Last week we learned that /ar/ in words says "r". To make our learning fun and memorable, we celebrated this phonics skill with a special Pirate Week!
What did Pirate Week look like?
Monday- The first graders entered into a pirate themed classroom and read a story about Pirate Mark. Monday was our Pirate Week kick off! We made a list of words with /ar/ to show that /ar/ really does say "rrrrr". Some of the words included: charm, part, are, far, dart, arm, art, smart, start, scar, etc.
Tuesday- A small toy Pirate Mark joined our classroom! Pirate Mark traveled to kiddos who found words with /ar/ in books that they read or any words they found in our classroom. The first graders were busy searching for /ar/ words. We even made a list of some of the words we found!
Wednesday- We brainstormed more /ar/ words on the SmartBoard as a class. We then made our own Pirate Mark craft. Our Pirate Mark craft displays several Aaaarggghh words and will come home in a few weeks after their time in the hallway.
Thursday- We read the story about Pirate Mark again as a class. While we read the story, we wrote down the /ar/ words that we heard. We spent most of the week reading /ar/ words, but on Thursday we wanted to also work on writing /ar/ words. Reading and writing go hand-in-hand. If we can write it, we can read it!
Monday- The first graders entered into a pirate themed classroom and read a story about Pirate Mark. Monday was our Pirate Week kick off! We made a list of words with /ar/ to show that /ar/ really does say "rrrrr". Some of the words included: charm, part, are, far, dart, arm, art, smart, start, scar, etc.
Tuesday- A small toy Pirate Mark joined our classroom! Pirate Mark traveled to kiddos who found words with /ar/ in books that they read or any words they found in our classroom. The first graders were busy searching for /ar/ words. We even made a list of some of the words we found!
Wednesday- We brainstormed more /ar/ words on the SmartBoard as a class. We then made our own Pirate Mark craft. Our Pirate Mark craft displays several Aaaarggghh words and will come home in a few weeks after their time in the hallway.
Thursday- We read the story about Pirate Mark again as a class. While we read the story, we wrote down the /ar/ words that we heard. We spent most of the week reading /ar/ words, but on Thursday we wanted to also work on writing /ar/ words. Reading and writing go hand-in-hand. If we can write it, we can read it!
Friday- Friday was our Pirate Week finale! The first graders entered the classroom to find a treasure map ready for them to complete with /ar/ words. Their job was to go about their day as normal, and these special treasures (/ar/ words) would POP up throughout the day. A few of the words were hidden behind our classroom schedule, some were in their book boxes, words were in kiddos' desks, lockers, and on JRL book bags! Once they found all of the /ar/ words on the map, they would earn a treasure! They worked so hard to find these words and did a wonderful job reading them now that they knew /ar/ says "r". At the end of the day the first graders earned their treasure: brand new pirate pencils!!
Our 5th grade buddies also joined in on the Pirate fun! During our time with our buddies, we participated in a "Write The Room" activity. 28 words containing /ar/ were hidden in both our and Ms. Zuidema's classroom. The buddies worked together to find all 28 words. The 5th graders helped the 1st graders read these words and once they were all found, they created sentences together with the /ar/ words. We had a great time celebrating our new phonics skill with our buddies. Can you find the /ar/ words in the pictures below?
It is my hope that Pirate Week helped make learning fun and memorable for your child. As you read at home, your child is now expected to read words with /ar/ on their own. If you ever come to a word with /ar/ such as car, star, far, farm, charm, cart, part, etc., remind them that they can read it. They can do it! :)
Happy Reading!
Happy Reading!