hand2mind Reading Rods Building Sight Words, Word Building Activities, Letter Blocks, Sight Words Kindergarten, CVC Words Spelling Toys, Reading Tools for Kids, Science of Reading Manipulatives

I used these during homeschooling my kindergartner this year, and it was a great way to have her build words in addition to writing them

Bought these to help my granddaughter with her reading and spelling. We used to use a similar item when I was a classroom teacher. It has helped her see the word and notice when she misses a double letter or an “r” controlled vowel, or when she mixes up vowel teams (ea, ai, etc.) We follow up by saying the letters as she writes the word. I think she is improving in her spelling. She doesn’t have a spelling list or phonics lesson anymore in the third grade, but I think she still needs that practice, this seems more like a game for her and she doesn’t complain the way she does when we use other strategies at home.

Loved using these in my first grade classroom as a station for new words!

This made spelling practice fun for my 8 year old. Only problem was that some links are loose and don’t stay together.

As a tutor who works with students who have dyslexia, I am always on the lookout for tools that will make my life easier. These interlocking blocks definitely fit the bill. I have long used similar blocks with no letters on them for phonemic and morphemic awareness activities, and I have made my own blocks with letters by writing letters on my son's childhood blocks. However, for some strange reason, my kid wanted his blocks back, and my prepared letters would get swallowed into his crazy collection, never to be found again.These blocks are ready to go, color-coded and designed to help with the awkward spelling of non-phonetic sight words. They come with a thorough instruction book that includes explanations for the colors, activity ideas, and even a high frequency word list that's also color-coded (although I do disagree with some of the words they have on their "permanent" heart word list).The blocks are not difficult to put together or take apart, which is great for uncoordinated hands, but they are not loose enough to fall apart at the drop of a hat.I would also add that they will work for much more than just sight words, so they are perfect tools for teachers who are teaching students how to read and spell. They include vowel digraphs and r-controlled combinations, and each color has one block with no writing that the teacher can use as desired.I love these blocks and highly recommend them.

The little cubes pop together pretty easily. They come with the letter, or letter blend, printed on the side. There are two sides with the capital letter, and two sides with the lowercase letter. So far I have mostly used them to teach word families- I fanned the letters out and put the "a" and the "r" together and had my child choose a beginning letter cube to create "-ar" words. This was entertaining for her to try to figure out what letters would make a word.There are also cubes with letter blends- consonants (digraphs like "-ph") and vowels (variant vowels like "ou") as well as heart cubes that allow you to set up a guess-the-correct-letter game. The cubes are color-coded to help kids understand letter patterns in words.The cubes themselves are not difficult to snap together. If someone has mild motor issues, they might be able to do this independently. If a child has more advanced motor issues, they will probably need help but could potentially learn to put the cubes together, or at least pop them apart. Visually, the cubes are clearly written in black but the background colors of the cubes are not always high contrast, particularly on the blue cubes.Overall, this is a good teaching tool. I'm pleased with the versatility these cubes offer in teaching spelling and word patterns. This is a great addition to your teaching tool bag.

These work best under adult supervision to help understand and create learning exercises. but can also just be fun to build with for smaller children. They hold together better than Legos without being too difficult to take apart; just don't lose any blocks because there are only so many of each letter, and it will be hard to spell after losing a few pieces.

I'm a big fan of hands on learning tools. It helps break up learning tasks and activates parts of the brain that just reading and worksheets can't. Since everyone has a different learning style, it's good to try and appeal to all learning styles, when possible. This set has parts of words separated by color and include: consonants, hearts, digraphs, vowels, and variant vowels. The instructions do give you some ideas on how to use them and the hearts can help fill the gap in a word where you're learning about certain sounds. The cubes are all four sided. The consonants and vowels have the lowercase letter on three sides and a capital of the same letter on the fourth side. The digraphs and variant vowels have two different blends per cube. Some cubes have a little heart or a little dot with the letters (I haven't quite figured out why yet). The pieces are really easy to snap together and pull apart. It's also fun for littles to try and make new words. So this set helps with letter sounds, reading, spelling, etc.