CVC Fun and Glue Gun Love!

I don't know about you, but I LOVE stationery! I could spend hours (and a serious sum of money) in a store filled with paper, ink and pretty office supplies. A few weeks back, I was in one such shop looking for some glue sticks for my hot glue gun, and what did I see sitting on the shelf right next to the glue sticks? A pink glue gun with 20 glue sticks for $8.99. I didn't even do the 'do I really need this?' dance. I put it in my basket, paid and walked out smiling!

For the past 5 years (since we moved back to Australia) I have been using a big, old, ugly, black glue gun with a UK power plug. As the only UK adapter in the house was under the computer desk and attached to all sorts of computer related devices, I would bundle all my gluing up and crawl under the desk to glue and make resources! Needless to say, I have been enjoying gluing in style (yes, on the kitchen table!), armed with my pink glue gun.

Inspired by my pretty purchase (I really cannot stop thinking of things that involve gluing at the moment), I created a fun resource for my little learners to learn word families while practicing their fine motor.

I like to introduce CVC words once all single sounds have been taught. I start with the short 'a' word family and continue through the vowels. In this activity, little learners decode CVC words by moving the rime down the onset strip.  The color coded vowel sets make identifying the medial sound easier, and storage a breeze!

This activity works great in centers. Because it is simple yet hands-on, little learners are both able and engaged as they move the 'ug' square next to the 'b' and say 'bug'. They continue to move the rime down the onset, saying the word each time 'dug', 'hug' and so on until the strip is complete.

Finding new and different ways to teach the same content can be so difficult. I am glad to add this resource to the many others I use to help little learners master word families and become more confident and fluent readers.

Click here if you would also like to add this to your collection! 

What are some of your favorite ways to teach CVC words? I'd love to hear them!