Word family games for -ice and -ed

Here is a fun way to help kids create -ice word family word.  I wrote -ice on an ice scraper and the kids change the beginning sound to make a new word and then write that word.  I used jumbo magnetic letters.

Here is a fun way to help kids create -ed word family word.  I wrote -ed on an small wooden sled and the kids change the beginning sound to make a new word and then write that word.  I used jumbo magnetic letters.

Oh My Gosh, I'm a Squash!

During a recent pumpkin unit we read the book The Ugly Pumpkin by Dave Horowitz (available through Scholastic Books.) It is a great story about accepting difference.  After reading the story, each child got to take off and trace his/her shoe, cut it out and decorate it.  They think it is super funny to trace their own shoe!   In the future I would give the student a choice of colored paper to use.  The vine is made out of crunched up brown paper that came in a box of shipped items.

Our shoe shaped squash displayed on their vine.

Fact Displays

I like to incorporate informational text in as many units as possible.  Studying animals is an easy way to make this happen because of the plentiful amount of resources available.  After reading and studying the animals, each student gets to dictate a fact that impressed them about the animal.  I found themed sticky notes at our local dollar store to add a special touch to the fact collection.

A cave of bat facts displayed on bat themed sticky notes.

A web of spider facts displayed on spider themed post it notes.

Magnetic story boards

My wonderful family knows never to throw any unique thing away until they've checked with me about using it for Kindergarten.  This got me into using cookie sheets and magnets to create story props for retelling popular stories.  I used Pete the Cat books as inspiration for these 2 boards because of the predictable text and rhythm of the stories.  I used construction paper to create the characters and taped them with clear tape over the cookie sheets so they had a laminated type feel and protection.  I hot glued the changing prop, in this case buttons and shoes, to magnets for easy manipulation.  These are sturdy and easy to repair.

Pete The Cat and His 4 Groovy Buttons.

Pete The Cat and I Love My White Shoes

The other shoe colors stored in a zipper bag taped to the back of the cookie sheet.

SUPERKIDS Class books

If you use the SUPERKIDS reading program here are some class book ideas for each of the characters.

The 3 Little Pigs

To retell the story The 3 Little Pigs, we made story props of the 3 houses and the characters. We used these props to practice telling the story to each other.
I used hay, sticks and styrofoam packing peanuts as bricks. Each child first drew the 3 houses on an 8.5 X11 sheet of paper. I put a plate of glue in between 2 students to share. They dipped the construction materials in the glue and stuck them onto the appropriate house.
This project take a lot of glue so I recommend using the plates instead of the bottles, which can be tricky for young learners to manipulate.
After retelling to a friend and listening to a retell, they brought their props home and told the story to their parents.

Down by the Bay

Rhyming is one of the most difficult skill to teach English learners. To help with this process we read the story/ song Down by the Bay and made super easy watermelons. Next each child dictated a rhyme from the story or a self invented rhyme and I wrote the rhyme on their watermelon.
To make the super easy watermelons give each student a piece of green construction paper. Have the students cut the corners off the paper until the water melon is the desired size. Each child can then paint green lines on their watermelons.

Q and U's Wedding

A wedding between letters Q and U helps reinforce these two and partners in words. It is a fun celebration with a literacy twist. Here are some ways we celebrate in my class.

The big Q and U are all dressed up and ready. Q's wedding veil is made of tulle that I found at thrift store.

I copied picture cards of words that start with /qu/ like: question mark, queen, quail, quilt and quarter. The gift boxes are CD gift boxes. I put enough pictures in each box so that each child could have a copy. As the gifts were opened, each child received one that he/she later glued to a Just Married paper, shown in the picture.
The girls made veils with sentence strips and real tulle. A little tulle goes a long way!(I learned the hard way that the veils should only be shoulder length, or they will get stepped on.) The boys made bow ties with tissue paper and clipped them onto their shirts with clothes pins. We had a real ring pillow and used plastic champagne glasses for the reception of milk and cookies.

Twister words

I love to recycle! Especially when it gives me a new way to help my students learn. This game was super easy! I took an abandoned twister game and wrote a different sight word on each circle. I added an interesting, quiet and easy to toss ball (and one that won't roll all over the place). The object is for the student to toss the ball to a word and read the word. I store this game in a tub with a white board and marker so that the student can also write the word. Excellent practice!

Sequencing events

I ordered these sequence puzzles through Scholastic book orders. They are self correcting sequencing cards. I added them to the work work station, after a whole group demonstration. This has been a great introduction to beginning, middle, end.

There was an Old Lady who Swallowed a Fly

There was and Old Lady who Swallowed a Fly is a wonderful repetitive text story. And now Scholastic Book Company has published a series of these stories to go with each season. It is simple, fun and a great comprehension skill to create story props in order to retell the story. I made an old lady prop out of a mini garbage can and drawing old lady features on the outside of the can making sure to position the mouth on the opening of the can.

I then made animal cards with pictures and labels for the old lady to swallow. The students take turns feeding the old lady. They love it! It is easy to modify this for any other "Old Lady" books.

flip flop word families

Turn inexpensive flip flops into a fun word family game!
I started with a pair of flip flops and wrote flip on one and flop on the other with fabric paint. Then I traced "toes" on tag board pieces. I only defined the big toe so that it will easily slip through the thong part of the flip flop. I wrote a consonant on each side of the toes. The students add a consonant toe to one of the flip flops. The student then writes the newly created word down. ( I like to use white boards for this kind of activity to conserve paper.) The student can then flip the consonant and create a new word on the other flip flop.

Tip: I laminated the toe cards for durability. I also used flip flops that would appeal to both girls and boys.

Listening Center

Listening centers are wonderful for beginning readers and ELL students. However, keeping everything organized can be difficult. Try this tip. I use long planters intended for window boxes as a listening center.

Students put the tape player on one end of the planter and prop the books up on the other. When it is time to use the center, students get a pillow or a blanket to put on the floor and then they get started.

I don't like to mess around with headphones. I teach the students to keep the volume low. Now I have need and usable listening centers.

Quick Note: During Independent work time only one student is allowed in each center, but at free play time I allow 3 students in each center.

Dream Snow by Eric Carle

Here is a celebrate winter idea that incorporated reading, writing and recycled materials. We read the book Dream Snow by Eric Carle. If you don't know the book, Mr Carle create a guessing game by overlaying each page with a transparent page containing a "pile of snow" that covers an animal. When the transparent page is turned the animal is revealed.After reading the book, each student receive a piece of construction paper and glued on the type written words "The snow covered a ". My students then drew an animal and labeled it. Then I stapled a piece of excess laminate film,(from the end of a laminating job) cut to the size of the construction paper. Then each student cut a snow pile out of white typing paper and taped it on top of the laminate film.

The result is a lift the flap activity and an engaging class book or bulletin board display.

Letter Eaters

Sometimes it just takes a new twist on a familiar idea to re motivate students. This is an idea to get students working independently on letter recognition and word building and it is totally free and easy to make out of recycled materials.First I took yogurt containers and measured around the top and bottom with a measuring tape. I drew an outline of the measurements on a 11 x 14 piece of paper. I wrote several high frequency words on the outline and cut it out and attached it around the yogurt container.After collecting all kinds of plastic bottle caps and washing them, I wrote alphabet letters on them with marker. I made sure to include a full set of letter in each letter eater and added an extra e and o. I decorated the lid with mini paper plates and cut a portion out to look like a mouth.

Student are then invited build words and feed them to the letter eater. The can also feed the letter eater individual letter. When the letter eater is full, it can throw the letter up for an extra added thrill.

Velcro, moveable word wall

This is one of those ideas that is so simple I wondered why I didn't think of this! I got this from Judy Ellis. You get a tri fold cardboard display board, cut out high frequency words, laminate, and Velcro them to the board. The result is a word wall that can be moved anywhere in the room.
I chose to leave the background white and cut the words out of multi-colored index cards. The Velcro sticks well to the display board without ripping it. I only display the words that we have covered in class. I add new words after they have been introduced during class time. At the end of the year I can remove all the words and save them for the next year.

During independent work time my students are scattered throughout the room on pillows and at tables. They can't always see the main word wall so it is very nice that they can bring this one wherever they are working.

The Story Box

I have, in my personal collection, some excellent story props. Story props, if you are unfamiliar, are items that have been collected to use while acting out a particular story. Story props can be puppets, masks, items of clothing or objects.
I have made many of my own story props and I had an outstandingly creative Educational Assistant who made the story props for The Mitten by Jan Brett and Thomas' Snowsuit by Robert Munsch.

After I use the story props and we are finished with the story I put them in the Story Box. This box holds 3 to 5 stories and is intended for student use during independent work time. So, one student gets to choose the story box and practice retelling favorite stories. This helps with comprehension skills and vocabulary development (which is key for the English Language Learner).

These are clothing outlines for Robert Munsch's book Thomas' Snowsuit. This book is about a little boy and his refusal to wear his snowsuit and where that refusal takes him.

These are retell puppetts for Jan Brett's version of The Mitten. The large and small mitten are made of felt. All the animal puppets fit inside it and fall out readily when the bear sneezes.