“My, My, My!”

I’ll be honest, leading up until Easter I wrote a post a day, and was up until 3am each night preparing those posts. Tis’ the life of a newbie blogger I guess! Needless to say, I was exhausted after Easter and took a short break from teaching sight words/high frequency words.

Last night my daughter asked me, “Mommy, will we do more sight words?” (Maybe you were thinking the same thing!) I asked, “Do you want to do more sight words?” and she quickly said “Yes!” Well if that isn’t a kick in the butt then I don’t know what is.

So here we go! You may relate with this in your home…for some reason my daughter does NOT want to work on her homemade books “Go to [the]”, “Look in the” and “Look at the.” I think it’s partially her asserting what control she has and refusing to do something she knows I’d love for her to do. I’m not going to force it though, and I figure these books we started can sit on her bookshelf to read together, and she can write and illustrate the blank pages when she’s feeling motivated.

Instead, let’s think about what books your child would enjoy writing, illustrating, and reading. Any ideas? Please share in the comments below!

My daughter really enjoys drawing family! Practically ever random drawing she brings over to me includes our family doing something fun together. So let’s try a new homemade book together all about the sight word “my,” and make a whole book of family and friends. “My family, My mother, My father, My sister, My brother, My birds, My cat, My dog. My Papa, My friend Sarah,” etc.

I introduced the sight word “my” 2 weeks ago. If your child has not learned this word yet, feel free to back up and check out these previous posts about how to introduce and practice new sight words/high frequency words – Go, to, the, Go to the, look (also hopscotch/outside word search game), at, in, look (again), memory/concentration game, Go to the ____. Look at the _____. Look in the ____., Candyland game, sight word hunt.

Also, the words “I” and “can” are perfect for a book of things your child can do. “I can run, I can jump, I can cook ____, I can color, I can play my guitar, I can read,” etc. I know we’ll be trying this one too!

Let’s review.

8 easy steps to help your child make a book of their own: (these have been modified for your new “My” book, but you may recognize them from this post.)

1) Take 2 pieces of paper (we used card stock) and place 1 on top of the other horizontally (Be sure to add additional paper if you’d like more than 8 pages for your child’s book, including the cover and back page)

2) Fold this stack of paper in half

3) Staple the folded edge to make a book (you should have 8 pages now including the cover and back page, unless you added additional pieces of paper in step 1)

4) Title your book. We titled ours, “My” and be sure to add “by [insert child’s name here].” Let your child watch you write “My” and then have them trace the letters. Also have them trace the word “by” after you’ve written it, and let them write their own name if they can.

5) Write, “My _____________” on the first inside page. Say each letter as you write “my.” “M-y” then point and say “My.” Place your finger on the paper after “my” and explain, “Now I’m going to make a finger space after ‘my'” and then draw a line.  Tell your child that this line is saving the place for them to finish the sentence. Ask, “Now who do you want to write and illustrate first?”

6) If your child says “daddy,” then ask them what other names they may call daddy. Continue to ask questions until they suggest, “father.” Family names such as “father, mother, sister, brother,” etc. are all important sight words/high frequency words that you’ll find a lot in childrens’ books. ” Then ask them what sound they hear at the beginning of “father.” Your child may make the “f” sound. “Good! What letter makes that sound?” When they say “f”, repeat the entire sentence “My father.”

7) This next part is very important. Be sure to stretch the word out and say it slowly as you write it (do not spell it out). This will benefit your child later when he/she is learning to write on their own.  They will understand what it means to “stretch the word out” saying it slowly as they begin to write a difficult word. You will say aloud the stretched out word(s) as you slowly write “father” on the line. Tell them that you put a dot called a period to mark the end of the sentence. If you have to go down to a second line to finish their sentence, explain that you ran out of room and need to go down to the next line. Point and say “My father” again. Have your child point and say “My father.” Point and say “My father” together.

8) Have your child draw or color a picture of their father (this may be you!), or other word(s) they’ve chosen, on that page before moving on to the next page. This way they will receive instant satisfaction! Also, try your best not to help them draw the picture even if they say they do not know how and ask for help. If you draw it, they may be worried in the future that their pictures are not perfect enough. Rather than draw it for her, I asked my daughter a few questions about the word “father” like, “What color hair does he have? What color eyes? What is he wearing? Great! Draw him!”

9) Add a couple of sentences each day in your “My” book. Your child drew his/her own pictures so even if you can’t tell what they are, he/she will probably remember them! If they are stumped by a word in their sentence later on, show them that there are 2 clues. The first clue is the first letter of that word. They can say the letter and make the sound. The second is the illustration. The “f” sound and picture they drew of their father are great clues to figuring out the sentence “My father.” I tried this out with our “Go to” book and she read each page (with a little help from her own illustrations!)

10) Add the date and your child’s age on the back cover (you’ll thank me later) and enjoy your new book with your child! Children love these home made books because they helped write and illustrate them. Best of all, they can read them! We’d love to see your homemade book too!

Important tip: Be sure your child always points under each word as they read it.

By the way, we’ll be making a word wall soon! You’re going to love it!  – lifeasallison

p.s. These are our pet parrots that KC drew in her “My” book. Also, this is her father, only a little more dressed up then she illustrated in her book.  haha

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