Have you seen the Beanie Baby Reading Strategies before? They are a set of animals that help teach decoding skills and another set that teach comprehension strategies. come across them a few times via Pinterest and many other teacher blogs. The original idea came from April Schilb, and you can visit her website here.
Thanks to a few garage sales and amazon used sales, I completed my collection for my upcoming Kindergarten class! These strategies are a snuggly, meaningful, fun way to implement at home as you help your child learn to read. Start with 1-2 of the decoding animals (or modify the strategies to fit a stuffed animal you already have). Add in slowly as you read, modeling as you go, and referring to them as you read with your child. Pretty soon, your child will have a mental zoo of strategies to rely on all the way from decoding through comprehension.
There are several versions floating around the internet and teacher sites. I wanted to make my own set of posters using real photos, change some wording, and add in the Common Core. I’m selling my version in a kit on my Teachers Pay Teachers and Teachers Notebooks sites. I also made the trading cards available separately, thinking they would be great to use at home. You can go to my stores by clicking the button links on the right sidebar.
Happy Reading! Shelisa
