Differentiating Instruction (with reading worksheets)

The 1st week (or more) of school we are working on figuring out how to do a worksheet.

The 2nd week I start making a few suggestions to push the kids a little.  Try to draw a picture that starts with our letter of the day.  Can you write the word? (Usually they say they can't, but we just work on trying anyway - You know what letter it starts with - write that!).

Then this week on letter J day they all had to try to write the word jet, and the next day kite (a little harder).

Here is their writing from today: can  you guess what they were trying to write?

LuA
LeN
LinY
Liyin
LioN

LPei
LAP
Loyypa
LOEPOP

Today I gave them a choice: they could take the Kindergarten challenge and try to write lion (the picture on the page) or take the 1st Grade challenge and try to write lollipop (the word in our alphabet chant).

Here is what we are learning:
*We have choices.
*We can do hard things.
*We can write.

Here is what I am learning:
*I see an impressive numbers of vowels, which are harder to hear.
*I have a student who has figured out that she can find a certain word (like lion) elsewhere in the room, so she can copy how to spell it :)
*Several children are willing to take on big challenges.

My Kindergarteners are awesome!