Read ... Write ... Think ...

My daughter is in Kindergarten. She amazes me each day with the words that she says (and uses correctly). I know that her verbal vocabulary is much greater than the words she can read and write. She also has a very active imagination (hmmm ... wonder where that comes from?).

After talking with her teacher, it is clear that she has a good understanding of letter knowledge. She can the identify letters and tell you what sound that letter makes individually. It is when you put the letters together to make words that is causing a bit of trouble right now. We need to work on her ability to put those sounds together. She also really enjoys the way words are spelled. She will "read" a string of letters to me to find out what word they spell.

So I have been looking for some ways to work with her. Since my job is in Instructional Technology, it would make sense for me to look for some technology options (I also have a background in Reading Education).

The other day I came across some information on Thinkfinity about Puzzle Me Words from ReadWriteThink:

Puzzle Me Words is an exciting new interactive from ReadWriteThink.  Students in grades K-1 learn about language by combining letters to form words based on the pictures that they see.  A talking school bus named Scootie reads the words aloud and further reinforces letter sounds for young learners. With each new round that is completed, students earn a new puzzle piece toward their prize puzzle: a coloring sheet they can print, color and display proudly at home or in school.  Try it with students today!

Although I thought that description was interesting, the way that I saw and heard my daughter interact with this activity made it so much better. I think it would be great to use with students in a classroom.

ReadWriteThink is more than just a website; it's a community of educators working to improve literacy learning for every student. ReadWriteThink is sponsored by IRA (International Reading Association) and NCTE (National Council of Teachers of English).

I wonder how Puzzle Me Word and many other resources from ReadWriteThink would be on an Interactive White Board (IWB) in a classroom for a small group of students as a center activity?

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