Do you use making words activities with your students? I LOVE them! They're an awesome way to draw your students' attention to spelling patterns, prefixes, suffixes, and endings like -es, -ed, and -ing.
Here's an example.
Take a word like PESTERING. Miserable example, sorry, but stay with me on this.
You want to lead by modeling in these activities. Start with some large letter cards with magnets on a chalkboard, or with moveable letter boxes on your interactive board.
Show your students how to take away the P in PEST and replace it with the R to make REST. Yep, onset - rime principle.
Could they do the same with RING? Guide them to substitute various initial consonants, hopefully eventually making SING, and ... do you see any others?
Teach them to look for endings and take them off to find root words.
Show them how an S in a word is a particularly great find! It turns RING to RINGS, TIP to TIPS, etc.
Do you see the power of teaching with making words activities!?!
Here's a quick freebie for you, since we'll officially celebrate the first day of spring this week. It's a little Making Words activity, but with a bit of a twist. The first page supplies your students with the goal word, "Springtime". The second page doesn't give the word. Instead, "Springtime" is the mystery word that your students are challenged to figure out by manipulating the letters. (Nothing like the word "Mystery" to get those little brains working harder!) And the third page is a word sort by spelling patterns, using the words they made from the letters.
I like adding the word sort page to Making Words when the children are doing this independently or with a partner. First of all, it echoes the activities we do in whole class Making Words. Second, it challenges the students to go back and try harder to make more words. Finally, I like the underlining because it really helps the strugglers to focus on chunks in words.
Click here or on the cover to download yours!
Have a great week - back with another spring freebie very soon!
Here's a quick freebie for you, since we'll officially celebrate the first day of spring this week. It's a little Making Words activity, but with a bit of a twist. The first page supplies your students with the goal word, "Springtime". The second page doesn't give the word. Instead, "Springtime" is the mystery word that your students are challenged to figure out by manipulating the letters. (Nothing like the word "Mystery" to get those little brains working harder!) And the third page is a word sort by spelling patterns, using the words they made from the letters.
I like adding the word sort page to Making Words when the children are doing this independently or with a partner. First of all, it echoes the activities we do in whole class Making Words. Second, it challenges the students to go back and try harder to make more words. Finally, I like the underlining because it really helps the strugglers to focus on chunks in words.
Click here or on the cover to download yours!
Have a great week - back with another spring freebie very soon!
I'm your newest follower!! Thanks for the freebie!!
ReplyDeleteJennie
JD's Rockin' Readers
I really love how you gave us the option of letting them 'discover' the word Springtime. The mystery REALLY motivated my kids (especially my higher ones who normally speed through word building).
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing! I'm excited to start following you.
Jenny
Luckeyfrog's Lilypad
Thanks, Jennie... and Jenny! (How often in life do you get to say THAT?:) ) So glad to hear that the mystery word helped keep all of your kids actively involved!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for your comments!
Linda