Playing in the Leaves (A Tale of Sight Word Practice)

I love fall.
I love the leaves as they change colors and fill the landscapes in beautiful reds, yellows, browns, oranges, and all the shades in-between.
These beautiful colors also make an awesome backdrop for family pictures like this:

Nothing makes it better than having some of my kids there with me. I mean, who can resist a HUGE leaf pile. It even gives me a sudden urge to run and jump, and I don't do much running or jumping any more!

Oh how I love my babies! (Three not pictured here)

As we were playing in the leaves this year, I got to thinking about how to better help the first graders that my 6th grade class works with each week. I have already been making and using my Sight Word Mystery Pictures sets. In fact, I even made a mystery picture WITH leaves! ha ha.

These have been well received by our buddies who are now asking when they will get the next set of pictures.. ha ha. I guess that is a good thing! Don't get my wrong. I love my coloring pages, they are great and have helped many first graders REALLY know and consistently review their words.

Now that I had them identifying the words, I wanted an activity that would get them to SAY the words out loud and be accountable for that aspect of reading. This got me thinking again to when I was younger.

I remember raking leaves as a child. I would get a HUGE pile raked up and ready to play in (or bag if my dad got tired of me making a mess in the yard) and then as sure as not, the WIND would come and blow the pile all over the place. Sometimes I had a FRIEND around to help fight the breeze and keep the leaves in place. That was truly a  blessing.

The more I thought about it, the more I loved the idea of combining my love of fall and leaves with the need to help our buddies practice their sight words. Hence the game LEAF PiLE was born. I knew I wanted to start with just Fry's 100 first words. These are the words our buddies are most struggling with. I knew I could make LEAF PiLE 2 later with more advanced words...ha ha.

So, I searched my clipart and found that I had EXACTLY what I wanted. LEAVES in lots of colors. WAHOO! I started typing the words onto the leaf cards and found that I needed to somehow identify which word was from which list. Went back and added that for easy sorting, and thought I was done.

I printed, laminated, cut out the pieces and had my own kids play the games. I quickly found that I had a few issues. I had to change a few "rules", added a "The Leaf Pile" sheet for the pile to be placed on, and create "My Leaf Pile" cards for students to have a place to create their leaf piles. (Thanks for pointing out these problems children.) To keep it challenging, I added four WIND CARDS, and four FRIEND CARDS which are used in various ways allowing for several versions of the game to be played. This will keep it fresh for repeated game play.

After tweaking it, I had my own kids play it again. Here is their session:

They LOVED it. I asked if they would play it again and all four (ages 5-12) gave me a resounding "YES!". And just so we are clear, there have been several games that I have created and tested with them that they clearly told me NOT TO SELL! So, they are a tough group to get ideas by- which is good news for everyone else!

In fact, my 5 year old has asked to play it several time since last night. He can't read a lot of the words, but the older kids let him play by just reading the letters correctly, and then they SAY the word to him. I feel this is totally worth it just for that part. He is seeing AND hearing the word. So even emergent readers can have fun and benefit from this game. Here are my two sons playing outside today while waiting for the BBQ chicken to finish:

I hope that you have enjoyed reading the story behind my latest creation. I truly want our reading buddies to read and feel success. I think that Leaf Pile is going to be a HUGE hit this week- with both the 6th graders AND the 1st graders.

If you want to create a leaf pile or two in your room, check out the details by clicking on the picture below or by clicking HERE.

I hope you get a chance to rake a pile of leaves and jump in it this fall! Let your inner kid out! :) Go ahead- JUMP!
Cheers-
MrHughes

Happy 4th of July!

HAPPY 4th of JULY!

(okay, okay, I know it is the 5th- However- I was busy MAKING the memories yesterday.

My two oldest were sure cute. My wife and I have been going walking together the last few days. We get up pretty early and go for a short stroll. My two oldest thought we were still gone and had started to put together a 4th of July breakfast. My daughter convinced my son NOT to turn on the stove, which was an excellent call! They found me stilling out back and asked me to help make a surprise breakfast for my wife. 

Next thing I know we are whipping up red, white, and blue pancakes, bacon, eggs with cheese, and fresh fruit with whipped topping.

 My kids helped stir, flip, and cook. It was a fun experience. I really needed that positive time with my children. 

 My son decided that he wanted to make a flag out of the cooked pancakes. I like how it turned out. He wanted the pancakes red, but he had to settle with a pinkish color!

The little princess was our taste tester. She really enjoyed her patriotic breakfast!

As you can see, everyone was really enjoying the food. I think that mom enjoyed getting a break for making and serving the food.

 Now THAT is a patriotic stack-o-goodness! Ummm hmmmmm!

 Mom and our little girl ready for the day. I love how happy our youngest is. Hope that lasts!


We spent the day relaxing and.... relaxing. I got a bunch of science foldables made that I am excited to use this year. We also had a BBQ with my parents. My sister drove over from the other side of the county to visit as well. We enjoyed a great meal. I didn't even take any pictures of it. Lame, huh? My daughter made some really cute decorations for it and we hung up some banners and flag pennants around the backyard. It was nice.

When it got dark, we headed out to the sports park to enjoy granny's fireworks (love you mom) and the city's show. It was really good this year. Between what my mom bought, those around us had, and the city- it was quite the exciting experience and it cost us ZIP! (Wahoo!)
Below are some pictures of the fireworks and a video as well! Enjoy...

And... we are back. Short trip I know.

I hope that you 4th of July was relaxing and full of the American Spirit!

Later...

Exploring Roads Less Traveled

I know that sounds like some amazing tag line that makes one think I have overcome some massive struggle in my life (I WISH!), but rather it is what our family really did tonight.

After playing basketball as a family for a while outback (which was nice to just play and laugh) we piled into the good old Isuzu Trooper and headed for where ever the car took us.

Our first stop was the freeway overpass. The kids love to run up and down the sides and since it is on a very less-traveled road, I was okay with it. We let them run for about 5 minutes. Then back in we went and headed out on to the road less traveled.

When the road ended, this is what we found:

It was such an amazing view. We wouldn't let the kids get out of the car because it was uber windy and there was a VERY steep cliff. This panorama shot is awesome, but it makes it hard to see everything. It was a nice moment to stand there looking at the beauty with my arms around my wife.... and then my son started honking the horn.

Reality Check.

Check.

Little stinker that he is.

We boarded our transportation and headed back home.

As we crossed the railroad tracks and neared our home, I HAD to stop and snap a picture of this:

The little triangle on the hill in the background is the Golden Ratio Monument. I love the shapes created by the branches. 

We settled in at home to enjoy and evening of being together. 

Thanks my little family, I love you so much.

Later...

HaPpY bIrThDaY gRaNdMa!

 Today was my mother's birthday. Last night we swung by their trailer (they were camping in the State Park) and gave my mom her gift. We gave her a pot of flowers. The kids all wrote messages on the BYU blue pot with paint markers. She loved it. There two pictures are of my sons climbing up the tree next to their trailer. Man, they are little mountain goats. 

Then tonight after the kids last Jr. Jazz game, mom and dad took my brother's family and my family out to dinner. We had a great time. It was a little late, but totally worth it. The kids had fun being with grandma and each other.

 Mr. M wanted to play Rock Paper Scissors. That is his new thing. I had him play with my brother. M was totally cracking us up. He would wait until my brother made a shape then change his to win. OR, just say, "Oh, my scissors totally cut your rock!". I appreciate my brother for playing and having fun.

So, thanks for a great dinner and good company.

Happy Birthday Mom! I love you.

Later...

Hike Diary- Entry #2

I just love going on short hikes with my family and friends. Nothing beats being out in the fresh air with a gently breeze blowing down the canyon. It is always an adventure with six young children, but our hope is to teach them a respect for their surroundings and an appreciation for the beauty that is around them. 

Enjoy the show...

After a busy hike, our youngest son was kicked back watching his favorite cartoon on TV. What a smart young man he is.

Until Next Time...

Later...