Fun Early Reading Activity

 

Hint: It's only in the title.

Spell-a-Word Game

Here's a game you can make using sets of those Dollar Store magnetic letters!

Make a set of index cards with 3-letter words such as CAT, DOG, RUN, HOP, GET, etc.

1. Children pick one card to "fill".

2. Children toss a penny. Heads = get a letter, Tails = lose a letter.

3. When a child gets a Head, they pick a matching letter from the bucket to put on their card. If they get Tails, they have to put a letter back.
4. First child to fill up their card Wins!

Later on, switch the group of cards they can choose from to 4-letter words, then on to 5-letter words near the end of the year when their reading skills have improved!

Keep That Typewriter in the Classroom

I'm sure if you looked around, you'd find an old electric or manual typewriter around. Put it in the classroom, along with some scratch paper. Here are some skills they can practice that a computer can't give them (especially if you don't have a printer.) And the best part? They can keep the paper!

Benefits: learning the keyboard, alphabet practice, spelling, sentence structure and punctuation, fine motor skills, and much more!

* Their names, the names of their family members
* Their address and phone number
* A simple sentence (either copied or of their own creation) GT students can try for a whole paragraph.
* spelling words, seasonal words, their reading words

How many more can you come up with?

More Texas Activities

To continue with our Texas activities during Texas Public Schools Week...

I made up 5 baggies of the word BLUEBONNETS, cut into letter squares. I had each table first assemble the letters into the word of our state flower. Then I gave them 5 minutes to make as many words as possible using the letters. (Words had to be spelled correctly, too. I got "bel" and "bul", among other words, and had to eliminate them, but it was a perfect teachable moment to give them the correct spellings.)

Next, for our state flower we got to use our watercolor paints. But this time I made them use Q-tips. One end for blue, the other end for green. It made for quite an interesting experience. (There's also the "popcorn" method, where they glue popped popcorn where the petals are, then paint the popcorn.)

Finally, for our math activity, I found a map graphic on the internet, and printed it off. Next I added the "Where is Texas?" question. We labeled our state. Then, using a wall map as a guide, we began to number all 50 states. We did this as a group activity. It was fun!

How Many Words?

Remember when your teacher would give you a big word and you had to see how many words you could make out of it?  It works for Kindergarten, too!

I started out giving them the word "Halloween".  By the end of October we were finished with learning our letter sounds and were just beginning to blend. We did it as a group and copied the words off the board. "Thanksgiving" followed, then "Christmas".

By the time we reached "Valentine", I had the students go to their tables and work in groups to see how many words they could find, rewarding the group with the most correctly spelled words with stickers.

Today we had "graduation".  The winning table found 20 words, including the word "guard".

How Many Words Can You Find in "Valentine"?

Remember when your teacher would write a word on the board (or you'd be given a worksheet with one long word or title on it), and you had 5 minutes to see how many words you could make out of it?

Kindergarten can do it, too, but you have to adjust a few things.  First off, do it as a class.

Because of the season, I used "Valentine", but I first did it using the phrase "Merry Christmas".  But this is a perfect way for them to work on their letter formation skills, how to start next to the red margin in their journals, and to stay on the line.  You're going to have a few children spot words they can spell.  You'll also have children spell words they think are correct, but aren't real words (ex: "lite" for "light".)

Of course, once they get stuck, you can find a few more to add to their list.  Be sure to use this Teachable Moment to explain what the words mean.

Above are 3 examples of my students' work.