Alternatives to Worksheets-Phonics
I've read a lot of great posts from bloggers doing a book study on Worksheets Don't Grow Dendrites. This is a great book. Marcia Tate actually came to our district for staff development day a few years back. I truly believe this was one of the best staff development days ever! She was very inspiring! I personally do not believe in frequent use of worksheets in the classroom. They do have their place, but they need to be chosen very carefully. There are a lot of great teachers who effectively use worksheets in their classroom. I just personally believe that there are more effective, engaging ways to teach and practice skills. I do not have a perfect solution, but I do think I have a pretty good system. Today I want to talk about how I teach phonics, with few to no worksheets. At this point in the year, I spend between 15 and 25 minutes teaching phonics each day. I use a lot of Heidi Songs. We do a lot of practicing with white boards or butcher paper.
