Beginning the Year Word Work Ideas (With lots of Freebies and Resources)

It's the second week of school and we are working on word work! I introduce a letter everyday and we focus on capital and lowercase, vowels vs consonants, and handwriting (I really like Tara West's KinderPhonics program for this). We listen to our letter video everyday

and then practice writing that letter.

I love {THESE} handwriting sheet freebies!

 I'm personally a fan of the handwriting-house metaphor.

Tall letters start at the roof.

Small letters start at the window.

Fall letters go into the basement.

All letters touch the floor (so they don't float away!)

After the handwriting, kids break into 5 word work stations that rotate daily through the week.

Station 1-practicing letters and sounds with playdough

 

Station 2-making pattern blocks letters

Station 3-building lego letters

Station 4-using magnet letters to match letters

Station 5-letter puzzles (Dollar Tree, Target "Dollar" bins, etc)

These stations are easy for the kids to do independently and help them practice station rules like staying in their spot and working the whole time. Plus, they give me time to complete what seems like the many, many baseline assessments we have to give. I hope these ideas and freebies help you get your little ones start out their word work with a bang!