Daily 5 Work on Words... and freebies!

Ok it is all kinds of embarrassing that it has taken me this long to blog about my Work on Words setup and activities.  My BFF Marisa over at Glitter and Giggles linked me up Saturday and here I am just now posting.  Shame on me!  However, I wanted my pics to be a little better so I had to take them all over again ( and I still hate them). 

First of all implementing the Daily 5 has been the best decision I have made in my entire teaching career thus far.  Spending hours upon hours every 2 weeks (which is what I used to do) to prepare for stations has been replaced with quality engaging activities that are relevant and VERY low maintenance.  Not to mention my thirdsters LOVE that they get to be all grown-up and CHOOSE which activity they want to do for the day. I haven't posted many pics of my classroom yet so I want to start by showing a snapshot of my Daily 5/CAFE board.

This huge bulletin board is the focal point of my classroom so I decided to make it my Daily 5/CAFE board all in one.  Easy to see and access.  The kids move their clothespin to show their choice for each round on a mini clip-chart.  This makes it super easy for me to see when they are avoiding (as if they ever do that!) Work on Writing haha!

My Work on Words set-up is nothing fancy but here it is.  It sits right below my leveled classroom library.  My kids currently have 7 choices for word activities. 

• Scrabble Spelling
• Magnet Words
• Type-it
• Stamp-it
• Game Boards
• Boggle
• Shake It Up!

My students each have a word ring that contains spelling words, word wall words, and content vocabulary (differentiated according to their needs) that they use with each activity.  This is the lifeline of Work on Words in my opinion!

Scrabble- so simple and they never get tired of it.  I created a recording sheet for this activity.  It's an easy way for me to hold them accountable for their work. You can grab the recording sheet  HERE!
Just pick up some tiles and you are set!

Magnet Words- I thought that this would be way too young for my 3rd graders but they seem to still love building the words on the cookie sheets.  That's good enough for me.  I have them build the word and then record it in their Work on Words journal (a spiral).

Type-it is one that they race for.  I just took an old keyboard and fancied it up with cutesy stickers.  They "type" their words.  I get a kick out of watching them do this.  Some of my girls take it so seriously and act like they are at the office. 

Stamp-it- definitely not a new idea but again they seem to love it.  I have them stamp the words in their journals and then write a sentence using the word. 

Game Boards- For this fab activity head over to First Grade Glitter and Giggles and read all about.  Serious cuteness factor!

Boggle- This is by far the most popular in my room.  I got this amazing activity from Create-Teach-Share and my kids go bananas for it.  I just change the letters weekly to reflect our spelling pattern focus and they go on a word making frenzy.  LOVE it!

The newest addition is Shake It Up! I have always loved Discovery Bottles and just never got around to making any... until I was reminded on Pinterest (oh how I love thee) of how much fun they can be.  Here is the PIN by the way!
I found the jar and the poms at Dollar Tree (where I also finally found the materials I needed for my Pinterest Cake Stands I have been dying to make... which has absolutely nothing to do with this here post...sorry!) I printed up the 3rd grade Fry words (required for our district) added a fancy label and... Voila!

They find the words, read them, and record them in their journal.  When they find all 100 words they get a prize.  There is a whole lotta shaking going on let me tell you! 














There you have it- this is what goes down during Daily 5 Work on Words in my classroom.  I hope you find some of these activities useful.  I am always on the look out for new ideas and am so stinkin' addicted to blog stalking that I sometimes forget to blog myself.  Next up is a blog devoted to Math Workstations and how we roll with that in my room.  Fun, Fun, Fun!!
Thanks for stopping by! Toodles!