Firefly Education

The Four Kinds of Spelling Knowledge

2012-02-21T03:29:44Z

For students to become proficient spellers, there are 4 different kinds of spelling knowledge they require. Using Sound Waves ensures children have the opportunity to develop all four areas of spelling knowledge.

What is the Sound Waves phonemic approach?

2012-01-18T06:13:36Z

The phonemic approach is recognised as one of the most effective ways to teach and learn spelling and reading skills.

New to a Phonemic Approach?

2011-11-24T03:13:20Z

If you are just starting out with a Phonemic Approach you may have come across a few areas that you are not sure about.

Here are four key steps for getting started with Sound Waves.

Your Sound Waves Week

2011-11-17T04:21:09Z

In the Sound Waves National Edition you’ll find a huge variety of activities, games and ideas to use in your Sound Waves classroom. In fact, there are so many different things you can do each week that we know you’ll never get through them all and we certainly don’t expect you to.

So to help you, we have listed the four most important teaching steps in any Sound Waves week.

“I’ve Finished! What Can I Do Now?”

2011-11-17T04:17:33Z

Even the most organised teacher will sometimes dread these words. But if you are a Sound Waves teacher, you have many different options to offer those students who seem to finish their work before some of the others have even started. Here are some options for Fast Finishers.

Differentiation Tasks

2011-10-27T00:00:33Z

Each of the Topics in the iMaths 1 to 6 Student Books has a set of differentiation tasks, which can be downloaded by teachers booklisting iMaths Student Books free of charge from www.imathsteachers.com.au. Each set includes support, consolidation and extension tasks to allow you to tailor your iMaths program to each student’s needs.

Case Study: iMaths in a Multi-Age Classroom

2011-08-17T00:19:12Z

Ryeford State School is a Band 5 school on the Darling Downs, Queensland, which covers all year levels except 5 and 6.

We are into our second year of investigative Maths. As all Band 5 teachers know, teaching multi-age Maths simultaneously can be quite a challenge, but we have developed a system that incorporates the focus teaching of essential learnings and the investigative processes.

Using the Write On Card (BLM WOC) and Word Strips (BLM WSS)

2011-08-03T23:39:56Z

These BLMs are a series of boxes for students to use when they break words into graphemes. Having students segment words using the Word Strips ensures they represent each sound separately when recording the word. This helps students discover which graphemes represent a particular sound.

Helpful Mnemonics

2011-08-03T23:34:00Z

A mnemonic is something that we use as an aid to help us remember. When it comes to remembering how to spell words, mnemonics are often useful for those words that children find tricky to spell. Each week as you study the List Words with your class, it can be helpful to point out any mnemonics that you know, or you can encourage students to create their own and share them with the class.

Making the Most of Match Up and Word Chain BLMs

2011-06-14T23:43:04Z

As a companion to our printed resources, Sound Waves Online brings life to your classroom, with downloadable Black Line Masters, projectable Student Book pages, interactive learning objects, student games, and much more.

When browsing Sound Waves Online you will find most levels of Sound Waves have Match Up BLMs or Word Chain BLMs. These are designed to be cut into cards, to create games where pictures are matched to words, or word beginnings and endings are matched to form words. There are also other forms of Match Up available apart from ‘match the word to the picture’ and ‘match word beginnings and endings’.

Enhancing iMaths Topics using interactive whiteboard tools

2011-04-05T00:25:13Z

Most interactive whiteboards have plenty of tools for your students to use that support the learning and consolidation of iMaths Topics. Below we’ve included some simple strategies for making the most out of your interactive whiteboard during your iMaths lessons.

Using Sound Waves in a multi-age classroom

2011-03-16T23:50:35Z

We’ve had a number of teachers ask us for advice on dealing with multi-age classrooms. Our Sound Waves authors have identified some of the most suitable whole class activities for using with multi-age classes.