I'm Lovin' Daily 5 on the Fifth (October 5 linky party)

It's October 5 which means it's time for this month's I'm Lovin' Daily 5 on the Fifth linky party!!

This linky party is hosted here on the 5th of each month so feel free to join in as we learn and grow together!

My plan for this month's post is to discuss how I organize Word Work, but first, I have to begin with:

Do not go past go, do not collect $200

I can't stress enough about the value of getting and reading the Daily 5 book:

Click HERE or on the cover to get the book!

This book by the 2 Sisters is a must have for doing the Daily 5!!

Ok-now on to Word Work! I have to admit the organization of word work made my head spin my first year until I found this organization system (can anyone say OCD?! I can't stand not being organized!):

 Click HERE or on the picture to check out this bin organizer!

LOVE! LOVE! LOVE! This bin organizer makes me so happy.happy.happy (insert Duck Dynasty voice here!) Have I mentioned how much I LOVE being organized! It was a little pricey (about $50) but oh.so.worth every penny I spent on it to keep my word work centers organized and easy to use! 

Here's what I like about using this bin organization system for my word work center:

1. Each child gets to pick their own bin of materials and is responsible for also cleaning and putting everything away. (I have one word for you here: MODEL. Take the time at the beginning of the year to model like crazy how to use and put away word work centers and it pays off in the end!)

2. The bins are durable and it also lasts--I've had this baby for 3 years and it looks like new!

3. The different size bins allow for a wide variety of materials and centers. And the cute colors don't hurt too! I like me some cute!!

4. It's easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy to switch out centers! And with so many things to do-I'm all about easy to use! Remember--work smarter not harder! :)

I start at the beginning of the year with a lot of letter recognition to review from kindergarten and then I move to sight words and skills that we are currently learning in first grade. Here are some pics of the ones we started with at the beginning of the year:

 This letter recognition activity is a wonderful FREEBIE from Babbling Abby (aka. The Inspired Apple) that you can get HERE!!  You can use any kind of manipulative with it! My kids enjoyed using these bears and it was a fun way to review our letters!

 Who doesn't loves play dough?! Play dough bins are always a HOT item in my classroom. We just started using Dolch sight words this year so I whipped up these sight word play dough mats for my kiddos to begin using. I currently have these two sets available in my store and still am working on a  Primer, 2nd Grade, and 3rd Grade set. You can follow my TPT store HERE if you would like to be notified when the other sets will be available!

Click HERE for the Pre-Primer Set (mats available in color and black and white!)

 

Click HERE for the First Grade Set (mats available in color and black and white!)

This is a name center with letter tiles from an Upwords game I got from a thrift store for $2.00! Talk about cheap tools--thrift stores are great places to find inexpensive and fun tools for the classroom! My wonderful grade level partner made up the formatting for these name cards and was kind enough to share them with me! Love them for the beginning of the year--it is so important for our kiddos to know each others names!

Another thing I love about Word Work is that you can make the word work centers work for you and pick the skills that your kiddos need to practice!

Some of the manipulatives that I love to use for word work are:

-bottle caps

The ABC mat I used with the bottle caps is a great FREEBIE from Mrs. Bremer's Kindergarten! Click HERE to grab it and more great word work activities!! 

-magnet letters

-foam letters

-stamps

-Scrabble or word game pieces 

-pipe cleaners

-play dough

-letter beads

-math manipulatives

Even if you don't have a lot of resources available you can be creative and use inexpensive items around your house (like bottle caps) or from yard sales or thrift stores (word game pieces) or the dollar store (that's where I get my pipe cleaners and I saw magnet letters there recently too!) or have parent volunteers make or donate play dough!

How do you organize and use word work centers in your room? How is your Daily 5 going? I'd love to hear about it and have you join in this month's linky party!! Just grab the I'm Lovin' Daily 5 on the Fifth button and link up your post on why you love/and or how you use Daily 5 in your classroom! Please include a link back to this post. I can't wait to read them and learn and grow together! (Please remember that anything that you create for Daily 5 cannot be sold, but can be shared as freebies!)

Also, if you are looking for lots of great Daily 5 resources in one place, you can join the "I'm Lovin' Daily 5!" Pinterest Board! 

Click HERE or on the picture above to follow our Daily 5 Pinterest Board!

*The Daily 5 and CAFE are trademark and copy written content of Educational Design, LLC. The 2 Sisters. Educational Design, LLC. The 2 Sisters does not authorize or endorse the materials or content mentioned on this blog or in this linky party.

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