The development of Nonsense Words for REAL has been a passion of mine ever since we started testing with DIBELS.  I, myself, had a hard time decoding (quickly) some of the cvc combinations because my brain wanted to reject those odd sound groupings. I saw my more proficient readers struggling in the same way. 

A couple years ago, I started creating words lists that were comprised of first syllable nonsense word parts that lead to bigger REAL words. I thought this was a more valuable way to use nonsense words, and practicing the skill, now, made more sense.

Initially, I made some quick word cards, we tried it, and the kids loved it.  They love BIG words, so it was easy to get them excited (love that!).

This past fall (2012), after being introduced to TPT by a teammate, I got serious about making a nice collection of Nonsense Words for REAL.  My team joined me in using them this last year, and we had great success!  My students delighted me with doing well on DIBELS, and gained many new big words in their vocabulary. 

Most of the time, I start out with a whole group reading of a set of cards (show cvc, fold back cvc to expose REAL word).  Then I give each child one card to practice, read to a friend, and then trade.
As we did this more, they got quite fast, and we could go through a large stack of cards in 5 minutes. 

One day one of my boys (who doesn't usually ask to do anything) asked, "Are we going to do those big word cards today?  I really like them!"  You can imagine my delight!  And yes, of course, we did them!

Our first set of Nonsense Words for REAL

This summer I completed the entire set of 6 books of Nonsense Words for REAL -- over 340 words!   I am extremely thankful to find Scrabblefinder for word lists that kept me going.   If you like this idea, too, please visit my TPT store!

Other ideas to share:

We love doing Nonsense Words on the Smartboard.  Both of these are interactive by touching the dice or letter cards.   I leave the consonants stationary, and only have the vowels move on the top one. 

I just discovered the letter generator cards. Be sure to choose the consonant generator and vowel generator, otherwise you will have consonants and vowels (letter generator).  Both can be found in the Lesson Activity Toolkit !