Spring Break is over, March Madness has finished, and pollen is coating us all a nice shade of yellow.  Now it’s time to start celebrating Earth Day (April 22)!  Today I used an “er” word sort that I found from Once upon a First Grade Adventure on Teachers Pay Teachers.  It sorts the sound by three spellings: ir, ear, or.

Dirt * Earth * Worm word sort

I just thought the categories (earth, worm, dirt) were super cute and fit right into my theme!  I’ve been very mindful of all of the color printing I’ve been doing lately, so I decided to print her cards in b/w onto color card stock.  I love the bright colors of the blues and green paper.

Students chose words from the Earth pile.

To play, the  students chose a card from the pile, said the word, then created a sentence for me. ( I usually do a little dance or something to make a fool of myself if they can add in more of their target sound to their sentence. )  After we practiced placement enough and I was satisfied with their production, they walked over to the board, wrote their sentence, and then sorted the word.

Writing sentences with ‘er” words.

Sorting by spelling is not my main focus in therapy, however I think it is important to raise awareness of different spelling patterns.  Especially when you are talking about vowel + R sounds!  It’s important for the kids to be aware that just because they see an “or” spelling, doesn’t mean they will need to round their lips for the “or” sound.

This was a quick and fun way to practice “er” words today!  I’d love to hear ways that you are incorporating Earth Day into your therapy!