABC Teach) to practice forming and reading _ug words such as bug, dug, hug, jug, mug, rug and tug.




    Then the Lil Divas had to turn over their _ug words (printed on mini flascards), read them and match them to the correct picture in the pocket chart. (taken in part from a printable on ABC Teach)



    
    We also used an _ug mini-book from 25 Read & Write Mini-Books That Teach Word Families 



    A few pics of what it contains -


    
    This was a fun and easy activity for my 5 year old to do independently. She really enjoyed it. I know they have these kinds of mini-books online for free as well. I actually had this book in my boxes from my 1st grade teaching days & just recently remembered having it so I pulled it out to use at home with the Lil Divas.

    We also used a few activities from The Moffat Girls Ready2Read Unit 4:

    I used the _ug family pictures with our Melissa & Doug Deluxe Alphabet Stamp Set:



    
    I had the oldest Diva work on the Read it, Trace it, Paste it sight word/word family sentence - Look for my bug. She enjoyed this and was able to complete it independently. Just look at that level of concentration! :)



    What reading activities have you been working on lately?

    Bern

    Sight Word Fun & Learning to Read Week #3

    Sight Words: and, down, look, see, up

    Word Families: ut & at review

    Books: This week we used books from Bob Books, Set 1: Beginning Readers (the Lil Divas read these nightly), First Little Readers: Guided Reading Level A , and Sight Word Readers Parent Pack: Learning the First 50 Sight Words Is a Snap!


    Sight Word Activities:

    Slap It!

    This week's Slap It! was given a fun lil twist by adding some fly swatters (from the $1 Spot at Target).

    Oh, the fun the Lil Divas had swatting those pesky sight word bugs! :) I used all 16 words we have been working on over the past few weeks. It was a wonderful interactive review - be prepared for giggles! 



    Magnetic Writing Board Fun

    Forming Sight Words - I wrote the weeks words on large bee cutouts and provided the Lil Divas with our Melissa & Doug Magnetic Wooden Alphabet letters. They got busy reading the words and using the letters to re-write the words.

    Then, they practiced writing the words on their magnetic doodle board using the Melissa & Doug Magnetic Wooden Alphabet letters to write the words on the boards. They found this activity fun and really enjoyed it.

    



    Sight Words Song - Each week we sing a simple sight word song for each word to help the lil Divas with the spelling/recognition of each word. The Oldest Diva really likes this & sings the song with different sight words on her own!  :)

    What We Sang: The Sight Word Song (sung to to the tune of B-I-N-G-O)

    There was a sight word I wanted to spell and AND was my sight word.
    A-N-D (clap with each letter) spells and,
    A-N-D (clap with each letter) spells and,
    A-N-D (clap with each letter) spells and
    & and was my sight word!

    We follow the above tune/format for each of our sight words!

    We continue to use Sight Word Printables from MissChapple.com. They include writing the word, recognizing and finidng the words in a chart/table as well as within sentences. The girls have really gotten the hang of these - even the Littlest Diva.

    Marble Sight Words - I got this cute idea from Carissa over at 1+1+1 =1

    We used our marbles (from our "reward" jars) to write the sight words. The Oldest Diva did great & really liked this. The Littlest Diva needed my help forming the letters from the marbles but she did it too.




    We also played a fun Catch the Sight Word Game w/a bee balloon I founf at Target for $1.00. I wrote all our sight words and they Lil Divas threw the bee to each other and whichever word their hands landed on - they had to read aloud. Fun!





    Word Family Activities: ut & at review week

    I though it would be a good idea to review the 2 word families we had done because the Oldest Diva seems to confuse at with ut & it at first glance. I have to force her to look at certain words again and then she realizes her mistake and corrects it.

    We re-visited our word sliders this week for ut and at:



    and I had the Lil Divas play a little review game where they had to put the bugs (with at and ut words written on them) on the correct flower.

    What did you do to practice sight words and/or phonics this week?

    Bern
    Linking to STartChildhood 101 - We Play!Sharing Time,  Get Crafty,  Read, Explore, Learn , For the Kids Friday,  Preschool CornerFeed Me Books Friday  , Fun for Kids Friday , It's Playtime , Made by Little Hands Mondayand Creative Juice Thursday


    Sight Word Fun & Learning to Read Week #2 - Butterfly Theme

    Last week we focused on: sight words: it, me, can, you, like and the -ut word family (for butterfly)

    Sight Word Activities:

    Game: Slap it!

    How To Play: I wrote out the week's sight word on butterfly cards and placed them on the table along with last weeks target sight words. I would call out a word and the Lil Divas had to slap their caterpillar down on the correct word! :) This game always produces lots of laughs and they beg me to play it throughout the week! I included last week's words (written on caterpillar cards) along with this week's words for some review as well.




    Forming Sight Words w/Letter Tiles - I wrote the weeks words on large butterfly cutout and provided the Lil Divas with letter tiles. They got busy reading the words and then using the tiles to write the words.


    Sight Words Song - while working with the letter tiles we sang a simple sight word song for each word to help the lil Divas with the spelling/recognition of each word. The Oldest Diva really liked this & was singing the song with different sight words all week on her own! I love when an idea just takes off! :)

    What We Sang: The Sight Word Song (sung to to the tune of B-I-N-G-O)

    There was a sight word I wanted to spell and CAN was my sight word.
    C-A-N (clap with each letter) spells can,
    C-A-N (clap with each letter) spells can,
    C-A-N (clap with each letter) spells can
    and can was my sight word!

    We followed the above tune/format for each of our sight words!

    We continue to use Sight Word Printables from MissChapple.com. They include writing the word, recognizing and finidng the words in a chart/table as well as within sentences. The girls have really gotten the hang of these - even the Littlest Diva.


    Sight Word Puzzles from 1+1+1=1 - both the Lil Divas enjoy these. We also reviewed last week's words again.

    Play Dough Sight Word Cards (also from 1+1+1=1) Last week we used our Wikki Stix but this week we used play-doh. It was a bit more challenging - to work the dough into the right thickness, etc.  This was great fine motor practice for the Lil Divas & they had fun making the words this way.


    I also made a mini sight word book for each of the Lil Divas. It is basically an index card spiral notebook in assorted colors. I wrote each of their sight words in the book and they flip through the book and read the words. I leave this within easy reach so they can do it whenever they like. The Oldest Diva likes to read them on her own. The Littlest Diva isn't as interested and I don't push it but it's there for her too.

    -ut Word Family Activties:

    We used a fun Word Slide to review and sound out different -ut words like but, hut, cut & nut. I laminated and cut it out (it is really easy to make and use). The Lil Divas enjoy using it and reading all the words independently.



    We are currently reading Bob Books (Set 1) - Beginning ReadersScholastic Sight Word Readers, and Starfall Books as well as Starfall.com.

    Plus, I use mini-readers that fit into our word family focus when I find some on the internet that are appropriate.

    Do you have any fun ways to review sight words? I'd love for you to share your ideas with me!

    Bern
    Linking to  Read, Explore, Learn , For the Kids Friday,  Preschool CornerFeed Me Books Friday  , Fun for Kids Friday , and Creative Juice Thursday