This year in first grade, we hit the ground running with our phonics journals right away. We have created a routine for students to follow along with for each skill. By working in these journals every day, students are creating their own resource to look back on when reading and writing throughout the year.
Being that it is only the beginning of the year, students have been reviewing many letter sounds and spelling patterns they learned in kindergarten. First grade students are working to master these foundational skills to set them up for success as they continue to grow as readers during the year.
When learning a new phonics skill, students start by pasting a list of words containing that skill into their journals. Students are then asked to brainstorm additional words containing the phonics pattern so we can include them in our journals. As we continue to practice this new skill, students are given dictation sentences to practice putting the words into text. Students must use what they have learned during whole group learning and apply it to their own writing. I am excited to see how students continue to utilize their phonics journals this year!