Beanie Baby Reading Strategies

You may notice a poster coming home on Monday with reading strategies that we've been working on in class. These are the Beanie baby decoding strategies and believe me, they work like magic! Please reinforce them at home when your child gets stuck on a work. For instance, if they are stuck, ask "What would Flippy Dolphin tell you to do?" The kids love these characters, and have really started using them when trying to figure out a word. Let me introduce you to our reading friends!

Stretchy Snake- Stretch it out
Eagle Eye- Look at the pictures
Lips the Fish- Get your lips ready
Chunky Monkey- Chunk the word
Flippy Dolphin- Flip the vowel sound
Skippy Frog- Skip it, skip it
Tryin' Lion- Try it again
Helpful Kangaroo- Ask for help

The kids will also be getting book marks to keep in the book boxes, as well as one to take home to help them remember. Later in the year, we will also introduce some comprehension friends as well. If you would like more information or copies of our posters or bookmarks, please make sure to email me.

Beanie Baby Reading Strategies

You may have noticed that the kids brought home a bookmark labeled "Stuck on a new word." this is a great reminder of the reading strategies that we've been learning about in class. These are known as Beanie Baby Reading Strategies, although to my first graders, they are simply my reading friends. I wanted to share them so that you can help your child use them when reading. We added a new one today, Flippy Dolphin, so then will be getting new bookmarks. These strategies are for when decoding a word, or for when they come to a word that they don't know. We have posters up of each one, along with the Beanie Baby, and it's so fun to watch them use the strategies. Make sure to watch for the new bookmark coming home soon! For a look at the posters, feel free to email me at scotte@molallariv.k12.or.us.

Introducing:
Eagle Eye: Look at the Pictures
Lips the Fish: Get Your Lips Ready
Stretchy Snake: Stretch it Out
Chunky Monkey: Chunk the Word
Skippy Frog: Skip It, Skip It
Tryin' Lion: Try it Again
Flippy Dolphin: Flip the Vowel
Helpful Kangaroo: Ask for Help

Please let me know if you'd like copies of posters, or bookmarks to help you remember these! As the year goes on, we will also be adding Comprehension Beanie Baby Strategies as well. More to come...