SPECTRUM PHONICS + CARSON-DELLOSA

Happy Friday, y'all . . . we've made it to the weekend!  It's time to kick our feet up, knock around in our jammers until noon, soak up some family time, and cruise around some blogs for some fresh ideas ideas!  

I am here today to talk to you about Spectrum Phonics from Carson-Dellosa. I don't know about you, but I still run a paper-pencil station during reading groups.  Although the other stations are filled with guided reading, writing, and language arts games, I also like to provide differentiated phonics and various reading/spelling practice in one of the rotations.  I am always on the lookout for resources to keep my kiddos working on those newly learned skills.  

I don't use too many hard goods for my paper-pencil practice these days, but I like to be able to grab a book from the shelf to help me hit a broad range of skills from time to time. Let's face it . . . sometimes it's just easier than digging through those digital files. Spectrum Phonics (Grade 1) is a book that does just that for me . . . it's now a part of my resource arsenal.    

As soon as it arrived in the mail, I immediately brought it to school and made it mine via a BIG black Sharpie.  As I saddled up to the copy machine, I was a little worried when I opened it up and saw colored pages as they don't always make for the clearest copies.  However, my worries were squelched after the first copy was made . . . things looked just fine :)

See . . . it looks nice :)
Crisis averted.

As I thumbed through the book, I was able to find sheets that fit the needs of all four of my groups.  My range is fairly broad right now.  However, I was able to find initial consonant and short a goodies for one group, mixed CVC work for another, blends for my third collection of kiddos, and vowel teams for my hot shots (ee/ea).  I was able to make all of my phonics work to shove in my independent work folders from one little book.

Pages for that medium group.

Pages for my "hot shots."
These will come into play for the rest of the crew later this year :)

We all know that differentiation takes forever.  However, Spectrum Phonics was quick, easy, and rather painless.  I know that will be using many of the pages this year . . . as the different groups cycle through the phonics progression. There was only one thing that I didn't care for, but it isn't major. A few of the sheets were too easy . . . well, didn't require much work on the student's part. I want more "bang for my buck" if I am going to give a worksheet.  However, it is only a few pages of the book and I just won't use these particular pages. No harm. No foul.  

So there you have it . . . my thoughts on Spectrum Phonics (Grade 1) from Carson-Dellosa.  Thanks for taking the time to visit me today my friends.  I will be back on Sunday or Monday (at the latest) with the second installment of my Building Solid Writers in First Grade blog post :)  Big hugs and enjoy your weekend my friends!

Review Disclaimer:  I participate in the Brand Ambassador Program for Carson-Dellosa and have received this product for free to review.