A customer, a special needs teacher from Texas, wrote us a few months ago suggesting that we create a SnapWords™ Dictionary so that children in special education could have a resource to take into testing with them. In her district children are allowed to bring in a list of words to use as a resource, and she and her colleagues had been laboriously compiling and copying words for their students.
We wanted to make the dictionary colorful and fun to appeal to children who might have had an experience of struggling with reading. And so here it is!
The SnapWords™ Spelling Dictionary is packed full of high frequency words—372 of them—and includes a body motion for each one, plus a sentence that includes the target word beside each stylized sight word so students will think about the meaning of the word and learn how to use it correctly in writing. The content is taken from our SnapWords™ cards.
While this book is not recommended for initial teaching of sight words since it's best for children to transition from seeing the stylized word to the plain word right away, there are several other ways this resource can be used.
- Place the SnapWords™ Spelling Dictionary in a writing center so children can quickly look up words they need as they write.
- Include a copy or two in your classroom lending library for students to check out as they review their sight words with a parent at home. This is a great way to boost your students’ sight word vocabulary and an effective way to increase their reading fluency while not adding to the busy teacher’s already full schedule!
- This book is a great tool for teachers to use as they teach sight words to their class using SnapWords™ cards because words are alphabetized for easy location of the word, while the language and body motions are included so the teacher can easily teach the words complete with body motion and sentence. Take it home with you at night for ease of lesson planning.
- The Dictionary is a good tool for older non-readers. Once they have a friend tell them what the words say, they can study on their own, as the visuals will remind them of what each word says.
- For English Language Learners, the book is invaluable as it will help them rapidly gain a broad base in commonly-used words.
- Finally, because the book is colorful and attractive in the multitude of visuals included, read it to very young children just like you would read them a story book. If you do not make a point to turn the story time into a formal lesson, those little tots will over time gain much in the way of word recognition, just from looking at the pictures. That is the best kind of learning for the very young…just looking at pictures and talking about what you see together.
See sample pages from the book, find out more about it and happy reading!
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