Rapid Recall
Oliver and Max demonstrating their warm up ‘Rapid Recall’. The video shows how they warm up before they begin blending sounds together.
We were saying the letter sounds before we did any blending.
We have to say the sounds that the letter makes.
Max and Oliver enjoy competing against each other to say the letters sound before the other.
Mixer Mat
Darcey explains that after warming up our brains with Rapid Recall, the ‘Mixer Mat’ is used.
This is where reading groups create a variety of words with the letter sound knowledge students have reviewed during the Rapid Recall game.
After looking at our letters we already know we learn a new letter. We use the mixer mat to move and blend our sounds. We have all of the letters we know and we move each letter into a box at the bottom. After that we blend the sounds by starting with our finger on the dot and following the arrow across to make words like ‘nat’, ‘mat’, ‘dot’, ‘pit’’, ‘man’. When I have my finger on the dot and blend the sounds across it makes it easier for me to blend each sound together in the right order. I was making the word ‘pop’.
I was making ‘pit’.
We were helping each other make words like ‘nat’.
My job was to check that Billy used the sounds to make the right word. And he did!”
I have been making words like ‘big’. I sound out each sound and then blend it by starting at the dot and tracing the line across.
Reading
The part of reading I was most excited for was to take a book home to read to Mum. I have to remember to point to each sound and blend them together.
I point to each word to read it. I read ‘Nat and Pip’. The word ‘pip’ was hard to say because the beginning and ending sounds are the same and it felt funny.
I am reading a page. It says ‘Pip’. Pip is the cat from the picture. I point to each word
My page says ‘Sit, Nat.” It has a comma and a full stop. A comma tells us we need to take a little pause. A full stop tells us it's the end of a sentence.
Rapid Recall and Mixer Mat activities provide students with the tools they need to decode texts. Practicing these skills at home increases student confidence and supports their reading journey.
I'm an adventurous person who loves spending time outdoors, camping, hunting, and fishing. When I'm not exploring the wilderness, you can often find me at the gym, where I enjoy staying active and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
Growing up in a small rural town in Stratford, Taranaki, I learned to appreciate the simple things in life and developed a strong connection to nature.
After finishing high school, I decided to move to Rotorua, where I studied by distance learning to be a teacher. My partner and I have relocated to Taupō, and we are excited to explore everything this beautiful town has to offer.
I am thrilled to be embarking on this chapter in my teaching career and look forward to making a positive impact on the lives of my students at Wairakei Primary School.
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