My First Words

• Grades K to 3
• Builds vocabulary, spelling, and writing fluency
• Space provided on cover for self-portrait or other art
• A uniquely Canadian student resource used in schools across Canada

Hello and welcome!

My First Words is designed for immediate student success, independence, and collaboration. At the front of the book, learners begin with basic words for parts of the head and body, and as they turn each page, they add logically organized layers of helpful vocabulary. My First Words provides a well-ordered sequence of lessons for the teacher, too; you are welcome to download the accompanying, free Teaching Tips at mywordbooks.com.

Subsequent, thematic pages build each student’s personal word bank, offering high-frequency vocabulary for clothing, numbers, and colours (students can colour in the accompanying circles). Right away, students can build simple sentences, such as “My hair is black” or “I have two blue socks.” Keep turning the pages for days of the week, animals, food — even dinosaurs! Illustrations point students in the right direction.

Each page includes space for the learner to add new words or other helpful information.

The middle of the book features a generous section of words listed alphabetically, with plenty of room to add new vocabulary. If students turn to “H” to find the word “who,” a helpful bubble directs them to the “W” section. Other bubbles explain tricky words such as “hear” and “here.” At the back of the book, students will find clear explanations of homophones, plurals, punctuation, and more.

An experienced Canadian teacher designed My First Words to inspire students’ fluency, confidence, and excitement from their very first lesson, and to keep their personalized book from one grade to the next. My First Words also supports all teachers, including those who are new to the classroom. With a class set of My First Words and the Teaching Tips online, you and your students are all set!

• alphabetical lists of common words that students need over and over again, including familiar Canadian words such as "loonie," "chinook," and "Celsius"
• illustrated word lists for clothing and parts of the body
• challenging vocabulary that students ask for (such as “adventure” and “snowflake”)
• spelling variations (such as “grey” and “gray”)
• spaces for students to add new words
• explanations for confusing words (such as “snack” and “snake”)
• contractions and their longer equivalents (such as “here's” for “here is”)
• how to find words with challenging spelling (such as “sugar” and “hour”)
• basic punctuation, capitalization, spelling rules, homophones, and plurals
• how to boost descriptions of colours
• special word lists (numbers, colours, days of the week, months, seasons, weather, animals, food, sports and fitness, Canadian place names, outer space, planets, dinosaurs, and even superheroes!)
• printed and cursive alphabets
• drawing space on the front cover (maybe for a self-portrait, mandala, or zentangle!)